A 4 hour bus ride (including a short ferry), a 1.5 hour wait at the bus terminal (where I indulged myself in cafeteria food), a 40 minute bus ride to the Puerto Montt airport, another 1 hour wait (very dull), and a 1 hour flight took me to my next destination – Punta Arenas.
Man, it's cold here!!! I immediately had to take out every piece of warm clothing I had with me, like my fleece, windbreaker/raincoat, cashmere sweater, and wool/fleece hat with ear flippers. They all came in very handy in the freezing, windy, and often sleeting or drizzling weather I'd be encountering over the next few weeks.
Sadly, I even had to have some of the stuff on when I went to sleep, since the spare room at the hostel had no heating. It was nice to have a single room, but I'd rather be warm! I moved into the nicely gas-heated dorm room as soon as it became available the next day.
On the plus side, taking all that cold weather gear out certainly made my backpack smaller and easier to carry!
Punta Arenas isn't a very attractive town. There are a few museums (which I chose to ignore), some monuments, and several cafes serving good hot chocolate.
The highlight of the town, I'd have to stay, was the cemetery. Strange, huh?! With its well maintained shrubbery and monuments/graves, it turned out to be quite a pleasant place to take a stroll. Albeit a quick one...
Other than that, shopping is supposed to be good. There's a huge tax-free shopping center near the port, where I should've gone to get an extra memory stick. But I didn't know about the place until it was too late. Oh well.
I did, however, buy a pair of leggings at one of the many sporting goods stores in town. I know I'm going to need it the further south I go.
Man, it's cold here!!! I immediately had to take out every piece of warm clothing I had with me, like my fleece, windbreaker/raincoat, cashmere sweater, and wool/fleece hat with ear flippers. They all came in very handy in the freezing, windy, and often sleeting or drizzling weather I'd be encountering over the next few weeks.
Sadly, I even had to have some of the stuff on when I went to sleep, since the spare room at the hostel had no heating. It was nice to have a single room, but I'd rather be warm! I moved into the nicely gas-heated dorm room as soon as it became available the next day.
On the plus side, taking all that cold weather gear out certainly made my backpack smaller and easier to carry!
Punta Arenas isn't a very attractive town. There are a few museums (which I chose to ignore), some monuments, and several cafes serving good hot chocolate.
The highlight of the town, I'd have to stay, was the cemetery. Strange, huh?! With its well maintained shrubbery and monuments/graves, it turned out to be quite a pleasant place to take a stroll. Albeit a quick one...
Other than that, shopping is supposed to be good. There's a huge tax-free shopping center near the port, where I should've gone to get an extra memory stick. But I didn't know about the place until it was too late. Oh well.I did, however, buy a pair of leggings at one of the many sporting goods stores in town. I know I'm going to need it the further south I go.
So, why did I come here?! To see the penguins, of course!
There are 2 penguin colonies you can visit from Punta Arenas – Seno Otway and Isla Magdalena. Sena Otway is closer and easier to get to (several regular buses), but the colony is small. Isla Magdalena, on the other hand, is one whole island inhabited only by penguins (and possibly seagulls and other non-human creatures). The only way to get there is by an infrequent (and therefore a bit expensive @ 20,000CHP) ferry service. Luckily, I was in town when the waters were calm enough to let the ferry through.
With Dramamine in my system, I headed to the port on a collectivo. It's one of those shared rides operating on particular routes in many Latin American cities. In Punta Arenas, they were often black cars charging 350CHP per ride.
Anyways, at the ferry terminal, I boarded an old, but tough looking boat for the 2 hour ride. Rough.
Definitely worth it, though! As soon as we docked, penguins everywhere. Literally. We were allowed an hour on the island, walking along the one marked path towards a lighthouse. Since the path is shared with the penguins, you can get really close to them! How cuuuuuute! This one said, "Hello!"
View from the lighthouse: 
Yes, the dots are ALL penguins. Yes, the place does smell, but you just get used to it after a while.
And I loved the fluffy babies. Well, not exactly babies anymore, but fluffy enough for my liking : )
I remember being disappointed with the penguin colony in South Africa, but not this time! I wouldn't mind see more of them, but I don't think I have that NEED anymore. OK, maybe I'm fooling myself...because it just dawned on me...I want to see the penguins in Antarctica and New Zealand. I mean, they are different kinds.................
(FYI – The ones in southern Chile are Magellanic penguins)
There are 2 penguin colonies you can visit from Punta Arenas – Seno Otway and Isla Magdalena. Sena Otway is closer and easier to get to (several regular buses), but the colony is small. Isla Magdalena, on the other hand, is one whole island inhabited only by penguins (and possibly seagulls and other non-human creatures). The only way to get there is by an infrequent (and therefore a bit expensive @ 20,000CHP) ferry service. Luckily, I was in town when the waters were calm enough to let the ferry through.
With Dramamine in my system, I headed to the port on a collectivo. It's one of those shared rides operating on particular routes in many Latin American cities. In Punta Arenas, they were often black cars charging 350CHP per ride.
Anyways, at the ferry terminal, I boarded an old, but tough looking boat for the 2 hour ride. Rough.
Definitely worth it, though! As soon as we docked, penguins everywhere. Literally. We were allowed an hour on the island, walking along the one marked path towards a lighthouse. Since the path is shared with the penguins, you can get really close to them! How cuuuuuute! This one said, "Hello!"View from the lighthouse: Yes, the dots are ALL penguins. Yes, the place does smell, but you just get used to it after a while.And I loved the fluffy babies. Well, not exactly babies anymore, but fluffy enough for my liking : )
I remember being disappointed with the penguin colony in South Africa, but not this time! I wouldn't mind see more of them, but I don't think I have that NEED anymore. OK, maybe I'm fooling myself...because it just dawned on me...I want to see the penguins in Antarctica and New Zealand. I mean, they are different kinds.................(FYI – The ones in southern Chile are Magellanic penguins)
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