Monday--February 21--Punta Arenas, Chile

Paper Boy

Talk about impulsive.  I went out this morning with the full intension of buying a bus ticket.  It turns out there are two bus companies that go from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia.  I went to both to find out what when and how much.  For some reason I didn’t buy a ticket.  Then I went to Comapa, a tour company, to find out about going on a boat tour to see the penguins on Magdallena Island.  The woman told me there was a boat tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. returning around 10:00 p.m.  The boat ride is two hours each way and you spend one hour on the island.  Sounded a bit weird to go so late but I guess I didn’t have much choice.  

incredible yarn, sorry I can't carry any home

I went and had churros and a cafe mocha at Chocolota, yummy.  I noticed next to me a woman was on her computer typing in Hebrew.  I turned to her and said “shalom”.  She laughed and asked if I spoke Hebrew.  

No, but I recognize it.  Not many people type in Hebrew I said.

Then I told her that my daughter is in Israel.  I spoke with her and husband for a while.  They were on a cruise and had come from Ushuaia and spending the day in Punta Arenas ending in Valparaiso.  It was nice to talk with them.

I walked back to the hotel thinking I would take the city tour that the hotel was advertising,  given by locals, since the penguin tour was tomorrow.  When I got back to the hotel I asked the lady to call about the tour for me.  However, in the lobby was a Chilean family waiting to go on a penguin tour.  

"Oh, I thought that only was tomorrow", I commented

"No, we are waiting to go today", the mom said.

Really.  

I asked the woman from the hotel if I could join their tour and she said she would call and find out.  

Sure enough there was a space for me and for 32,000 Chilean Pesos (about $70.00) off I went.  

This was much better.  Not only was this boat going earlier but the sun was out and there wasn’t any wind.  In this part of the world the weather can and does change on a dime.  So I was glad to grab this opportunity.  

I had just enough time to get my coat and camera before the transfer arrived.

A van picked us up at 2:00.  There were a few other people in the van and we made a few more stops before driving about 1/2 hour to where the boat was docked. The boat was not so big but seemed sea worthy enough and there were about 8 other people waiting for us.  

The ride out to the island did take about 2 hours and there was a nice group of people on the boat.  The Chilean family of five (from my hotel)  3 sons 16,13 and 5, the mom, who is a CNN Chile news anchor 

and the dad (didn’t find out much about him).  They all spoke excellent English because the boys go to a British school and the mom also attended a British school.  I don’t know for sure but I imagine the dad probably did too.    There was a nice couple from Britain (Anne & Neil)  

Anne & Neil

who I spoke to most of the time, a few French people and a couple from Mexico.  Everyone was very sociable except for the three French people.  When the oldest Chilean son discovered I came from California he wanted to know if I’d ever been to Mammoth.  He is on a ski team and the team went to Mammoth for two months this summer (January and February) but he couldn’t go because it was too expensive.  

It was a glorious day and the sea was quite smooth.  The crew wanted us to stay below deck and if you wanted to go up on the deck you had to put a life vest on.  I went up on the deck for a while and had a nice conversation with Neil, about Chilean and other worldly politics.  He was hoping to see whales but I didn’t think it was the season for whales to be here.  I’m no expert.   

His wife Anne wasn’t as seafaring as we were and stayed down below.  They are traveling for two months just in Chile and we compared notes.  Part of the fun in traveling is meeting other travelers and discussing what’s good and what’s not.  Everyone tells me Torre Del Paine and El Chalten are fabulous.  I’m really looking forward to visiting both of these places.

    

When we went back down below there were cakes and coffee or tea.  Other than the safety instruction we didn’t get much information from the crew.  

As we approached Magdalen Island http://www.seabirds.org/study-chile.htm  you could see hundreds, probably thousands of Magellan penguins.  This island is a National Park so the penguins are protected.  

Once we got to the island the crew had a hard time tying the boat to the dock.  It was low tide and not in our favor.  Eventually they were able to rig something and believe me it wasn’t easy getting off the boat.

