Saturday, February 4, 2012

Punta Arenas, Chile

We are still anchored in Punta Arenas, Chile because of the storm in the Pacific - TWO DAYS! Not an ideal city to be stranded...quiet & cold! We are scheduled to leave here this afternoon at 5:30pm. There's a Super Bowl party planned tonight assuming we have satellite reception! This has been an interesting city - run primarily by penguins, but many wonderful folks! A sprawling metropolis on the edge of the Strait of Magellan, this port really defies easy definition. It's a strange combination of the ruddy and the grand, witnessed in the elaborate wool-boom mansions and port renovations contrasted with windblown streams of litter and urban sprawl. Set at the bottom of the Americas, it is downright stingy with good weather – the sun shines through sidelong rain. It's been miserable! Magellanic hospitality still pervades local culture, undeterred (or perhaps nurtured by) nature's inhospitality. The city is relaxed and overall, pretty friendly. Recent prosperity, fed by a petrochemical industry boom, has sanded down the city's former roughneck reputation. But I must say...if you are going to have an overnight stop somewhere, Punta Arenas is not the place to be. Otway Sound and the penguins are nice, the residents friendly, and it's a good jump-off spot for Antarctica...but….in terms of sights & sounds the town has little to offer for more than a day stop. 

          

     

          

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


   


   

   

   

   

   

   

   



  


   

   

   

   

   

   

   


     

     

   

     

   

   

   

   

   

   


   

   

   


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