PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE

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Finally, PENGUINS

We arrived in Punta Arenas on a beautiful day.  We took the shuttle bus that took us to the downtown square.  There we were met by Penguin people.  Not that tourists come there to see penguins….ha.  There were tons of people trying to get us to take their taxis to the penguins.

Well, of course, we did.  We joined a nice young man who found 5 other passengers from our ship to join us in his van.  He said he spoke English.  He did.  Somewhat.  Luckily for us, 3 of the other passengers speak Spanish, so when he had trouble, George helped translate.

We had a wonderful time.  We rode for about 45 minutes in his rattling leaky van.  It was comfortable enough, though.  On the way to where the penguins are, we saw Sandu’s.  They are like Rea’s in New Zealand.

Here are 8 babies and Dad.  The father raises the young.

Even though the weather was beautiful in town, and even though we saw that it had rained heavily the days before we got there, we were surprised by how fast the weather changed on the way to the penguins.  When we arrived it had turned rainy, windy and even colder.  Actually the temperature was not too bad, about 45, but the wind and blowing rain made it hard to see and walk.  It was worth it.

                        

The big fluffy penguins are the babies.  They are waiting for their parents to feed them. 

These penguins are very social and are travelling down to the beach together.  One guy is running a little late and trying to catch up.

  

Besides the penguins, we took a tour of Punta Arenas.  This is an old freighter.  The town made it’s living by being a port for travelers going around the horn, before the Panama Canal was built.  This ship was left to decay when it stopped being useful. 

 

This is a sculpture depicting the major industry in Punta Arenas, sheep.  They use small horses that are strong and can work in the mountains.

 

We visited the old Catholic Cemetery.  It is located on what was once the gardens of the St. Braun family.  Since the water table is very high, all burials are in crypts or mausoleums.

This is the Braun family tomb.

Some of the mausoleums are ornate.  This is the stained glass window of one as seen through the front window.

 

Here is another beauty.  Maybe Mendez.

 

A native person was saved after washing up on the shore.  He is said to perform miracles.  So people come and ask for his help.  When he helps, the people place plaques thanking him.  He must have granted a lot of prayers, based on the number of plaques.

This is a view from the ship

In the town square, or plaza, is this statue.  The statue in the center is Magellan.

On one of the sides of this monument is a statue of a native.  You may be able to see that his foot, the one hanging down, is shiny.  That is due to people rubbing it or touching it.  If you do, you are sure to return.  Yes, we rubbed it.