Punta Arenas is an important port on the Magellan Straight at the very south of Chile. Of its 170,000 people, about a third are of Croatian decent.
In 1518, Ferdinand Magellan left Seville in Spain with five ships. After several problems including a couple of mutinies they found a route through to the Pacific Ocean. The Magellan Straight. It meant they didn’t have to deal with the unpredictable hazards of Cape Horn. One of the five ships made it all the way back to Seville but Magellan was not on it. He was killed in the Philippines.
Another historical figure who had ties to Punta Arenas was Ernest Shackleton who led three expeditions to Antarctica, not always with the best results.
I took a long walk by the water and saw some interesting things.
From there we drove to Torres del Paine national park. Along the way we came across a couple of gauchos crossing the road.
We also saw rheas, guanacos and flamingos.
Once we got to Torres del Paine we took a short hike.
We stayed in a hotel right on Grey Lake and at the end of the lake you could see Grey Glacier.
Next day we had a longer hike.
I found out that glaciers make a rumbling noise like thunder when they move. This one was moving a lot.