End of the journey south

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On arriving at Punta Arenas, the most southerly city in Chile, our first job was to try and get our flights re-instated as we had found out that missing a flight meant that all our subsequent flights had been cancelled but this could not be rectified without visiting a Lan Chile office in person. Sometime later, after an anxious wait, we got the news we wanted.

After checking into Hospedaje Nena (a place recommended by Richard for its breakfast that included endless homemade cakes and rhubarb jam) we headed off to see the Magellan penquin colony at Sene Otaway. It was amazing to see these little creatures at very close quarters but in their native environment. In contrast to our experiences in Argentina, the small entrance fee to the colony was clearly explained when we booked the trip and they even threw in free tea and biscuits and a penguin key ring (although I doubt the latter will make it home with us).

Due to the above complications re: our flights we had had to come to Punta Arenas a day earlier than we would otherwise have done (as we hadn´t heard many great things about the place despite LP saying it was the most interesting city in Patagonia!). In the absence of any excursions that looked attractive/appropriately priced we decided to hire a car. Even by hire car standards, this process took a long time but it was worth it to be able to explore the surrounding area. Once outside the city, driving was no problem but in the city was another matter. We survived intact despite driving down a one way street the wrong way!!

Our first port of call was Furte Bulmes, a wooden fort with some turf buildings constructed around 1840 to control the important shipping route of the Magellan Strait. It was amazing to see how well preserved this remained today. This was the end of our journey south close to the most southerly point in continental america (but still a few hundred km from Cape Horn off Tierra del Fuego island). On the way home we took in a surrounding nature reserve Laguna Parriloa (?) for a short walk. The rest of the day was spent grappling with how to put up the photos you now see on this blog (that said you´re getting none today!).

This morning we´ve been to a nearby wildlife park specialising in fauna native to Patagonia. Great to see such a varied group of animals free to roam in open spaces but very sad to see a condor confined in an unsuitably small space. The contrast with seeing these great birds soaring around the mountains of Torres del Paine was striking.

As we left Punta Arenas we saw a sign to ´Osorno 2270km´ - this was very close to Puerto Montt where we first landed in Chile two weeks ago. We´re now in the airport waiting for our flights which will take us approx. 3500km north to Calama (near the Chile/Bolivia border).

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