{"id":1465,"date":"2019-02-18T21:31:11","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T16:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bombaynomads.com\/cms\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2020-04-01T18:57:37","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:27:37","slug":"patagonia-penguins-in-punta-arenas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bombaynomads.com\/cms\/2019\/02\/patagonia-penguins-in-punta-arenas.html","title":{"rendered":"Patagonia: Penguins in Punta Arenas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Punta Arenas is the southernmost \u201cmajor city\u201d of Chile, situated on the Magellan Strait, at 53\u00b0 South latitude. Magellan Strait is a narow sea passage at the tip of the South American continent \u2013 between mainland South America and the island of Tierra del Fuego, and is named after the famous circumnavigator Ferdinand Magellan. Like Ushuaia<\/a>, Punta Arenas was a major refuelling stop during the crossing from Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, till the construction of the Panama Canal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it is a city of\naround 125,000 inhabitants, visited by lots of cruise ships and vessels for\nAntarctica. We spent 6 days in Punta Arenas, including New Year\u2019s Day, for some\nmuch-needed R&R. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journey from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ushuaia is 630 km from Punta Arenas by road. There are no direct flights between the two southern cities, so road was the only option. We used Bus Sur, which is a renowned bus operator in Patagonia. The bus ride is usually 10 hours long, which includes crossing into Chile at the San Sebastien border crossing, and also a ferry ride across the Magellan strait. There is no option of an overnight sleeper, because the borderpost is open in daylight hours only. The bus, was very comfortable and newish. It was fully air conditioned, had generous legroom, the seats inclined about 120\u00b0, and it even had an extendable footrest which supported our calves too. We departed on time at 08:15, and on the smooth Argentine highways, we slept through the first few hours and awoke only at the Argentine border post at around 11:00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Argentine and Chilean border posts are not next to each other \u2013 they are actually 25km apart. Bus passengers have to get down, queue up at the counters to get processed, and then get back on to the bus and drive to the Chilean post, where their bags are scanned and their visas stamped. There is no visible boundary wall\/fence between the two nations and not a whole lot of security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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San Sebastien border post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had a bit of misfortune at the Argentine border post, because one of the bus passengers, was missing the entry stamp on their passport. It turns out, it was missed when they entered the country at Buenos Aires airport. It took two hours for the border police to consult with their superiors in Buenos Aires, before they allowed them to go ahead. The rest for the bus was done in 10 minutes, so it was a long wait in the middle of nowhere, and we did not even know why we were waiting (the bus driver could not leave the passengers there, so the whole bus waited).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small refreshment shop had ham-n-cheese sandwiches and coffee, which became our saviour. We were only carrying some biscuits otherwise – and we did not see any provision for lunch anywhere. At the Chilean border, they scanned all our bags, and were very interested in any prohibited food items – fruits\/vegetables, dairy products etc. – rather than security. By the time everyone was done with Chilean formalities, it was 15:00. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Empty Car Ferry in Magellan Strait<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Crossing the Magellan Straits was a smooth, if cold affair. There are two car ferries that operate in tandem, so the frequency of the ferries is every 45 minutes. We were lucky to roll into the dock just as the incoming ferry was coming in, so thankfully we did not have to wait much. The ferry was small-to-medium sized, accommodating 4 long trucks and our bus, apart from a couple of dozen cars. We got off the bus and climbed up to the narrow corridor above the deck – there was no shelter for passengers. The wind was quite strong, blowing our caps off our heads, not to mention chilly. Mercifully, the ride was just 20 min and soon we were on the mainland. We resumed our bus journey at 18:00 and rolled into the Bus Sur terminal* in Punta Arenas at 20:00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\nPunta Arenas doesn\u2019t have a common bus terminus – each bus company runs their\nown terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Car Ferry in Magellan Strait<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Something became\nvery apparent to us as soon as we reached Punta Arenas – and would probably be\nvisible to most travellers coming into Chile from Argentina – that development\nand prosperity of Chile is much better, compared to its neighbour<\/p>\n\n\n\n