As we got off the plane at Punta Arenas a strong gust of wind blew a broad-brimmed hat off a tour group member’s head. I retrieved the hat and wondered if this violent wind is typical of the area. I later learned that indeed it is!
The area around the airport is flat and fairly desolate. The modern bus that took us to the ship stopped first at a restaurant for lunch and then routed us to the Museum Saliesano.
The museum is dark with a dusty odor. The stuffed animals are lumpy but the museum is interesting. Its exhibits show many of the artifacts of the now-extinct Indians as well as early-day life in Patagonia. It displays some models showing the industrial processes of modern-day technology now existing in Punta Arenas.
The Museo Salesiano de Mayonino (or Maggiorino) Borgatello, started by an order of Italian missionaries in 1893, is maintained through voluntary contributions. It has an extensive and well-presented collection for a city of this size.
Punta Arenas (Sandy Point) is a city of 130,000 residents and is surprisingly modern. It is the home of a university (University of Magellanes) and is the capitol of the Magellanes Region, one of the thirteen regions of Chile. This region also includes the section of Antarctica claimed by Chile.
For more about the city of Punta Arenas see Chapter 2, page 25.
Boarding our ship, we settled into our cabin and explored our home for the next week. The MV Terra Australis (Southern Land) was built in 1983 in Chesapeake Bay by the Chesapeake Shipbuilding Company. For the first years of its existence it cruised on the Mississippi River where it was called the Savannah, but it has been in Patagonia since 1991. The ship has a draft of 8 ft (2.44 m) and a maximum speed of ten knots. Its length is 190.5 ft (58.08 m) and its width is 42 ft (12.8 m). It carries a crew of forty when it has a load of 100 or so passengers but it can be operated with a crew of twelve. The ship operates weekly for seven months (from October through April). In its off-season it goes to Valdivia, Chile for maintenance. The Terra Australis is owned by a company named Cruceros Australis (Southern Cruises). The family of Don Pedro Lecaros of Santiago, Chile owns the company.
The ship is now being equipped with satellite cellphones, specifically for the company’s daily communications with the crew. There is radio-telephone communication with the shore used for emergencies and available to any passenger at any time. In emergencies a helicopter can be summoned for winching up a seriously ill or badly injured traveler so that he or she can be quickly transported to a hospital. An alternative method of transportation in an emergency is by means of a Chilean naval vessel. There is a Chilean Naval Base at Puerto Williams as well as navy ships at Punta Arenas. There are also Argentine navy ships based at Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego Island.
The welcoming ceremony included a review of the safety procedures for the ship, particularly how to put on the life jackets placed in every cabin. During the night the ship left Punta Arenas and proceeded in a southerly direction through the Strait of Magellan.
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Punta Arenas to Santiago
After breakfast we boarded the bus for Punta Arenas, and stopped for lunch (another delicious lamb barbecue) at the Hosterîa Rîo Verde, which Americans would call an inn. A fascinating museum-like atmosphere made us wish we could stay and spend time with the very hospitable family who owned and ran this combination hotel and working farm. Before we moved on we watched a short demonstration of dogs herding sheep.
Sadly, the tour was now complete and we flew home with a desire to learn more about this fabulous place—Patagonia, At the Bottom of the World.
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