Let me begin by saying, Patagonia is hands down one of the most incredible places I've ever been and I'm so lucky to have been able to go.
On February 13th/14th we started our jouney, first with dinner and a movie here in Santiago before our flight left at 2:30 AM. We definitely made a scene, walking into the nice movie theater with our backpacking backpacks and smaller packs, but had a great dinner and saw the movie Valentines Day which I really enjoyed. It was a great evening. We then took a transfer van service from the mall to the airport and experienced how different and more relaxed flying is everywhere but the US. For instance, Gina had a fork in her backpack when we went through security but when she couldn't find it to get rid of it, they just let her keep it. Another example, some man pretty much almost jumped and definitely pulled up his fists towards a man at the counter and they didn't even call security. Liquids? No problem! It was a pretty nice change!
After minimal sleep on the 3 hour plane ride, we arrive in Punta Arenas at 6AM and had our first experience of being cold since getting to Chile! We took a transfer service into town to the main square from the airport and then realized our hostel was actually a decent walk from that point, but started on our way. This is when we first experience the dog gangs of Punta Arenas, got stalked by said stray dog gang, got slightly lost, and then took a $2 taxi ride to our hostel that it turned out we were super near. We arrived and met our new best friend Teresa, the hostel owner, who found us a room, fed us breakfast (toast and butter and powdered coffee and homemade jam), fell asleep on the couch while waiting for our room, received the room we then dubbed our penthouse with 5 beds and a private bath for super cheap, and took a 2 hour nap.
Once we were rested up, we layered up and headed to town, with stops at a really cool cemetary, the church, an awesome ave palta lunch at a place called Chcolatta that hated us by the end of this trip but at this point was decorated with valentines day decorations, and then wandered town to the market in the center square and such. We bought some gloved and head warmers and other goodies, and then headed to the bus office and bought our tickets to Puerto Natales for the following Wednesday.
Punta Arenas is a super cute little town that we wandered a lot this day and the following two days, to the beach on the Straight of Magellan, stores with Antarctica souveniers, and much more. We then bought dinner supplies to make burritos and when back and chilled at the hostel. Our hostel was really cute and homey and the owner was super nice, which is great because little did we know we'd later be stuck here!
At this point in my hand written journal, I wrote that I overpacked, but that is NOT true. For probably the first time in my life I wore every clothing item I packed on a trip. . .many multiple times.
The next day, February 15th, was a day of epxloration! I awoke to discover that Jess had bought her ticket to visit me, which started the day off great! We ate breakfast at the hostel, walked to Unimarc (the supermarket) for water, and then took a taxi out of town to the Reserva Nacional Magallanes, a little forest reserve up in the hills behind the city with great views of Punta Arenas, the Straight of Magellan, and Tierra del Fuego. We went for a 2 hour little hike up to a Mirador (lookout) with a gorgeous view! While hanging out up at the mirador, Gina and I found out we had gotten the house we wanted to live in! Yay!After the little hike, we went to Zona Franca, a place with really cheap stores such as our new favorite, Sanchez y Sanchez, where Gina bought some more warm clothes, some people bought ponchos, and we were entertained by poor english translations and funny spanish sayings on shirts.
We then ate lunch at a super cute little cafe up on a hill overlooking Punta Arenas, we were the only ones inside and it was basically just like someones house and their kitchen. It was really neat! After, we walked back into town and got some ice cream and walked down to the beach with it which was awesome! Every time we stood on teh beach we had to remind ourselves how insane it was that we were on a beach at the Straight of Magellan at the verrrrry tip of South America! We then walked to the grocery store, bought some delicious dinner fixings including pasta, cake, and wine, and went back to the hostel and went for a run before dinner. Of course, it wouldn't be an outing in Punta Arenas if we weren't stalked by a gang of scary dogs, but it was a beautiful and awesome feeling run! That night, we met some studying abroad students from Stanford at our hostel and talked to them for a bit and then went to bed.
On our last full day in Punta Arenas on this side of the trip (and we thought in general), we went to Isla Magdalena, the penguin island! This marked me having been gone form the US for 1 month, which was hard to believe! We slept in and ate breakfast and then headed into town. Luckily we did so, because the penguin office had lost our reservation but it all worked out and we got tickets anyways. We went to an outdoor shop and I invested in 1 more long sleeved hiking shirt for the W, which was a GREAT investment, and then ate a 3 course delcious lunch for $7 US before grabbing a taxi to teh Penguin Boat!
We took the Melinka ferry for 2 hours through the Straight to Isla Magdalena which si absolutely FULL of Magellanic Penguins. THOUSANDS! We spent an hour on the island, just walking around and hanging out with penguins. It was CRAZY and sooooo COOL! Thousands of penguins, up close and personal, within 1 foot! Definitely will never forget it! On the boat back, we had a little impromptu nap tiem before eating cereal for breakfast, packing, and heading to bed for the last time in Punta Arenas on this side of the trip!
More to come about the rest of the trip! I have to pack to move first!
my favorite part of this post: "the penguin office had lost our reservation."
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