The one bit of information we got was that there are 150,000 Magellan Penguins that live on this island.  There can be as many as 200,000 but at this time of year the babies have left so there are only parents living here.  The babies have gone somewhere else, not sure where that is.

Being on this island was incredible.  I felt like I was in a movie and kept reminding myself I wasn’t in the zoo.  The penguins were very well adjusted to having people walking around.  They  string are barriers so you can’t walk into the penguins space but they walk back and forth and you get very close.  It was so funny to watch them walk and hear them bark.  I don’t know what the sound is but I think it’s either a  mating call or some territorial thing. 

They point their head toward the sky, open their beaks and start howling. 

I’d never heard anything like it.  I was in Happy Feet, although I think that was a different type of penguin.  There are 17 different kinds of penguins.

me and my new friend

Magellanic penguins are named after Ferdinand Magellan who first witnessed them in 1519 on his initial voyage around the tip of South America. The Magellanic penguin is the largest of the temperate climate penguins (genus Spheniscus), which include: the Humboldt, the Galapagos, and the African penguins. During the warmer weather of the breeding season Magellanics lose the feathers around their eyes. When it starts to get cold again the feathers grow back. In contrast to many penguin species who feed chicks preferentially both Magellanic chicks are given equal care and often both survive.

We spent about an hour here, I took about 200 photos and  couldn’t get enough of watching them.  Definitely worth the trip and honestly can’t tell you what or if there was a name to the company that took us on this boat cruise.  

The return trip was not as smooth and easy as getting to the island.  The crew offered us some sandwiches and drink on the way back but the wind and waves picked up so it took twice as long to get back.  When we approached the dock we left from it was apparent that the captain was having difficulty getting the boat close enough to stop.  After trying to maybe 20 minutes he gave up and returned the boat to the sea.  It was another 45 minutes before we finally stopped at another port.  We didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly 10:00 p.m.  

Love

So much for a 5 hour tour.  However, I was glad I went and couldn’t imagine beginning this journey at 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon.  You may never get back.

Anyway we did arrive back to the hotel safe and sound.  I just wanted to get into bed.  I was so surprised when I saw the Chilean family of 5 go out for dinner.  I was beat and went to my room.

Hope you enjoy the photos of the penguins.

Sunday--February 20-Santiago to Punta Arenas

Sunday--February 20--Santiago--Punta Arenas

Gate 24

I had asked one of the doormen yesterday to arrange for a taxi at 8:15 a.m. so I could get to the airport for my 10:20 a.m. flight to Punta Arenas.  Bernadetta had told me that they would do that and would call me when the taxi arrived.  Ha.

I didn’t trust this and so at 8:00 a.m. I took my luggage and went downstairs.  The two men that were there said there was no taxi ordered and that the taxi service didn’t work on Sunday.  Really.   I had been a bit nervous about this happening mostly because it was Sunday.

  

It didn’t take too long standing on the street for a taxi to come by.  Actually in the end it was probably for the best because it was much cheaper than if they had called.  When I’d asked the doorman to order a taxi he told me it would cost 15,000 pesos, when I arrived in Santiago I paid 18,000 pesos at the airport “official” taxi and this morning I paid only 7,000.  Live and learn.

The taxi driver was very nice and it only took about 20 minutes to get to the airport.  I had plenty of time before my flight.

I went to check in at the ticket counter but the lady told me the counter was only for checking the baggage and that I needed to get my boarding pass from the machine.  These are the same machines we have in America airports for “express” check-in’s.  What was interesting about these machines was they had a scanner and I needed to put my passport in.  I put my passport in the slot and all my flight information appeared on the screen.  Kind of cool and kind of scary.

Now I had my boarding pass so I walked back to the ticket counter and checked my one suitcase.  

I had about an hour and really wanted some coffee.  I went through security and the only option for coffee was Starbucks.  Really.  This is the first Starbucks I had and I wasn’t so happy but having the coffee was much more important then caring about it being “Starbucks”.  The grande latte was nearly $5.00 and not so good.  Oh well.

