Punta Arenas, Chile - Patagonia

Punta Arenas, Chile, is located in the far south of  South America, on the Strait of Magellan and at the northern point of the area known as Patagonia. The Strait of Magellan links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and is navigable for larger ships, but a local pilot must be taken aboard as the channel is only 2km wide at its narrowest point.

After our recent delay in the port of San Antonio, followed by a couple of days at sea while speeding along to make up for lost time, we were very happy to see the small dock area at Punta Arenas.
Our ship had anchored in the calm waters of the bay and after a short drama free ferry ride to shore, in the ship’s tenders, we hurried onto the pier.
Dry land again, yeah!!
We had decided that a long exploration walk, around this medium sized town of around 130,000 people, would be our goal. In the late afternoon, on our way back to the ship, we were a little weary for sure, but pleased that we had walked almost 10km.
After passing through customs and immigration, we headed for our furthest destination - the cemetery. Yes, the cemetery, and “Why would you?”, you might ask.
We were told that this place was quite interesting, we had all day and it suited our plan - almost a 5km walk to get there.
 
As we made our way through the streets of the town, evident were many political statements, some damage to buildings, graffiti, boarded and shuttered store fronts and some broken windows; all were signs of the recent demonstrations for fair wages and better working conditions.

Did we feel insecure, or at risk? No, all was calm and quite peaceful, the local people were quite
cheery and very welcoming.
After completing our walk, and just before reaching the ship, we discovered a small coffee shop.

We asked if anyone understood English - head shakes and palms raised indicated that Ed would be digging deep into his lean Spanish vocabulary. All was good - “Dos cafe con leche, por favor”.
Getting a slice of tirimasu cake, to share, with two forks was a little more difficult, but we managed.
Lots of smiles from the waitress - all good fun and very good value. Ed took the easy way out when it came time to pay - 8,000 pesos by credit card ($10) and a $3 tip to the waitress’ hand. Easy peasy.

 

Our view of Punta Arenas from our ship 

and the so very calm waters of the Magellan Straits.

A memory of the historic past, and present day touristic activities.

The town clock is showing the correct time of day.

This is a quite rare occurrence for public timepieces.

A side street down to the bay.

Local church.

 

A variety of headstones and mausoleums in the town cemetery.

All have multiple bodies, from several generations, in them.

   

   

    

Artifacts from many years ago, in the time when whales 

were hunted and rendered into oil.

 

Rock Cormorants taking a little sun, on the shore, while waiting for the tide to rise

and then leave to go fishing.

 

A very interesting clock on the wall inside the cafe - the pointer remained stationary and the numbers of the clock rotated around the gear arrangement at the top. 

Fascinating and a very unusual time-piece.

Our afternoon coffees and cake - taking a break and resting our feet before heading back to the ship.