Itinerant Guest: Deep South

Next time you look at a world map, notice how far the southern tip of South America extends: much further south than Africa or Tasmania in Australia. You really can’t get further south on land without being on Antarctica itself. That’s where the next leg of our tour took us, the tip of South America.

If you remember early lessons in geography or history, the name Tierra del Fuego may come to mind. That, in fact, is the very southern tip of South America and we didn’t get quite that far. Why? Because it is a barren island with only one small village on it. There’s really no reason to go except possibly to say you were there. (No, you can’t see Antartica from there.) Instead, we stopped at Punta Arenas, Chile. It’s the southernmost city of appreciable size in the world, and sits on the Straight of Magellan. I remember learning about the Strait of Magellan in grade school and thinking it was so remote and exotic I’d never get there, but now I have.

But, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. The flight south from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas took us over the fiords, mountains, and glaciers of the southwest coast of Chile. Though I didn’t have a window seat, I still got a decent view of all that, particularly the thousands of islands that make up the intricate coastline. At one point the pilot announced we were flying over Torres del Paine National Park in Chile; I truly have never been more convinced that a plane was going to flip over because so many people rushed to that side. My cousin, Tom, got this spectacular shot of it:

It was exciting to know that the next day (my next blog post) we would be exploring it on the ground.

It was dusk when we arrived in Punta Arenas. This is a shot from my hotel window over the town square:

Before the light faded entirely, I walked three blocks south from the hotel to the seawall on the Strait of Magellan. I felt like this was a major milestone, not just on the trip, but in my life. I think that shows on my face:

A better shot of the disintegrating pier behind me:

A Chilean navy ship:

and looking back into town from the seawall:

Our tour group had agreed to meet at the restaurant La Luna, which I had passed on my way from the hotel:

One of the best dark beers I had in South America:

This was on the ceiling over our table:

The next morning we piled onto our tour bus for a long day of travel. On the way out of town we passed a statue honoring sheep farmers, which, besides the port, is the most important occupation in the area:

We also stopped at an outdoor museum dedicated to historical voyages through the strait. The first thing we encountered was a large map of Patagonia:

(click to enlarge)

The large triangular island at the lower right is Tierra del Fuego. The channel of water, mainly north-south, that separates it from the mainland is the Strait of Magellan. Punta Arenas is at the center of the image on the mainland side of the strait.

One of the first things I did was head to the beach to actually touch the Strait of Magellan:

The thin dark line running to the left on the horizon is Tierra del Fuego:

As you can see, the water looks peaceful, but this is the widest part of the strait. The name, by the way means Land of Fire, not because of volcanos but because Magellan’s crew could see the village fires of the indigenous people.

The principal attraction at the museum is a full-scale replica of the ship Magellan commanded on his way through the strait, the Nao Victoria:

We had full access to explore the decks and interior spaces:

On the stern deck is Andrea, our local guide for Punta Arenas, and (in the next post) Torres del Paine. Here’s my cousin, Tom, on the bow deck:

The photo directly above is the captain’s bed.

Work is also underway to construct a full-sized replica of the Beagle, which carried Charles Darwin through the strait:

A ship that is of great importance in the history of Chile is the Ancud:

This ship was built on Chiloe Island, our previous stop, and sailed south to claim the Strait of Magellan and surrounding lands for Chile. The Ancud accomplished its mission one day before a French ship arrived. Another boat that’s so small I nearly overlooked it is a replica - again, full size - of the James Caird, the boat Shackleton and his crew used, that he wrote about in the book, Endurance:

I can’t imagine braving the South Atlantic seas in something so small.

Driving north from Punta Arenas, the view is rolling hills of grassland, but there are occasional examples of wildlife to pique your interest. We came across a flock of emu:

It was a great surprise for me to see flamingoes in the wild:

We also got a good look at a pair of foxes:

and we verified that Patagonia has skunks:

This was another interesting sight we passed:

Looks like trash pile, right? But it’s a religious shrine. Not to any saint recognized by the Vatican, but to a young mother traveling on foot with her infant. The story is they both died of thirst on the way. So now, at this shrine and many others like it, people who drive by leave a bottle full of water.

As we drove further north and curved back to the west, we got a better and better view of the Andes Mountains: