Wednesday, 15 January, 2014

We awoke this morning to a spectacular sunrise over the Straits of Magellan in Punta Arenas, (translated: Sandy Point) the southernmost city in Chile. This is a windswept and semi-arid, flat region of Patagonia. Very little snow falls here, and rain is quite scarce also.  This is the peak of summer and the highest temps average in the mid 40's, which is exactly what we had today . This is also the same city that Ernest Shackleton brought his rescued crew of the ice-crushed Endurance to in 1916 after they endured over 2 years of barely surviving on an ice floe and Elephant Island.  It is one of the most amazing stories of human survival ever recorded. We were able to visit the exact spot he finally got his men back onto "Terra Firma." This city is also very firmly entrenched in the history of Ferdinand Magellan who first set foot here in 1520 and also discovered and named the passage the Straits of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, thus bypassing the dreaded and deadly Drake Passage just beyond Cape Horn.

Today was very special because we were able to go out to Otway Sound, a little over an hour from Punta Arenas to have a Penguin encounter.  These penguins are smaller and less colorful than the Kings and Emperors, but just as cute and animated. They burrow into the small sandy hills along the shoreline and come out quite often to take a swim and get a bite to eat. We probably got to see about 250 or so for an hour, and we got within 5-6 feet of some. They are protected so we were unable to walk in their midst or touch them, but they waddled up quite close to us.... one even came within about 6 inches of our feet, but he seemed a bit scared of us.  We took some great videos, but at this time are unable to send any for your viewing pleasure because of limited satellite internet bandwidth.

Not only did we get to see penguins, but we also saw thousands of cormorants, and 14 spectacular Chilean Condors, each with a wingspan of 9-10 feet. For whatever reason, they decided to entertain us by flying directly over us for about 5 minutes, hovering lazily in the strong 35mph westerly winds. They are HUGE, and look like giant vultures. We also got to see several pairs of beautiful Utland Geese, and some Llamas and Alpacas.  Marla's Alpaca hooded sweater, which she purchased in Castro de Chiloe, came in very handy, actually it was so warm she got too hot.  Alpaca wool is a valued and beautiful product native to Chile. We returned to Punta Arenas early in the afternoon and visited the town center filled with monuments to early explorers, especially Magellan, and the local handicraft marketplace. 

Following that we returned to our ship and, wouldn't you know, we had to EAT again!! Dinner this evening started with a brown-sugar caramelized grapefruit and orange slice dish, then minestrone soup and chilled roasted peach soup.  Marla's entree was an Asian salad topped with a grilled salmon filet. Mine was barbecued ribs and a macadamia encrusted chicken breast with garlic mashed potatoes.  Dessert was a cinnamon apple sundae. WOW. 

We're already on the go again and have entered the Cockburn Channel off of the Straits of Magellan. We will soon enter the Beagle Channel and then into Glacier Alley, home to several of the most beautiful glaciers in the world. Tomorrow, shortly after noon, we will arrive in Ushuaia (pronounced oo-shoo-why-uh) Argentina, the southernmost city in the world.  We will take a 5 hour tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park. More on that tomorrow night. Hoping all is well for everyone. 

Love you all,

Tom and Marla