http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Chile , Magallanes , Punta Arenas en-us Sat, 12 Dec 09 06:03:10 +0000 Sat, 12 Dec 09 06:03:10 +0000 Well here we are in Punta Arenas much has happened since our last blog.We have ridden our Motorsquos to the end of the world to Fin del Mundo and some of us continued as far South East as you can go to Ea. Moat what a great ride that was.Mike V has had his operation to repair and pin his broken leg and will be driven down to met up with us by his surgeon. We are looking forward to him rejoin http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-454691.html As the region of Southern Patagonia is so vast and spectacular and divided by the Andes with Chile to the left and Argentina to the right we felt it best to combine the blog for the area to reflect itrsquos true character rather than stick with the country by country format we have adhered to before now. Hopefully this will help some travellers who may chance upon this diary as accurate informa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-448196.html We are all so ready to go and now only one week before we all meet in Vina del Mar for our Patagonia Expedition.Gerardo has just returned from a recky in Tierra del Fuego for our immenent Patagonia Expedition. He had to drop off some extra fuel containers for us so we can make the ride down to Chilean Lago Fagnano and back....here is his blog of this....Hola from Punta Arenas Chile in the bottom http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-447920.html First Origins of the title I am still mixing my limited Japanese with my even more limited Espanol by asking Doko where in Japanese instead of Donde when asking Where something is....sounds the same right Another tip for those that aren't use to fizzy or gaseous water...don't buy the blue capped water...its agua con gas. When you are in a rush and quickly buy water forget that South Amer http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-443903.html Patagonia is the southernmost portion of South America located in both Chile and Argentina. It comes from the word patagon' used by Ferdinand Magellan to describe the natives that were thought to be giants. In reality the Patagons turned out to be Tehuelches with an average height of 5 feet 11 inches. Patagonia is the land of extremes. Tierra del Fuego is known as the Uttermost End of th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-440244.html Story NUMERO UnO Bought bus ticket out of Pucon to Puerto varas. hours of riding a bus awaited me. I was ready. Lots of cookies for my 3 times a day snack...one liter of water hmm cuplrit one avacodo and braed for lunch and loads of zzzzzzs One of the many small town stops I decided I was going to use the bathroom at the bus station. Come on they are less stink than bus latrines. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-392213.html So after a bit of deliberation I went Ipodless from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas Chile's southermost city. I didn't really have much planned for there but I had a couple of days to spare before I wanted to be in Ushuaia so I thought I might as well check it out.What was slightly worrying was that on the bus ride down we went past quite a large area with signs saying Keep out minefield. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-382369.html E venne il momento di lasciare la punta meridionale del continente per cominiciare la lunga risalita che dovrebbe portarmi all'estremo opposto dell'Argentina.Questa strada per passa dal Cile e cos partenza alle 700 presenza alle 630 eccomi a prendere l'autobus della compagnia Buses Pacheco che viaggia tra Ushuaia e Punta Arenas.Dopo il diluvio del giorno prima il tempo continua a essere gr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-381105.html finally updated some picshello again march 6th So after 60 plus hours on buses 4 days on a boat covering over 2800 miles on our way south from lima peru and over 6600 miles from home we finally made it to punta arenas which will be as far south as we go on this trip. it took about 3 or so hours by bus going south to get to Punta Arenas. We arrived to 40mph winds blowing us around like rag http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-379421.html Punta ArenasAs our goal was to get down south as fast as possible we flew down to Punta Arenas from Santiago. We had glimpses of the Chilean lakes district and many snowcapped volcanoes along the way.According to Wikipedia Punta Arenas is located on the Brunswick Peninsula and is the southernmost city of its size in the world. Ushuaia Argentina also makes this claim and is further south but http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-374602.html 31 hours on a bus In order to reach the town of Punta Arenas in southern Patagonia I took a bus from Peurto Montt. Two border crossing and 31 hours later and we arrived. It wasnt actually as bad as it sounds. Although my reaction to getting onto the bus and realising that it was a bog standard bus with not even a semicama chair in sight wasnt one of optimism. But as I said it wasnt too bad http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-369694.html When I was six and in love with the song 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'...I never paid much attention to the lyrics or saw the video....I didnt really think much about it. It was just on the radio all of the time. Then it disappeared from my existence I never thought much about it again.Now that were traveling in the south of South America Magellanes which is lots of fun and this song is http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-367826.html 16th January Bags packed we headed for the Metro to take the Airport bus for the 3rd day in a row We had gained 1 bag but unfortunately Sam still didn't have hers so we had given LAN the address of the hostel we had booked in Punta Arenas. The flight was on time we left for Punta Arenas we were aware that the plane would stop once on the way at Puerto Montt but soon discovered that it would st http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-367203.html We went on a boat tour to see a penguin colony on Isla Magdalena 5060000 pairs in the Straits of Magellan. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-367172.html Yes the sun has largely disappeared from our travels at least to the extent that it offers enough warmth to combat the wind that that is our new companion. The 4 day 3 night journey on the ferry saw us mostly confined indoors as outside it was perishing even with five layers of clothes on The cabins were petite as youd expect on a ship enough that I cracked my forehead on the headboard befo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-364012.html So after our adventures in Torres del Paine and Perito Moreno and after a very boring day in rainy Puerto Natales we arrived on New Year's Eve in Punta Arenas the last city on the American continent. It would be the end of the world if it wasn't for the Tierra del Fuego island just south of it. But it's good enough.We were happy with my selection of hostel Fin del Mundo which was a lively but http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-361275.html NOTE Due to high demand and especially due to a few persistent people who've bugged us daily we posted a bunch of penguin pics to scroll through before a few pics from Santiago and Parque de la Paz. What We Learned1 Andrew writes funny entertaining and LONG blog entries.2 Every business closes in Punta Arenas Chile on New Year's Eve. Jetboil and Mountain House you saved us again.3 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-360886.html Sometimes We Must ExploreOk I am cheating this is not MY blog nope this is the blog of my husband for who in just a few short weeks will be adventuring in Southern Chile. In fact at this very moment he does not even know about this blog A 40th Birthday surprise he and his best friend Brett shall explore the fjords glaciers and extreme landscapes of the Southern most tip of Chile. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-360203.html Feliz Navidad y Buen Ano Nuevo de ChileFirst Update since we left Hopewell a day and a half ago. Second The post Andrew wrote before we left but wasn't able to send since he was editing his term paper.As those of you in the Northeast know we had some weather to contend with as we tried to get out of NJ. Other than a troll think pinched up face spikey short grey hair and small head on a s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-355915.html Wir sind mal wieder in Chile. Allerdings nur fuer ein paar wenige Tage. Von El Calafate duesten wir mit dem Bus nach Puerto Natales. Ein nettes kleines Kaff mit ein paar gemuetlichen Cafes und Restaurants. Aber es ist im Grunde nur hingestellt fuer Massen von Touristen die in den Nationalpark Torres del Paine gehen. Obwohl wir auch einige Tage hier auf Trekkingtour wollten hoerten wir auf unser http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-355361.html