Tag: Punta Arenas

DRESS CODE: CASUAL
For Ladies: DRESSES OR BLOUSES AND PANTS
For Gentlemen: SPORT SHIRTS AND SLACKS
No shorts or flip flop type footwear after 6:00 PM in indoor venues

TODAY’S WEATHER Cloudy High: 51°F 10°C Low: 42°F 6°C

Covid restrictions have meant that we haven’t got the best from our land experiences in Chile. Punta Arenas wouldn’t even let us off the ship!

So from the ship Enrichment Travel Lecture Jon Fleming, here is what we learned about Punta Arenas.

Welcome to Chile’s City at the End of The World – a wind-whipped, fractured land of islands, glacial fjords and mountains, which drop away towards Antarctica.

A hardy city, where the temperature hovers in single figures throughout much of the year, Punta Arenas nevertheless offers a warm welcome and refuge, ahead of – and following – epic adventures and expeditions south across the Drake Passage by explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Captain Scott stopped here in 1904 testing the postal service sending 400 letters of his successful return. The city welcomed the rescued Ernest Shackleton and his Endurance crew to these shores in 1916.

Punta Arenas is a remote place, but with custom-free status, and more than 120,000 people calling it home it’s also surprisingly cosmopolitan. The commercial center of Magallanes Punta Arenas is fueled by Chilean oil and gas and has established itself as a global center for Antarctic research with teams from various countries basing themselves here.

The town is built around the Plaza de Armas, its central square – be sure to kiss the toe of the Monumento del Indio Patagon statue, said to guarantee you good luck on your return. Look down across this colorful city, stretching out to meet the waters of the Straits of Magellan, from the viewpoint at Cerro De La Cruz.

Natural wonders abound in the region, whether it’s Alberto de Agostini National Park’s glacial sculptures, or Torres del Paine National Park’s soaring mountains, rushing waterfalls, and picturesque lakes. Offshore, in the Strait of Magellan, you can find the birdlife sanctuary of Magdalena Island – an uninhabited island, where hundreds of thousands of penguins march and crowds of cormorants and gulls call out.
SIGHTS
• Museo Regional de Magallanes
• Plaza Armas Punta Arenas
• Monumento Hernando de Magallanes
• Cemetery of Punta Arenas
• Palacio Sara Braun
PUNTA ARENAS FROM ABOVE
Cerro de la Cruz ( the Hill of the Cross), located a short walk away from the center, is the most popular viewpoint in Punta Arenas. Getting up there isn’t very difficult and the views are really nice. You can see the colorful city in its full glory, the landscape beyond it as well as the Strait of Magellan with ships crossing the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.