Patagonia. A world far far away, at the Southern tip of Chile. And of the Americas.
For us, Patagonia started from above, in the plane. It was almost empty and we had secured a window seat. Huge mountains, rivers of ice, snow, clear blue lakes… The wind was very strong and the ride was rough. We flew above the Pacific Ocean as the pilot was trying to land and we dropped dangerously low. I kept my eyes open, half amazed and half scared. We made it.
Five little hours from relaxed and sunny Santagio to the wind-wracked city of Punta Arenas. Same country but another world. We were on the shore of the Strait of Magellan. Pastel houses arranged around a Plaza Las Armas (with a Magellan statue) and a regular grid street plan. Crisp blue sky, clouds shaped like I have never seen before and the deep blue sea. Wow.
We were not sure what kind of weather to expect. Sure, it´s summer down there, but we are still relatively close to the South pole. But it turned out better than we thought. Windy but above 10C. Manageable.
The city was quiet when we arrived. We grabbed a pollo con queso sandwich and walked around. We lost track of time and next thing we knew, it was 9:00 pm. But the sun was still high in the sky… and when we went to sleep, past midnight, it was not even dark yet. Weird! I guess Nordic people are used to this, as well as locals of course, but we had never experienced 20 hours sunshine before.
The small beach was another experience. The sea looked really deep but the water was clear. I took off my shoes and tasted the water… freezing cold. And I mean it. Nevermind the bunch of local kids swimming and playing in the water with their shirts on.
Overall, Punta Arenas was a nice place. A quiet city, with a quite unique location. A relaxing spot, before heading to Tierra Del Fuego, down South…
Ah you are in the other half of the world. Yes it is like that in Norway in the summertime. The Land of the Midnight Sun. I am like you, I always have to dip my bare toes in the water no matter how cold it is. Water is a source of life to me, I always have to dip in! Amazing photos!
WOW Zhu!! I’d so love to go to the Patagonia!! And that picture of the distances to the cities es too cool!!
For someone who planned to stay in Central America you have strayed a bit south. How very exciting. Your photo of the Midnight sun is absolutely breath taking. Thank you, thank you.
Whoa. Midnight sun in the other direction. It reminds me of my stay in Denmark back in July, which happens to be my northernmost place I have visited. No midnight sun, but the sun never set until sometime after ten PM!
Beautiful pictures once again! I like the wooden posts with world’s distance. When are you coming?
Journalistic post as always and very good pictures.
I knew you’d miss winter in Canada so much you now have to go fetch the cold down South 😀
Zhu, I am enjoying your travels so much, thank you for sharing with all of us! I keep having to wipe drool off of the keyboard after I look at your pictures. What an amazing experience. I hope that I’ll be able to go to the same places some day! I never knew there were actual cities and people in the Tierra del Fuego/Straits of Magellan. I always imagined it to be like Antarctica, but I just read that there’s apparently even a local beer under the mark Beagle. Can’t wait to see the next installment of your journeys!
Oh how I envy you so much! All my life I have been dreaming to go to Patagonia after reading an old article in National Geographic! Must save up from now on!
@DianeCA – Same here! I can never resist… even in Arica where there were huuuge jellyfishes!
@Aiglee – It´s quite a long way but it worth it 🙂
@Tulsa Gentleman – Strayed? nah… 😆 Just a few thousands kilometers South… 😆 I never know where I will end up when I travel!
@Linguist-in-Waiting – Same here. I have never seen it in the Northern hemisphere!
@Bluefish – Not sure… Give it another month maybe… we really don´t have a define plan.
@Froggywoogie – Oh, you have no idea 😆 And I also escape a two months bus strike in Ottawa apparently!
@the writer – It is a special place. It had always made me dream as well. I almost cried when we arrived!
@Soleil – There is also a local beer called “Austral”, Feng tasted it. There are all these cool stuffs… I collect plastic bags which say “Patagonia” cause the name is cool 😆
Hey Zhu,
Fantastic place! I have an Argentinian friend who told me that Patagonia was simply amazing!
20 hours sun? Wow…
Cold water at the beach…come to Portugal LOL! Seriously, there must be much worse than here…
I loved the photos: definitely it is a great place to visit :D! You are blessed!
Have fun guys, and keep us posted!
Cheers