Blogs from Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 7

Hola firstly my apologies for the text intrusions in the last blog not sure what that was all about!1 lets hope the gremlins are sorted. Cruceros Australis –well what a fantastic experience- this was be supposed to be our little jauntette ( for Lou and me while Al was battling it against the wind rain and waves) If we thought this was going to be a leisurely sail down the fjords of Tierra del Fuego sipping cocktails sunning ourselves and enjoying the view from our sun loungers, we were to be rudely awakened!!! This was four nights and five days packed with truly wonderful things, presentations and films about the areas to be visited from knowledgeable and good looking tour guides, treks, hikes, journeys on zodiac boats , not to mention great food and what is ... read more

Sharon was pretty excited about today’s tour in Punta Arenas, because you guessed it, we finally get to see PENGUINS. And as we will no doubt learn over the next week or so, there are many different kinds of penguins, from the lords of the realm Emperor Penguins down to the Blue Pygmy Penguins that we saw on our cruise in New Zealand. We awoke, already in port, so it was a quick breakfast in the Lido before 7 AM. The full breakfast service was open, but I stuck with my oatmeal, potatoes and pork sausage links, while Sharon had her tour day fare of French toast and bacon with chocolate croissant. The Showroom was already full of people, but we still were assigned to the first of six tour busses going by ferry to see ... read more

Our ship completed its traverse of the Beagle Channel and docked about 8 am at Punta Arenas, Chile, which stands at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan. Punta Arenas is a major Chilean city of some 130,000 people. Its history is familiar: former penal colony turned major port because of its geographic location. Its prosperity has risen and fallen with its importance as a trade route. At one point, fortunes were won and lost here. Our bus tour is entitled "Tycoons of Pantagonia." It focuses on the city's glory days and the larger-than-life personalities that dominated the era. We start at the city's cemetery, featuring meticulously kept graves and mausoleums, surrounded by sculpted cypress trees, that testify to the wealth of the tycoon families, including those of Sara Braun and José Menéndez. Our next stop ... read more

Ah, civilization sans fleas and hordes of tourists. I was finally back in Patagonia. Punta Arenas, unlike any other city in Chilean Patagonia or Tierra del Fuego, is a highly industrialized place. The airport even has two baggage claim carousels! Also, this time of year there are barely any tourists. Understandably so, as it is starting to get closer to cold. Located on the Strait of Magellan, statues of the famous Hernando de Magellan litter the city like graffiti even though this Portuguese man didn't care much for this wind-plagued strait. This is also the place where you can buy a ferry ticket to Puerto Williams and get your laundry done, which was my main goal. But first I had to rid myself of my bug infested clothes and do a deep clean of my skin ... read more

Today we awoke to some rainy weather, but by about 10 it was just cloudy. We bought our tickets to head to Isla Magdellena, the island of penguins, which is in the Strait of Magellen. Another mastery of public transit occurred with the "collectivos" (shared taxi´s) to get us to the port. We rode 2 hours out to the island on a large ferry that can hold 200ish people, but we only had 80 or so on the boat. We spent an hour on the island. Incredible. There were hundreds...no thousands of penguins everywhere. They migrate to the island from Brasil and other places to breed. They are there from about October and will be leaving relatively soon I think. The babies have already made their way up North. The teenagers are molting so there are ... read more