Punta Arenas, Chile

Views from Cerro la Cruz:
"Puerto Arenas (Spanish: "Sandy Point") is the most prominent settlement on the Strait of Magellan. Due to its location and size it is sometimes considered the southernmost city in the world. Punta Arenas is the capital of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile. The city was officially renamed Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it returned to Puerto Arenas. Punta Arenas is the third largest city in the Patagonian Region. It has a population of about 154,000 .The temperature in Punta Arenas is greatly moderated by its proximity to the ocean, with average lows near 30 °F and highs of 57 °F. Rainfall is most plentiful between April and May and snow season goes all through Chilean winter (June till September). The city is also known for its strong winds of up to 80 mph. Currency is the Chilean Peso with an exchange rate of approximately 520 Peso to the dollar. You don’t need a passport in a money exchange house unless you are exchanging more than 500 dollars. If you are well served in a restaurant, pub, bar or coffee shop, it is customary to add 10% as a tip for the waiter. It is not customary to tip taxi drivers, but you can round numbers up if you want. The dock is within walking distance to many of the sights.

SIGHTS IN TOWN
Cathedral of Puerto Arenas is located at Plaza Muñoz Gamero, the main square of Punta Arenas. It was the first brick building in Puerto Arenas. It was constructed when the original building, made of wood, was destroyed. It is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The doors are open all day and photography is allowed.

Palacio Mauricio Braun Is an opulent mansion house turned into a museum that testifies to the wealth and power of pioneer sheep farmers in the late 19th century. One of Mauricio Braun's sons donated the house to the state, against other family members' wishes. Divided into sections, one part is a regional historical display, while the other displays the family's original French nouveau furnishings and details, from intricate wooden inlay floors to Chinese vases. Furnished with fine European antiques, Italian marble floors, and grand ceiling frescos, this mansion gives a good indication of the economic stature of Punto Arenas before the Panama Canal was completed.

Museo Regional Salesiano has outstanding ethnographic artifacts collected by the Salesian order, but its museum takes a disappointingly self-serving view of the Christian intervention, portraying missionaries as peacemakers between Indians and settlers. The best materials are on the mountaineer priest Alberto de Agostini and the various indigenous groups affected.

Museo Naval y Marítimo (naval and maritime museum) has varied exhibits on model ships, naval history and the unprecedented visit of 27 US warships to the city in 1908. It also has a fine account of the Chilean mission that rescued British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's crew from Antarctica. The most imaginative display is a replica ship, complete with bridge, maps, charts and radio room. The museum is contained in 18 rooms.

Museo del Recuerdo has a collection of antique farm and industrial machinery imported from Europe, a typical pioneer house and shearing shed (both reconstructed), and a wooden-wheeled trailer that served as shelter for shepherds. The library also has a display of historical maps and a series of historical and scientific publications.

Club de la Unión is in the basement of the former Sara Braun mansion. As you enter there is this ambiance of a “sailors’ warm” hanging out place, with lots of maps and old black and white photos of Punta Arenas on the walls. The club is a bit of a labyrinth, offering both larger and cozy more discrete areas. The red brick walls and low intensity lights give it a melancholic look. You're likely hear ragtime and jazz on the stereo while you enjoy beers served cold in frosted mugs, tapas-style meat and cheese appetizers, sandwiches, tacos, pizza, fajitas, and capriccio.

Cementerio Municipal: In death as in life, Punta Arenas' first families flaunted their wealth. José Menéndez' extravagant tomb is said to be a scale replica of Rome's Vittorio Emanuele monument. But the headstones are also testament to the countless Anglo, German, Scandinavian and Yugoslav immigrants who supported these wealthy families with labor.

Mirador Cerro la Cruz is a few minutes' walk from the plaza and up a series of steps to the lookout over the city and the water. From a platform beside the white cross that gives the hill lookout its name, you have a panoramic view of the city's colorful corrugated rooftops leading to the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego in the distance. It's a great place to shoot some photos.

Austral Brewery: In 1896, José Fischer, a German brewmaster arrived in Patagonia and settled down there with the idea of making this beverage based on malted barley, for the colonists. By 1916, Fisher's undertaking was already offering 6 varieties of beer and, in 1961, it was a very interesting business for the Chadwick family, who purchased it from the Fishers to merge it with their company, Malterías Unidas. The legendary Patagona beer today is known as Austral, with its green label or can. Its name was changed but not its location, as the brewery still remains in the same site where it was founded 110 years ago. In addition to the brewery, a beer museum was opened in the same venue.

