From Punta Arenas

Greetings from Arcadia,

After a couple days of seriously grueling travel (5 airports, 4 flights, 3 time zones, 2 days, 1 really scuzzy hotel room, and 0 minutes of sleep), I made it to Punta Arenas, Chile, and finally got a good night’s sleep and a little peace and quiet.

I spent today washing clothing in the bathtub (currently praying they will dry sometime in this millennium), exploring Punta Arenas, and testing out my rain coat’s mettle by walking the 2+ miles back from town in a steady drizzle, then a steady downpour.

The Museo Regional de Magallanes is where the rich and fabulous of old world Chile lived and played until they turned it into a museum where you can’t use flash photography and you have to wear little booties over your shoes to enter. But you know me and antique furniture (or maybe you don’t if you haven’t been to my house)…it’s like catnip. I wanted to roll around on it and put the gorgeous walnut buffet in my checked baggage. They held my passport hostage in exchange for a laminated walking guide that was written in English. The museum lady put my passport on the counter next to her desk (in the entryway of the museum), and then something interesting happened…I saw her making laps around the rooms, I guess to make sure people weren’t flouting the no-flash-photography rule, and realized that my clearly visible American passport was chilling on her desk, completely available to anyone who would have liked to “borrow” it. Thankfully it was still there waiting for me when I returned the guide. I’ll be a little more wary of the passport exchanging thing in future.

This is the Plaza de Armas, in the center of town, with the statue of Ferdinand Magellan, who is being held up on his perch by what appear to be mermaids. So, this is either a historical figure or a Chilean fever dream that was memorialized in bronze. Also, side note, the further south I travel, the less I find English speakers (and the more I wish I knew Spanish). This includes the lovely gentleman at the tourist depot next to the plaza, who spoke very broken English while pointing at things on a map and explaining about “pinguinos.” There’s a tour boat that will take you out to an island full on penguins to frolic amongst them, but while I enjoy the novelty of wild penguins (as opposed to their brethren in our local zoo), I was unwilling to pay $80 for the privilege of stepping on their poo.

I am leaving tomorrow for an eight day riding trek in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park. This was my reason for coming to Chile and a major bucket list item that was a must-do, despite the enormous expense. I’m really hoping it will live up to my dreams and expectations, and will update you on what the Patagonian wilderness looks like from horseback when I return to civilization.

Faithfully yours despite the jet lag,

Sarah