Our time aboard the Palmer has come to an end when we arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, after an uneventful sailing across the Strait of Magallanes last Saturday. The water is no longer of a deep blue color, but a whitish green. We got to see plenty oil exploration platforms along the strait.
Sailing on the Strait of Magellan on our way to Punta Arenas, Chile
The deck filled with people expecting to see Punta Arenas, and it soon appeared far away. Seagulls welcomed us back to land as we approached our destination.
We waited for a while for immigration to clear us and found ourselves standing on solid ground for the first time since February 20 at around 9:00 pm. The Palmer diaspora dispersed around town.
Punta Arenas as seen from the Palmer as we arrive back to solid land after 64 days at sea.
The first stop was the nearest supermarket since it had the nearest ATM and fresh fruits. Once we all had our pesos and some had their apples, we walked the desolated downtown streets. Not many people go out during Saturday on Easter, but we wanted to walk more than 100 yards in a straight line.
I immediately felt at home with the architecture and the language, since I grew up in Mexico. It did not take us long to find the main plaza, where the old trees on it look gorgeous in the fall.
The Plaza Muñoz Gamero received us with a great display of fall colors
There is a statue of Fernando de Magallanes in the center of the plaza. The tradition says that people attempting to cross the Drake Passage should rub one of the toes of the sculpture for a safe crossing. It seems to work, since no one that has had a fatal crossing has come back to complain. I figured we owed the rubbing with interests since we had already safely crossed it.
There is a statue of Ferdinand Magellan in the central plaza in Punta Arenas. The tradition says people attempting to cross the Drake Passage should rub this toe.
I went with Jim, Chris Measures and Kristin to have 'empanaditas' and a pisco sour at a beautiful hotel that once was a small palace. Legend has it that Shackleton stopped in the very same place when he passed by Punta Arenas a hundred years ago.
There is some beautiful architecture in Punta Arenas, like the José Nogueria Hotel that used to be the small palace more than 100 years ago.
Sunday was moving day for me. I waited until 12:30 for customs to check our bags and then headed to a hotel. I spent most of the day looking for a store where I could buy a basketball. I had organized a collection on the ship to buy a basketball for the crew, since they have a hoop on the helo hangar. Their ball was in bad shape even before we used it for the Antarctic soccer match when we were in the ice. Not much is open on Eater Sunday, so I headed towards the outskirts of town in search of the new mall.
The trip helped me discover the 'non-tourist' parts of town, as I rode the 'colectivos' at high speed through the narrow streets. I did not find the basketball at any store at the mall, but realized there was a very good spanish movie at the cinema. I returned later to get my spanish-language film fix. The suspense-thriller I saw was really well done; 'Los ojos de Julia', which will probably be translated as 'Julia's eyes', in case you are curious.
I finally found a basketball this morning, now that the downtown stores are open, and found my way towards the Palmer, where I had left the computer performing some data backups overnight. We had enough money for a soccer ball and more ping pong balls as well. Now that I am back on board of the ship, I am hoping they will let me stay indefinitely, since my body is no longer used to a static ground. I am feeling land-sick!
We are downloading all the equipment and invaluable samples that we collected in the Antarctic waters. The labs are empty, waiting for the next batch of scientists, and the galley has fresh vegetables again.
We will have our farewell dinner tonight at a local restaurant. It will be sad to say goodbye to all the incredible people with whom I shared this amazing adventure. I will leave Punta Arenas at 6:10 am tomorrow, and spend 11 hours in Santiago de Chile before boarding the next plane. I plan on heading towards the capital city for a super short visit. My next plane will take me to Dallas, TX, from where I will take the last one to Madison, WI, just in time for a ceremony at the University where my wife will receive an award.