Down to the city

After a few days in what seemed like the end of the world, remote Torres del Paine, we turned around and followed the Route to the End of the World back south...to the actual end of the world. Friends, I am in Punta Arenas, Chile!

Punta Arenas certainly doesn't seem like the end of the world. It's a city with 145,000 people. There are restaurants and shopping malls and traffic noise. If you air-dropped me in the middle of downtown with no information and made me guess where I was, I would never guess "On an isolated peninsula at the bottom of the globe." 

The first Chileans to live in Punta Arenas arrived here in 1848, after a short-lived attempt to settle further south. Fuerte Bulnes (Bulnes Fort), the site of the first Chilean settlement in the Magallanes region, is exposed and windy - I can tell you that from personal experience after visiting the historic site. Bulnes actually got such a bad reputation for living conditions that it eventually became a penal colony. Punta Arenas, on the other hand, is sheltered from the wind by the mountains behind it, on the west side of the city, and quickly grew into an important port.

There are two architectural styles in Punta Arenas: grandiose and cheap (of course those are not official terms). The grandiose buildings are 19th century or older, made of stone, ornate, and built to last. The cheap buildings are 20th century or later, made of sheet metal, cinder block, and whatever is available. What drives the difference between these two styles, you ask? The completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. With ship traffic able to pass between the North and South American continents, Punta Arenas's significance as a port city declined - nobody needed to go around the southern tip of South America anymore. Ship traffic dropped, and the city plateaued. 

Nowadays, Punta Arenas serves several functions for Chile and the world. First and foremost, it is a gateway to Antarctica. Anyone I know who has done a research expedition on the western side of Antarctica has left out of Punta Arenas. Second, based on some of the signs and infrastructure I'm seeing around town, Punta Arenas is an important station for the Chilean military. I can see why - it has easy access to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans. If I was Chile, I would probably put my military base here too. 

For my current objective, Punta Arenas has a very clear advantage: good food. Carl, Maria, and I visited some incredible restaurants in between our exploratory jaunts. I am glad for a little southern city life in Punta Arenas!

The one place I absolutely wanted to visit in Punta Arenas was the Shackleton Bar, supposedly the last place Ernest Shackleton visited before leaving on his fateful Antarctic expedition. The ambience and cocktails did not disappoint!

When I was a kid, my siblings and I used to drive our father nuts with wordplay. We would ask him "Dad, is it chilly in Chile? Do they eat chili in Chile?" Well, after ordering a stuffed chili on a chilly day in Chile, I finally have the answers. Yes to all!

This sculpture on the waterfront in Punta Arenas evokes a globe with a ship in middle. It pays tribute to Magellan, the leader of the first expedition to successfully circumnavigate the globe and namesake of the Magellanic region of Chile. 

Usually, when I stand on a land mass and look out to sea, I try to think about what the next land mass is. At home on Cape Cod, when I visit the National Seashore near Provincetown, the next land mass I'm facing is Portugal. In Punta Arenas, as I gaze east from the waterfront, the next land mass...is behind me. There is no other continent at this latitude, only ocean.