A Cold and Bleak Day in Punta Arenas

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December 10th 2006

Published: December 10th 2006

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Andrew Sea

Punta Arenas, Chile

Shrine in Punta Arenas.

I was very excited to be in Punta Arenas because it was my first time setting foot in Chile. Punta Arenas is very close the southernmost tip of South America and even in December it was a cold and gray day. A frigid wind blew off the sea.

The town was very quiet because it was a national holiday. I walked through the town down to the sea, where there were lots of small houses built from wood and tin. It was sad to see people living in small houses built from pieces of tin nailed together, and I wondered what life must be like for them living there in this quiet town at the bottom of the world.

Then I walked to the cemetary. I had thought that the Cemeterio de Recoleta in Buenos Aires would be the most spectacular cemetary that I would ever see, but the one in Punta Arenas matches it. In the centre it has several large mausoleums with statues on top that looked like small churches. There were lots of trees sculptured into tall narrow domes. It’s built close to the sea, which I could just see when I faced that direction.