From Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas by bus

---

This morning we were able to sleep in a bit after four mornings in a row where we were up at 6.00am or earlier!! We were on the move again today, heading back down to Punta Arenas. We were in Punta Arenas 20 days ago when the m.s. Zandaam docked there for the day. Well, Bernie and Meredith made it into Punta Arenas, that was the first day of my confinement to our cabin. Punta Arenas was going to be all new for me! Fortunately for us today's coach was departing at a more civilised hour and we didn't have to rise before the sun. After a relaxed breakfast, we were collected from Hotel Glaciares and driven back across town to the bus depot.

Our seats were numbered the same as for the trip down from El Calafate so we thought we would have plenty of space again. No such luck, the seating was configured differently and we had a seat right in front of us occupied by passengers who reclined their seats almost as soon as they sat in them. Grrr, I hate that!

It was sunny as we departed from Puerto Natales and we were driving along in the sunshine for most of our journey. Unfortunately we were heading straight into threatening black clouds hanging over the Straits of Magellan. By the time we arrived in Punta Arenas it was cold and wet. Once again we were collected from the bus depot and ferried to our hotel. We arrived at the Hotel Chapital to find that it was in a state of chaos due to having new carpet laid! Fortunately our room was the one at the front and we were able to get into our room to deposit our luggage.

After adding some layers to our clothing and breaking out our waterproof gear we walked down to Magellan Square where the Tourist Information Centre is located. We wanted to find out about making the trip to the museum that is home to the replica of Darwin's ship, the Beagle. The guy in the TIC treated us like he thought we were slightly mad and told us the only way to get out there would be by taxi. He said we should be able to hail one out in the street and that the trip to the museum should cost us about 5,000 Pesos

So we stood out in the rain trying to flag down a taxi. And, after growing icicles on the end of our noses, we finally secured one. The driver didn't speak any English so we pointed to the boat symbol on the map that we had. He told us how much it was going to cost but, of course, we couldn't understand. We said OK anyway having no idea if we were going to pay more or less than 5,000 Pesos. We arrived at the museum and the meter said only 2,500 Pesos! What a bargain! With a bit of miming we thought that we had reached an agreement that he would come back for us in one hour.

The museum was deserted. There was a wood fired stove burning, but no other sign of life! Surely if there is a fire burning there must be someone looking after the museum today?? Eventually a woman wandered in from somewhere outside and sold us tickets and issued us with audio guides.

First we climbed up onto the replica of Magellan's ship the 'Nao Victoria'. She was a Spanish carrack and the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world. The expedition commanded by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan began on 10 August 1519 with five ships, but Victoria was the only ship to complete the voyage, returning on 6 September 1522 under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano after Magellan was killed in the Philippines. The expedition was plagued by mutinies and malnutrition and fighting with the native inhabitants of the lands they visited so it's astonishing really that any of the 265 men/five boats returned. Only 18 men survived the entire voyage.

Also on display at the museum is the replica of Shackleton's boat the 'James Caird'. The voyage of the James Caird was a small-boat journey from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands to South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 800 nautical miles (1,500 km). The journey undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions aimed to organise a rescue for the main body of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–17 that had become stranded on Elephant Island after the loss of its ship the 'Endurance'. Polar historians regard the voyage as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever undertaken. After seeing this tiny boat I think anyone would have to regard this as one of the most amazingly brave rescue missions ever undertaken. Ultimately Shackleton returned all of his men home without loss of life.

Next we saw the replica of the schooner 'Goleta Ancud' a purpose built ship sent by Chile in 1843 to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. She sailed out from Ancud on 22 May 1843 carrying supplies for the estimated seven months journey as well as supplies to settle a colony in the Strait of Magellan. On board were 23 crew (20 men, 2 women, 1 child), of which about half remained in the Magallanes region to establish a permanent settlement.

Finally we climbed aboard the 'Beagle' replica. HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy and was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. She was adapted in 1825 to become a survey bark. Her guns were reduced from ten cannon to six and a mizzen mast was added to improve her handling, thereby changing her from a brig to a bark. It was her second of three survey voyages that made her one of the most famous ships in history due to a young naturalist named Charles Darwin being on board.

Despite any doubts that we might have had our taxi driver arrived back at the agreed time and drove us back into the centre of town. What a great ambassador for his city. On our way back to the Hotel Chapital we went looking for the restaurant where we thought we would eat tonight. Highly rated (No. 5) on Trip Advisor 'La Marmita' proved very difficult to find due to bridge works that are taking place. We did eventually find it and it was much easier to return for dinner having tracked it down while it was still light.

We popped into the supermarket for a few supplies and we could hardly believe it, they were playing 'Someone That I Used To Know' (Gotye) in store!! We really didn't expect to hear so much Australian music so far from home.



Steps 11,914 (9.33km)

---