Packing Is Going To Be Tricky...
⬅ previous ⬆intro next ➡Day 4 ~ January 17 ~ Santiago to Punta Arenas
According to our calculations, we have 15kg in the yellow bags and 5kg in each of the backpacks, as we have been instructed.
Farewell, Le Reve, we've enjoyed our stay here greatly.
At the airport, is this the male toilet, the female toilet or the penguin toilet?!
A particularly fine mountain, I think you'll agree.
“Usted es aquí” as they say.
We've arrived, and can admire the wire-mesh whale sculpture before a short bus ride into the centre of town where our hotel is. Funny, but that sculpture is more than a touch reminiscent of the one outside the arts centre in Santiago if you refer back.
“Hotel Dreams of the Strait”. Ok.
Check-in takes forever: we are quite a large group and they don't really have enough staff on the desk; and the room isn't particularly exciting, but it's fine for a night. The hotel has a casino to which we have free entry, but we aren't tempted. Hotels with casinos seems to be a bit of a Chilean thing, because we had another one (which we also resisted) on our previous trip.
We now go to have a general briefing, kit assignment and luggage weight check: we pass, phew!
The hat and gloves are our own, but the parka, boots and the bag to put them in are provided by Quark. The boots are only on loan but we'll get to keep the parkas. They're definitely substantial and good quality with plenty of insulation: just the thing for an English summer back home.
We're told that our departure will be very dependent on weather conditions, so we may need to be ready to go at short notice, but the expectation is that we will leave early tomorrow morning and the exact times will be posted later.
We have a few hours now, let's take a little walk around town.
Bit of a French vibe going on here. No actual French connection that we know of, just a fashionable style in 19th century Chile.
Ferdinand Magellan gazes out over his Strait. Below, a native figure draws in the foot fetishists. Apparently if you rub his foot, it means you will return to Punta Arenas one day.
And it's Gabriela Mistral again.
The Yellow Submarine has seen far better days.
Not Magellan this time, but a monument to an 1843 expedition that established Chilean sovereignty here. Quite where the mermaids and the figures that seem to be leaping from the boat fit in is not entirely clear.
Right, final piece of art for now, the Circumnavigation Monument, installed to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Magellan's voyage in 2020. The latitude here at Punta Arenas is just over 53° South, so for the central axis to be aligned with the Earth, it should be at that same angle from the horizontal. The perspective isn't quite right to be certain, but it certainly looks close enough.
Nearby, a young drumming group are practicing. I have done a bit of a web search to see if there might be some event they are preparing for, and curiously enough, there's a music festival called “Punta Arena Fest” on the 24th of January in Paraguay! I don't think that's it, though.
It's a bit windy and we've lost the sunshine now; time to return.
We have a communal buffet dinner provided which is so exciting that we have not a single picture of it.
The schedule is published. We're in the first group so it's a very early start for us. Note the instruction not to check out: they tell us that if there is a problem and the flight has to be delayed by a significant amount, it'll be easiest if we can just come back to the hotel without more faff.
To bed, then!
⬅ previous ⬆intro next ➡