After that it was yet another overnight bus (they're just so comfy!) all the way down to Puerto Montt, the major stopover town for people going down to Patagonia. The town itself had some cute things like a plaza with lots of mosaics and an old wooden church, but for the most part it's nothing grand. We only stayed for a day before hopping on a plane to.... Punta Arenas!! It may have been cold, but it was definitely beautiful.
Punta Arenas is a city that deserves at least 2 days, though probably not much more than that. The center is gorgeous, lots of old mansions and a pretty plaza. It is definitely chilly since it is sooo far down south, but this is actually mostly due to the freezing cold winds. It feels fresh and clean, though, and you definitely get the impression of being somewhere very very far from home. Aside from strolling through the streets or checking out the Regional History Museum, the main activity is visiting the penguin colonies. It's a bit crazy to be in a part of the world where penguins live naturally (no zoos!). There are two options, Isla Magadalena (the ferry leaves only on Saturdays during the low season) or Seno Otway (a bus leaves every day). Due to scheduling, Eben and I went to Seno Otway, which is a bit smaller than the other penguin colony. The drive out was beautiful. The land is completely flat and seems to stretch on forever. We saw lots of interesting animals along the way, including hares, a llama-type animal, and some ostrich-like giant birds. The highlight, however, was definitely the penguins. Upon arriving at Seno Otway, we followed a path down to the water. Visitors are kindly reminded not to stray from the path, as this is Penguin Land, not People Land. We saw a few penguins along the path, standing guard over a burrow or just waddling around and being adorable. It was cool to be able to reach a hand out and touch the penguins (not that we did, but that gives you an idea of how close we were to some of them). Mostly I just enjoyed their funny waddle. :) At the water, we had to stand behind a wooden platform barrier from which we could spy on the penguins. The idea is to keep the people hidden so that the penguins don't get scared and think they are being invaded. There were maybe about 100 penguins frolicking along the shore. SO CUTE!!! And by frolicking, I mean they swung their little arms out awkwardly and waddled like a 2-year-old in a tuxedo, unknowingly making a certain 22-year-old American college graduate die with happiness.
While Patagonia was certainly proving to be awesome-tastic, we really wanted to go even further south to Tierra del Fuego.
Unfortunately, our two options on the Chilean side were Porvenir and Puerto Williams, both of which are fairly inaccessible. Essentially the only option is to fly, but even in low season the flights are booked solid for two weeks. Sad. Since you really can't come to Patagonia without seeing Tierra del Fuego, we got a little creative and decided to go back to Argentina to see their side. So once again, Eben and I got on another bus (#987 of the journey?) and headed for Ushuaia.
We arrived in Ushuaia last night after about 11 or 12 hours of driving. Lots of magnificent snow-covered mountains greeted us as we approached the southernmost city in the world (yeah, we're that hardcore). An amusing observation was that because we are so far south of the Equator, there are only about 4 hours of darkness. Walking around town at 9 pm is exactly the same as walking around at noon or 5 am. It's a bit unsettling at first to realize that the sun will just never stop shining at this time of year, but it's an interesting experience. It also means that we are closer to the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, so even though it is about 40 degrees, sunblock is essential.
So here we are. The southernmost city in this planet. On the agenda: trekking along a glacier, maybe some sea lions (visiting them, not trekking along them... that would be mean), and a visit to the old prison.
Not a bad Thanksgiving. :)
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