My boarding pass said the plane would leave from gate 28 but then I looked at the monitor which indicated that my flight was leaving from gate 24.  I walked to gate 24 and the screen over the gate desk said it was the flight to Punta Arenas, via Puerto Montt so I sat down.  Not long after waiting at the gate, I overheard someone ask the woman at the counter if this was the correct gate for the flight.  She said no the flight was leaving from gate 28.  I got up and went over to ask the woman myself and pointed to the sign showing the Punta Arenas flight, but she said the information was wrong and that I needed to go to gate 28.  Don’t believe everything you read.

The flight left Santiago on time.  First stop Puerto Montt which took about 1 1/2 hours.  The captain was great every so often he would come on the loud speaker and in English and Spanish explain where we were and what sites you could see out the window.  It was a glorious day and we could see lots.

Puerto Montt is in the Chilean Lake District and I was sorry I wasn’t stopping here but I had to make choices knowing it’s not possible to see everything.  My goal was to get to the south before the weather got too bad, as Patagonia’s weather is very unpredictable.  We weren’t on the ground very long in Puerto Montt before taking off to Punta Arenas.     

[A small tangent.

Figuring out this part of my trip, traveling between Chile and Argentina in Patagonia, was the most complex puzzle so far. I’ve spent hours on the internet over the last few weeks trying to find out about transportation between cities and communicating with hotels in the towns that I want to visit.  I needed to make transportation and hotel arrangements around my March 1 flight from Ushuaia to El Calafate. 

The first problem I had was finding out about bus transportation between Punta Arenas and Ushuaia.  I had found a 4 night cruise ship for $3,000 but wasn’t going to spend that so I was looking for a bus.  After much digging I found one bus company that I was able to communicate with that said they had a bus (which takes 12 hours) that leaves on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for $60.00 and I could buy a ticket in Punta Arenas.  I felt better about that.  Next I had to figure out how I was going to get from El Calafate to El Chalten (a 3 hour bus ride) after my visit to Torre Del Paine.  I booked a hotel in Torre Del Paine that is suppose to pick me up in El Calafate and bring me back to El Calafate.  Also I was concerned about getting transportation from El Chalten to Bariloche, which I have now discovered exists but only goes on odd days and is a 2 day bus ride.

Traveling alone has it’s advantages in that I don’t need to worry about anyone else and I can be extremely flexible.   But all this “travel as you go” has me working all the time.  I can tell you that Trip Advisor is extremely good as is Booking.com.]

So I arrived in Punta Arenas and went to look for a taxi.  They said there were no taxi’s but I could take a van.  O.k.  

The Ilaia Hotel far exceeded my expectations.  Jenny and Sandra had told me how kind the people were to them but I have to tell you the hotel is more like a home than a hotel.  The people were so warm and welcoming and the room was fresh and clean.  The first person I met was Ricardo.  He spoke English and was very helpful.  I was rather hungry since all I had was the two snacks on the plane and it was nearly 3:00 p.m. 

The lobby and breakfast room

I walked to the main part of town and found Chocolata, mostly known for churros and chocolate drinks but they had sandwiches as well.  I ordered a tuna sandwich which was so huge that I could only eat half of it.  I took the other half back to the hotel and ate it later.  

I walked around their Plaza del Armas and then down to the beach.  

Patagonia Statue in the Plaza del Armas

explorers tools

The weather was incredible.  All I’d heard about was how windy Punta Arenas can be and there was literally NO wind.  The sun was out the sky was blue and the air still. 

 It was Sunday and I think the entire town was soaking up the fantastic weather at the beach. This town has a population of about 110,000 people but it felt much smaller. 

I had no idea how long the beach walkway was or which direction I should go.  I just strolled along the beach for an hour.  The sun was shining brightly and it was nearly 7:00 p.m.  Gotta love the summer.

I walked back to the hotel which was about 8 blocks from the beach.  

I wrote for a while and put my head on the very soft pillow.

