Blogs from Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 6

I had originally planned to take it easy this morning because I had so much time until my flight, but I found I just couldn't do that. Instead I thought up a scheme to go see a museum that I had read about that is located west of the town center. The airport is also west of town and I calculated that I had enough time to make it if I used taxis. It worked out just about as I had planned and I got to see the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. Its theme is the coup of 1973 that put General Pinochet in power and the human rights violations that occurred under his regime. I remember this event because the coup was a source of outrage at the University of Michigan where I ... read more

Le vol entre Santiago et Punta Arenas (4h30) une merveille, je n'ai pas pu décoller les yeux du hublot tellement les Andes sont à couper le souffle. Je fais le voyage avec Tim, un jeune russe que j'ai rencontré dans l'auberge de jeunesse deux jours plus tôt. Départ de Santiago vers14h, arrivée à Punta Arenas vers 18h30 avec une escale à Pucón. Navette jusqu'au centre ville pour prendre un bus en direction de Puerto Natales, bus que je vais louper de quelques secondes. Obligé d'attendre le prochain qui partira dans une heure! En attendant je visite la vile avec Felipe et sa femme que j'ai rencontré sur le trajet. 20h je prends le bus pour Puerto Natales, 3heures de bus pour arriver exténué à Puerto Natales...la station de bus regroupe toutes les agences de la ville, ... read more

I am finally getting around to writing about the trip a couple friends and I took to Patagonia a little less than 2 weeks ago. It is funny though, because just this past weekend we took a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina! But for my sanity, I am going to keep this blog in chronological order, and talk about this trip first. Then, hopefully in a couple days, I will “catch up” and post about the trip to Buenos Aires. So we left on a Wednesday night (April 10th) to go to Santiago and catch a plane to Punta Arenas. We briefly considered taking a bus, but it would have been about 30 hours each way, which, considering the time we had, didn’t seem to make much sense. So we flew and arrived in Punta Arenas ... read more

Ce n’est pas un poisson d’avril mais tous les bus de 10h pour Punta Arenas (à 3h de Puerto Natales) sont complets, donc le gars de l’auberge nous suggère l’auto-stop (les parents, ça se fait bien et c’est sûr au Chili), affirmant que nous n’aurons pas de souci : 2 filles, beau temps, voie passante. Je suis dubitative car c’est quand même lundi de Pâques, mais en fait, même pas un jour férié ici. Il nous imprime le panneau ‘Punta Arenas’ et c’est parti, nous nous dirigeons vers le point stratégique qu’il nous avait conseillé et effectivement même pas 2 min plus tard, nous voilà embarquées dans un pick-up flambant neuf avec deux Chiliens (dont un qui parle anglais, ouf) qui vont à l’aéroport. La route est encore une fois superbe. Nous avons même le temps ... read more

Did you see what I did with the title of this entry?? 'A chilly (Chile!) experience. Because we're in Chile and today we will be cold!! Question: When can an unpleasant experience be very pleasant? Answer: When we visited Ottway penguin colony in Punta Arenas!! Our journey began at 6:30am with breakfast in our cabin. Despite the first serving being stated as between 06:30-07:00, I stated 06:30. I also wrote 1 boiled egg and 2 toasts, as this was not an option on the pre printed breakfast request forms. The breakfast arrived exactly at 06:30 together with requested egg AND toast. We met in the Princess Theatre at 7am and were given our tour sticker. Within 5 minutes we were heading for the tender. Yes, Punta Arenas is the 2nd of our 3 tender ports. The ... read more