Punta Arenas, Chile (Monday, March 12)

We awoke to find the ship docked in Punta Arenas, the first tour having left before dawn for Torre del Paines whose distant mountain tops we saw from the ship yesterday afternoon.

The last time we were here we were the ones leaving on that trip, an anniversary present from my two sisters.  This year, our tour was less grand, but interesting.

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Today's Tour: MAGELLANS STRAIT PARK

Enjoy an historical perspective of southernmost Chile by exploring the very first settlement in the area, a wooden fort that has been declared a national monument.

After departing from the pier, you will head to Cerro de la Cruz, which means Hill of the Cross. From this wonderful vantage point you can see how the city of Punta Arenas looks today, and can imagine what Ferdinand Magellan saw when he was there. Sweeping views include the port, the beautiful Brunswick Peninsula and Sarmiento Mountain in the distance. Across the strait lies a large triangular island that explorer Ferdinand Magellan named Tierra del Fuego or Land of Fire. The island is two-thirds Chilean and one-third Argentine.

Continuing on, you will drive south along the gorgeous coast of Magellan Strait to Fort Bulnes, the area’s first settlement. Founded in 1843 to honor President Manuel Bulnes and lay claim to the land, the wooden fort burned down after only six years.

The existing replica was built about 100 years later and has since been restored. As you stroll about the grounds, you will see the barracks, chapel, stables and jail. You will also learn how the original fort was constructed out of logs, dirt and bricks made with grass.

Later, you can relax while taking in the spectacular views of Magellan’s Strait before heading back to the pier.

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Our first stop was a vantage point overlooking the city.  The view solidified what had been a growing awareness of the dramatic difference in this part of Chile from even Puerto Montt and Puerto Charabuco.  When I commented that it looked more like Iceland than Chile, my remark resonated with several members of our group.  Adding to the mental geographical displacement, our guide's name was Bjorn and he was from The Netherlands.

Next, we headed south along the shore road.  As we drove along, we saw several wrecks.  Apparently when a boat/ship is wrecked or just becomes obsolete, it is abandoned.  The weather and cold water in this part of the world make the organic or oxidation decay process very slow.

We reached the southern tip of the Chilean mainland.  To be clear, Chile extends considerably further south through a large group of islands, the two best known being Tierra del Fuego and Hornos Island, the latter being the southern end of Chile.  From there, heading south, the next  bit of terra firma is the Antarctic continent. 

The sourthern tip of the mainland is where the Spanish erected Fort Bulnes in 1843 to make it clear to everyone passing through the Straits of Magellan that the territory was claimed by Spain.

The original fort had been destroyed, so this was a replica, built with good attention to detail. 

Still within the park, we returned to the "interpretation center" we had passed on our way to the fort.  The center presented the history of the area.  It was interesting, but it was difficult to read much of the text beside displays due to inadequate light; too much attention to aesthetics and too little to functionality. 

No idea why the "eye".

Rolling back towards Punta Arenas, we passed this odd building.  Our guide told us it was a water bottling plant.  He added that it only bottled water for export - (expensive) pure water  from the pristine wilderness of Patagonia.

Back in the city, we stopped at the central square - the plaza mayor to see some of the architecture and a (locally) famous statue of Ferdinand Magellan.  Note Pam is holding onto the toe of one of the native Indians depicted in the statue.

Legend has it that if you kiss the (shiny) big toe, you will return to Punta Arenas.  Pam wisely opted to just hang on to it.  

The tour concluded back at SIRENA.  It was our intention to drop some things off in our stateroom and go back into town, but the wind had come up.  It was blowing spray off the tops of the small waves next to the pier.  I would guess gusts were in the range of 40-50 MPH.  This morning our guide had commented that Punta Arenas was a clean city not because of the diligence of its residents, but rather the velocity of the winds that swept through the city on a regular basis.  

In addition to the uninviting windy walk in the open along the long pier to get back to the terminal, the wind brought with it a significant drop in temperature.  Given what we had seen on our morning tour and the absence of a mission motivating us to go back into the city, we decided to stay aboard and watch the goings on along the pier.

One of the sights was two tugs working hard to get a Brazilian icebreaker to a berth across the pier from SIRENA.  

Soon after it had been made fast to the pier, SIRENA dropped her lines and headed that way...

...towards the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia, Argentina.

Shortly after leaving port, in the process of latching the door to our veranda, the wind pressure against it pushed the base of it inward.  Wind howled through the resulting opens on either side.  We had some concern about the door actually being blown into the room.  Within minutes of a call to the front desk, two crewmen showed up and in less than a minute had the door back on its track.  The arrival with the right tools, the speed of the fix and the casualness with which they did the job were all clear indicators that veranda doors coming off their track was not an unknown occurrence. 

I concluded from an examination of the door, without it opening again, that years of wear had perhaps reduced the height of the track.  When the sizable lever on the door was rotated to jack the door into the sealed position, the strong wind against it was able to push it inward halfway through the lift.  It was a hypothesis I opted not to test.

We could have done without the adrenalin rush.