Saturday--February 19--Santiago

Saturday--February 19--Santiago

Jenny and Bernadetta both told me there was a coffee place just around the corner from the apartment.  I’d seen several coffee places on the next street but when I asked what time they opened in the morning one said 9 and the other said 8.  O.k. I’ll go try to find something open for coffee.  I’d bought a few things for breakfast but not coffee because I didn’t want to buy a whole jar of coffee for one day.

Well it was about 9:00 a.m. and when I got to the street there was only one place open.  I had a latte and a croissant but it was a sweet croissant.  I don’t really like sweet things in the morning.  

Juxtaposition 

On the schedule for today was to go to Plaza del Armas which has a few museums, have lunch at the fish market and then to the Memory Museum (La Memoria y Los Derechos Humanos).

The Plaza del Armas was only 4 blocks from the apartment and it wasn’t too hot yet.  There weren’t too many people on the street and it was already 10:00 a.m.  I think it’s because one, people stay up very late here, two, it’s summer and many Santiagan’s are out of town and lastly it’s Saturday.  I don’t know.

In the Plaza del Armas

I arrive at the Plaza del Armas which is a big square surrounded by large buildings.  Two are museums: Museo Historico Nacional (National History Museum) and the Postal Museum.  Then there is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago.  What I appreciated was the juxtaposition between the old buildings and the glass modern buildings very close by.  In the square there are many artists and vendors as well as several men wearing suits, shouting about something.  I asked a tourist information guy what all the shouting was about and he told me they are talking about Jesus.  

I visited the Museo Historico Nacional which contains many things about the history of Chile since their independence from Spain on September 18, 1810.  Everything was in Spanish so I was only able to understand maybe 50%, but enough to know who the important people.  There was information about the important people and photos of life from the 1800’s.  I was very impressed with the beautiful penmanship of Jose Miguel Carrera’s diary. I enjoyed the photos of students from early schools, especially the one of students in uniform having physical education class (outside).

outside the mercado

My next stop was to the central mercado and fish market for lunch.  I’d asked the man at the tourist information for a restaurant suggestion and he told me I should eat at El Galeon, then gave me a 5% discount coupon.  I knew this was going to be a tourist trap.  The mercado was only a few blocks away from the Plaza.  

lunch

El Galeon was the first restaurant on the outside of the market and they had hawkers outside trying to herd in the tourists.  I decided to try it and was not disappointed, other than it was a bit overpriced.  The restaurant was very busy and filled with many tourists, mostly speaking Spanish.  The food was excellent.  I had sea bass that was in a light sauce topped with shrimps and mushrooms.  It was a very large portion and no way I could finish it all.  I would have liked to have taken the rest with me for later but it was too hot to carry fish around all day.

Suddenly a camera crew appeared in the restaurant filming two and went upstairs.  When the crew came back down I saw a woman with a microphone in her hand interviewing two guitar players.  I asked the waiter what was going on.  He told me that the film crew and the woman interviewer were from a popular T.V. show in Santiago and they were filming these musicians and the restaurant to show what was going on in Santiago for people who were in Chile for the International Song Festival in Vina Del Mar.

Nice to be where the action is.

sea urchin

After lunch I walked around inside the extremely lively fish market and saw so many other restaurants and lots of fish stands.  There was lots of people buying fish.  

There were so many different types to choose from.  I’m sure the locals eat at the restaurant inside.  But I wasn’t complaining about my choice.

for my cat loving friends

I walked back to the Plaza del Armas to get the metro to Quinta Normal where the Museum of Memory and Human Rights is (La Memoria y Los Derechos Humanos).  

http://www.museodelamemoria.cl 

My visit here was one of the most important, emotionally draining, educational and meaningful stops of my travels.  I cannot say enough about the 4+ hours I spent here other than, if you are even in Santiago this is a must stop.  Guided tours (in English) are available at 11 a.m.,12 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The museum is less than a year old, and highly modern with many large interactive screens.   

