DAY 31-PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE

 It was mostly sunny but windy this morning.  Wind is ever present down here though.  Early morning temp was 45F but it warmed up to 57F in afternoon.  Very nice day for here!

Historical/Background Info:
        Southern Chile’s impenetratable forests, impassable mountains, and endless fields of ice define the Chilean Patagonia.  The region went basically unexplored until the beginning of the 20th century.  Today we are in Punta Arenas the southernmost city in Chile which was established by the government of Chile in 1848 as a tiny penal colony.  It grew in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s due to the gold rush and a boom in sheep farming.


I borrowed this map from World Atlas because it shows very well the three ways a ship can get around the southern tip of South America.  1)  The Strait of Magellan-which we are in today at Punta Arenas.  2)  The Beagle Channel-where we will be tomorrow at Ushuaia.  3)  The Drake Passage-in open ocean passing south of Cape Horn.  In 2012 we were lucky enough to “round the Horn”.  Weather for going around Cape Horn can be very treacherous but we luckily had little problem doing it.  
        Punta Arenas sits on the north side of the Strait of Magellan, the protected route between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Of course the Strait of Magellan is named after the Portuegese explorer Ferdinand Magellan who passed through here in 1520.  It was considered very hazardous to travel the strait due the the always present high winds which can reach 100 mph.  Today the city is often the base for expeditions to Antartica.  With a population today of nearly 130,000, it has become a vibrant and modern city.  Chile’s oil reserves, though small, are located here.  The raising of sheep, cattle, and fish along with its free port are driving the economy here.  Several cruise ships call here during the summer along with Antartic expeditions.  The close proximity to the ocean moderates it climate with average lows in the winter months at 30F/-1C and average highs in summer months of 57F/14C.  As I mentioned wind is a problem here.  Winds tend to be strongest during the summer months (now).  The city has put ropes between the buildings in downtown to assist people shopping or doing business.
What We Did Today:
        We are extremely disappointed as when we boarded in Miami we learned that our excursion to Otway Sound to visit the penguin reserve had been cancelled.  This was the best of all our excursions back in 2012.  We saw hundreds of Magdalena penguins.
        The ship arrived here at 5:30 this morning but we slept in since Rebecca is fighting upper respiratory thing.  Opened up the drapes at 8:00, and behold!!!  The sun!!  We have not seen it in several days.  Room service brought breakfast at 8:30 and there were some birds flying just out our balcony.  They seemed interested in our breakfast.

These three photos taken from top deck of the ship this morning looking out over Punta Arenas.

 Once again we are docked at the commercial container pier.  I recently learned that the white containers are refrigerated containers and orange ones not.

                                         The crew had an emergency drill this morning.
        After I worked out (told Rebecca she had not business working out again today) I got ready and headed down to take the shuttle bus into town.  I got to the bus at 10:30 but it was full so had to wait until 11:30.  All I wanted to do was go to the pharmacy.

          It was just a 15 minute bus ride from the commercial pier to the downtown plaza.

                                              Thought this sign was interesting.

                                More typical maze of wires over streets found in Chilean cities.

                      Monument to the explorer, Ferdinand Magellan in the main plaza.

                                    Of course, the stalls of handicrafts selling to the tourists.

        Finally made it to the main downtown plaza.  There were pharmacies on about every block.  I went into three and all were doing a good business.  Rebecca wanted me to get some Nasonex (spray that opens her nasal passages and lets her breath) if price was good.  It is $100 an inhaler with insurance back in US.  Here I got it for $17 an inhaler here so I got a couple.  Will check price in Argentina too.

        I got back to the ship by 1:30 so went up to La Veranda for a little lunch.  Tried to just eat proteins.  We have Prime 7 (steakhouse) reservation at 7:00 this evening.  At 5:45 we want to go hear retired Col Stephen Bauer's presentation about social life in the White House.  He was the longest serving military social aide in the history of the White House and served 5 Presidents.  He has some fascinating stories about his experiences.  Tonight's show at 9:30 in the theater features Nicole Sasser. She is a singer and plays the trumpet.  Will probably go see her again as this is her second and last performance. 

I want to include the link to the photos I took here back in 2012 of our excursion to Otway Sound to see the penguins.  Apparently the penguins are not coming back here now due to the last of food.  Not sure what that's all about.  They were certainly cute.  Ok, open the link then click on first photo to enlarge.  Then forward through photos.  Tomorrow we will be in Ushuaia, Argentina.

https://goo.gl/photos/PoEyrBQBmMqVP5yy8