SIGHTS OUTSIDE TOWN
Río de los Ciervos Farm in only 3 miles south from the city, where it is possible to submerge into the colonizing past and their traditions. The ranch is made up of a Main House, a museum, a projection room, conference rooms, a typical pioneer warehouse, a Pulpería, a quincho restaurant, milking areas and horses.

Reserva Forestal Magallanes, also known as Japanese Park, Is a 39,500 acre reserve with a variety of hiking and mountain-biking trails through thick forests of lenga and coigue. Reserva Forestal Magallanes has hikes for everybody. This includes a flat 20-minute walk to a look out point, to a full day adventure walk. A steady uphill hike goes to the top of Mt Fenton, also known as Cerro Mirador. The views are spectacular, if the wind doesn't take you out. It is also possible to ride up on the chairlift to the viewpoint. It is located 5 miles west of Punta Arenas.

Club Andino (Andino Park), one of the few ski center in the world with a view to the ocean. It's also used in the summer and makes for great trekking on the slopes, which are covered with Patagonian trees like coigues, lengas, and nirres. Upon arrival at the club you will have a 10 minute safety orientation and optional you can get on the chair lift that covers a distance for approximately a 15 minute ride, and see a nice view over the area. From the top of the hill, see the Strait of Magellan, and the city of Punta Arenas, in the distance. At the descent point, hike downhill on a path through the woods.

Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos is one of two Magellanic penguin colonies near Punta Arenas. It has about 75,000 breeding pairs and is accessible only by boat to the small island of Isla Magdalena in the Strait of Magellan. Admission to the island is included in the price of the boat trip. It is about a two hour ride each way by boat. It is 18 miles north east of Punta Arenas.

Pingüineras de Seno Otway is an area of 200 acres, which extends more than one mile of coast. You can observe a colony of 11,000 penguins of Magellan’s nesting. It is 42 miles north of Punta Arenas. The road to the sanctuary begins 18 miles north of Punta Arenas, where the main road, Ruta 9, diverges near a checkpoint booth. A gravel road then traverses another fierce and winding 18 miles, but the rough trip (mud will be a problem if there's been recent rain) should reward you with the sight of hundreds of sheep, cows, and birds, including, if you're lucky, rheas and flamingos. The sanctuary is a ½-mile walk from the parking lot. It gets chilly, so bring a windbreaker. If you don't have a car, Comapa, and many other tour companies based in Punta Arenas, offer tours to the Pingüinera. The tours generally leave from Punta Arenas and return about 3½ hours late
r with a price from 20,000 to 35,000 pesos.
Fuerte Bulnes was the first Patagonian settlement in the area. Built in 1843 by the crew of the Ancud, a Chilean vessel was sent to the area to claim & occupy the territory. The modern fort was reconstructed 100 years later in 1943. It was originally designed to house a museum, though the majority of the artifacts have been relocated to museums in Punta Arenas and Santiago. Today, Fuerte Bulnes is an exact replica of the original wooden fort. The reconstructed buildings include the church, chaplain's quarters, jail, powder magazine, post office and stables. In one of the stables is a colonial carriage and plow as well as an old Indian canoe. It is 36 miles south of Punta Arenas.

Port Famine (Puerto Hambre) is on the edge of the coast of Bahia Buena where Captain Sarmiento de Gamboa founded the city of King Philip in March 1584. This attempt at Spanish colonization had a tragic end as its 300 inhabitants died of starvation. Years later, the English pirate Thomas Cavendish reached the place, and finding only the remains of the former colony, renamed the place "Port Famine”. It is one mile from Fuerte Bulnes.

Pali-Aike National Park is located in the Magallanes Region of the Chilean Patagonia. Pali-Aike is a Tehuelche name that means Desolate Place. Created in 1970, it covers an area of 19 sq miles and includes part of the Pali-Aike Volcanic Field. In the 1930s, an excavation of the Pali Aike Cave uncovered the remains of a prehistoric native horse and giant ground sloth called the milodon, after becoming extinct some 11,000 years ago. Human remains, tools, and cave paintings were also found. It is 118 miles northwest of Punta Arenas." as quoted from Lyle!