Punta Arenas, the most southern city in Chile is located on the Magellan Strait, really a short cut between the Atlanta and Pacific Ocean. This strait takes its name from the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered it in 1520 on his discovery of sailing around the world. Punta Arenas, was founded in 1848 and prospered as a busy coaling station and provisioner of ships before the building of the Panama Canal in 1914. Fun fact, approximately one-quarter of the population are descendants of Croatian immigrants. Today, there is a population of approximately 110,000 inhabitants. Punta Arenas attracts fishing vessels from the South Atlantic as well as Antartica research and cruise ships and a recently added duty free zone has promoted commerce and immigration. It is also the bustling centre of one of the world’s largest sheep farming areas, with the major exports of wool and mutton. Another fun fact, Punta Arenas is home to the most southern Ski resort in the world.
Most of the major attractions are concentrated around the central square or Plaza Munoz Gamero (Plaza de Armas) and this is where we started our day as it is central and is where the ships’s shuttle drops us off. Last year, with our smaller ship, we had docked pretty much right in town, not so this time. We were docked about a 15 minute shuttle drive from the square. We visited some of the vendors we saw last year and of course had to pick up a few items, actually a couple of really cute penguins. Like yesterday we basically did another big loop around the city visiting many of the same sights and viewpoints from last year. The best part of the day today, well actually a couple things, but the weather today was fantastic, could not have been better, solid sunshine and pretty close to 20 degrees celsius - last year we had some major showers. No, we did not make the trek over to the cemetery, highly recommended though and we thought about the Nao Victoria Museum, which was still a 45 minute walk from the ship but opted out when using my new camera I was able to zoom into and see the replica Megellan ship, so good there. The second best part was revisiting the Sara Braun house and the Shackleton Bar, could never get enough of that place, feels like an old boys club, big deep leather chairs, high round tables, wood walls with a great classic bar. For us it was of like visiting an old friend. Had to take some of the pics of the Shackleton Endurance Expedition pictures on the wall. We had a great lunch and yes, fantastic wifi. Some Sara Braun background, Casa de Sara Braun - this mansion was built by french architect, Numa Mayer, for Sara Braun, the wife of a Portuguese sailor turned millionaire businessman. All the materials, pieces of furniture and art were shipped from Europe and the mansion was declared a national monument in 1974. This mansion and now connecting hotel have a most beautiful atrium restaurant and bar, and the for mentioned, Shackleton Bar, just beautiful. Ernest Shackleton visited and stayed here where he had asked or shall I say pleaded for Sara Braun’s help in saving his men from Elephant island. An amazing story for those looking for a great read, I believe the book is entitled, The Endurance. So again, very appropriate us making this visit and concluding the Shackleton adventure portion of our cruise. Funny sidebar, upon leaving Jan visited the ladies room, I sat in the main reception area waiting for her, a few minutes goes by and I see Jan coming through the front door of the hotel??? Well, the cubicle she was in had locked her in, she had scrambled through the window to escape her capture, lol. I am sure this would have looked very interesting from a casual viewer outside - a possible dine and dash? The hotel staff thoroughly apologized and would have it fixed immediately.
We did a little more retail therapy before heading back to the ship at about 5pm. We had a 7:30 all aboard time today, so no rush. It is nice chilling and relaxing on the ship while most guests are still off. Loving the cruising life. Sidebar number two, We ran into Dolly earlier today, Dolly is probably on her 28th or 29th consecutive world cruise, she clocks in at about 96 years young. She is still pretty spry, still walks on her own but does have someone escorting her most of the time (crew member). Well we asked her if she is getting off the ship today, she said, why, I’ve seen it all, been here many times, everyone else can get off. I think she likes it this way, the ship is quite and she can really enjoy the public spaces without being bothered. Dolly is a bit of an icon on board, I think she should write a book… Our day concluded with an excellent dinner followed by an incredible sunset, somewhere around 9:30 - beautiful. A few pics of the day, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day - “To learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.” - Stephen R. Covey
I fell like it was yesterday, that little Ernest Shackleton bar. Cheers
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