Punta Arenas

Less than 12 hours after my mom and I got home from Europe, I was back at the airport starting my fourth journey to Antarctica--but my first journey through South America, to Palmer Station (on the Antarctic Peninsula).

It was a gorgeous flight from Santiago down to Punta Arenas, on the southern point of the South American continent, the Andes soaring out the window to our west.

And a relief to end another 24 hours of air travel and be able to take a little break in Punta Arenas. This fancy new town sign was recently built in anticipation of 2020 being the 500th anniversary of the explorer Magellan discovering the straits that are named for him, the first time a European, at least, had been able to sail around the Americas from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Though the town of Punta Arenas itself is only about 150 years old, it is known primarily for being the gateway to the Straits of Magellan, so this anniversary will be a big deal here.

And we had some atypically clear weather to enjoy this sweet town.

Snow crab empanadas...yum...

And of course, the frothing seas clapping up against the edge of town, relentlessly...

I appreciate how lazy Chilean dogs seem to be, even on a day where the temps are slightly below "crisp."

Fittingly, the main plaza of Punta Arenas is centered around a statue of Magellan.

And on one side of that statue column is a human depiction of Tierra del Fuego. It's said if you rub his toe, it will bring you good luck for a safe passage across the Drake. I rubbed that toe like no one's business. And we'll talk more about the Drake in a future post.

Lots of my first day in Punta Arenas was spent aboard the Lawrence M. Gould (hereafter, the LMG), an icebreaker that sails regularly for Palmer with passengers, and otherwise hosts science experiments in the Antarctic seas. Tomorrow we will all board the LMG, sleep aboard for the night, and--if everything goes according to plan--set sail first thing Wednesday morning for Antarctica.

Behind the LMG, you can see the Nathaniel B. Palmer, the second icebreaker owned by the U.S. Antarctic Program, and an even larger ship that never comes to Palmer because the Palmer dock cannot support it. I don't know how rare it is for both vessels to be docked at Punta Arenas simultaneously, but it was cool to see.

So, this is my last evening with good wifi. On the ship starting tomorrow, I'll really only be able to text a bit, so you won't hear from me here until after I've arrived at Palmer at least five days from now (tomorrow in port, one day making our way through the Straights of Magellan, two days across the Drake Passage, and a fourth day traveling down the Antarctic peninsula to Palmer Station). Then I will spend several posts, I'm sure, catching you up on the voyage before we start covering life in Palmer.

In any case, don't worry if you don't hear from me for a week or so; I'll be back with news from the 7th continent once we get there!