This building is to some Chilean’s (not all Chilean’s think that Pinochet was so bad and NO official from his regime has ever apologized or admitted wrong doing for the killings that were committed) what Holocaust museums are to the Jewish people.  It is a place created so that people will never forget and hope that these human rights violations never occur again.  Unfortunately, we all know that these terrible things continue to happen around the world every day.  

There is no entrance fee and no photos can be taken inside.

The introduction of the brochure says:  The Museum of Memory and Human Rights is an invitation to reflect upon the violations to the life and dignity of Chileans committed between September 11, 1973 and March 10 1990 in order that such events will never happen again and with the intention to establish a permanent respect for human rights.

In the entrance hall there is a world map that shows other countries that have had or continue to have events similar to the the human rights violations that occurred in Chile.  There are photos from 30 of these countries with information about the human rights commissions that have been conducted and what the results were.

I heard a girl explaining things to a man in English.  I asked her if she was giving a tour or was there one available.   She told me there would be an English tour at 3:00 and it was 2:45 so I was very happy.   Part of my time in the museum before meeting the guide was spent watching an incredible documentary shot by Jorge Vargas, a journalist on the day of the coup.    

I spent the next 2 1/2 hours with this fabulous tour guide (whose name I cannot remember) and two other people, Ivan and Yuka.  Ivan was born in Peru but is from a Japanese family and Yuka was born in Japan.  Ivan works for the Japanese government and they have been living in Santiago for two years.  They will return to Japan in a few weeks stay for a few months and then move to Miami.  

It is very hard to explain what I saw and learned on the tour it was a bit overwhelming.   The building has 4 floors of exhibits.  One of the most impressive things was the photo wall.  There are framed photos on one wall that spans three of the four floors of people who disappeared, died or were never found.  For me one of the worst parts of this atrocity is the people who were never found.  On the second floor, where I was introduced to this wall, there are lights that represent candles for the people.  (I told the tour guide that it reminded me of the holocaust museum and she told me that her boss had visited the holocaust museum as well as other museum of this nature to get ideas.)  The eerie part of this photo exhibit is the frames with the white paper, empty space, our tour guide said, either for those that never were found or as a reminder that it should never happen again.

The museum has collected thousands of testimonies from people who either were tortured, saw people taken to places of torture or were a relative of someone that went missing.  One of the interactive exhibits enables people to add their loved ones.  I don’t remember the number of torture houses or other places used as detention centers that were discovered but it’s mind boggling.  The tour guide said as of today about 28,000 people can be accounted for that were killed or missing.

  

Part of the problem when they started to ask for testimonies was that people were afraid to talk about it.  The number of people who went missing or were never found has changed over the years.  Originally there was a 10 year period in which they were accepting testimonies but they have found that there are so many more that they have now extended the time in which people can come forward with information.  

The tour guide had told me that the tour would take about 2 hours.  Afterwards I understood why.  We all asked so many questions and she was very capable of answering them.  She was very well trained and informed.  She told us that the museum was built mostly due to the last Chilean President, who herself had been tortured.  The current President is not so in favor of the museum and has stopped the second phase of building which was to be the ministry of education.  She also told us that the current government has reduced the number of hours that history is taught in the schools.  

Well you can only imagine how emotionally drained I was after spending over four hours here and seeing this incredible documentation of history.  The tour guide said that really the tour is to give you an overall view of what you can visit yourself after.  Unfortunately, it was 5:30 and the museum closed at 6:00.  I had already spent 1 1/2 hours before my time with her so I was able to see many things but I can see that it takes a few visits to really get the entire picture.

Well, I said goodbye to my tour friends and took the metro back to my neighborhood.  I needed to go to the apartment sit down and think about what I’d just experienced.

Because I’d had a large lunch I wasn’t really hungry but thought I’d go have dessert before packing and getting ready for my Patagonia experience.

After taking a shower and relaxing a bit, around 8:00 I went to a nice little restaurant just a block away for a piece of cake and tea.

Back for packing and to sleep.