Punta Arenas, Chile
Kara says:
We left Tierra del Fuego and headed, briefly, into Chilean Patagonia. This whole area was only settled by non-indiginous fools who love cold and hardship in the mid 19th century. Chile decided it was a good direction in which to expand and claimed lots of land and then a mini gold rush brought lots of Croatians in the early 20th century - also fond of cold and hardship I assume.
To get across from Tierra del Fuego to the mainland we crossed the Straits of Magellan on a ferry - quite exciting really to think of old Magellan down here sailing around and finding his way through to the Pacific. Anyway, photo of conquistador Kara on the high seas.
Punta Arenas is a pleasant town with evidence of the plush existence of at least some of the people who settled here - some very nice old mansions around the plaza - see photo of me outside one. Now it has a naval base so lots of sailors and also every schoolkid in Chile I think, it's exactly like Tuam at 4pm on a weekday. The Chilean navy apparently have God on their side if this picture in their museum is anything to go by - see photo. And also an Irish influence - the first submarine to sail around Cape Horn was Chilean and it was called the O'Brien (named after an ancestor of mine of course). And half the stuff down here is called after the great Chilean nationalist Bernardo O'Higgins.
Other photos of the only attractive building in a town in Argentine Patagonia called Rio Gallegos, which proves that if the guidebook says somewhere isn't worth visiting you don't need to go there to see for yourself (some of the best fly-fishing on the continent - woohoo!), even if it is only for a couple of hours between buses. And photo of the only thing to see out the window in Patagonia - the shadow of your bus, for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles.
We left Tierra del Fuego and headed, briefly, into Chilean Patagonia. This whole area was only settled by non-indiginous fools who love cold and hardship in the mid 19th century. Chile decided it was a good direction in which to expand and claimed lots of land and then a mini gold rush brought lots of Croatians in the early 20th century - also fond of cold and hardship I assume.
To get across from Tierra del Fuego to the mainland we crossed the Straits of Magellan on a ferry - quite exciting really to think of old Magellan down here sailing around and finding his way through to the Pacific. Anyway, photo of conquistador Kara on the high seas.
Punta Arenas is a pleasant town with evidence of the plush existence of at least some of the people who settled here - some very nice old mansions around the plaza - see photo of me outside one. Now it has a naval base so lots of sailors and also every schoolkid in Chile I think, it's exactly like Tuam at 4pm on a weekday. The Chilean navy apparently have God on their side if this picture in their museum is anything to go by - see photo. And also an Irish influence - the first submarine to sail around Cape Horn was Chilean and it was called the O'Brien (named after an ancestor of mine of course). And half the stuff down here is called after the great Chilean nationalist Bernardo O'Higgins.
Other photos of the only attractive building in a town in Argentine Patagonia called Rio Gallegos, which proves that if the guidebook says somewhere isn't worth visiting you don't need to go there to see for yourself (some of the best fly-fishing on the continent - woohoo!), even if it is only for a couple of hours between buses. And photo of the only thing to see out the window in Patagonia - the shadow of your bus, for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles.
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