SIGHTS OF PUNTA ARENAS

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PUNTA ARENAS CHILE, COCKBURN CHANNEL AND BEAGLE CHANNEL - The weather today was some more good luck. Sunrise was at 5:45 am; sunset at 10:00 pm, temperature was 63 degrees, wind at 26 mph and partly sunny (when we left port, wind speed had increased to a more normal 50 mph.). Our guide said weather here is rotten in the summer and very rotten in the winter. Their founding and prosperity was based mainly on the Strait of Magellan and was hugely impacted when the Panama Canal opened. Since then, they are mainly involved with sheep with some coal mining and some oil. There are about 125,000 inhabitants, I don’t know why, must be family and friends. Our guide had very good English as she had lived in California and Utah for awhile, I’m guessing to attend college.

We got on the bus right at the pier and went to an interesting outdoor museum (the Patagonian Institute also known as the Museum of Memories) with old vehicles, old homes and buildings. Then on to the Maggiorino Borgatello Museum where the flora and fauna of the region were displayed. Another interesting stop was the beautifully landscaped cemetery. The view from our next stop allowed us to look over the city to see the Tiera del Fuego and the Strait of Magellan. Our last stop before returning to ship was the Plaza de Armas Square where a statue to Hernando de Magellan is the featured attraction. We will be sailing through the Cockburn Channel and the Beagle Channel tonight before sailing past Glacier Alley tomorrow am on our way to Ushuaia, Argentina.

By the way, I did identify an anomaly about cruising. It seems that belts shrink when at sea. I have to let them expand by a notch or two. I hope they return to their original size, even though slowly, upon return home.

Goodbye Chile, hello Argentina!

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