How long will the 'end of the world' stay wild?

Crowds of tourists bound for Antarctica have brought prosperity to Argentina's southernmost city, but the boom is also squeezing locals and stressing the environment

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tions tend to be rustic and unassuming. Budget lodgings abound, including a new Japanese-style capsule hotel. But tourists hoping for upscale accommodations won't find much in town: The three five-star options are nature resorts far from the city center.

Aiming to capture a piece of that high-end market, Meliá Hotels announced in late December that it would build a $50 million luxury resort in Ushuaia, featuring a spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and an 800-seat auditorium.

The current lack of high-end options, local tourism officials say, hampers their efforts to persuade cruise passengers to stick around and explore the region.

Clearing forest to build homes Passengers paying as much as $18,000 for an average Antarctic cruise might be surprised to see how some local workers live. Nolly Ramos León, a 34-year-old single mother of four, has spent years residing on a mountainside where people have cleared the forest to build shacks. The neighbourhood offers striking views of the harbour and the luxury cruise ships.

Her first home there was a flimsy structure made of nylon and wood. The family's new home has better insulation to protect against temperatures that routinely plunge below freezing, but it is still not connected to the power grid or to water and sanitation services. Ramos León gets some of the family's water from a nearby stream.

She walks down stairs and dirt paths that become treacherous in winter to reach her job as a housekeeper at a hotel, where she earns roughly $500 a month, plus more for overtime.

According to Ramos León, the Ushuaia residents who built on the mountain slope did so "to try to live with dignity." At least 10% of Ushuaiaians live in these types of informal settlements, with scant access to public services. "It took us a long time to get this house built," Ramos León said. "Sometimes we didn't even have money to eat, because I was putting it toward this house."