Hi Everyone,
Today we flew to Punta Arenas!
Despite our flight being at 13:58, we were picked up by the shuttle at 8:00 and only made it to the airport (about a 45 minute drive) around 10:00. The process for baggage checks and security was incredibly slow and disorganised, we were betting on how long it would take and both made huge underestimates. Despite arriving around 4 hours early, people only started boarding around 13:15, but thankfully didn't set off too late. The flight itself was very pleasant, although the clouds obscured what I'm sure would have been some stunning views of the Falklands and Patagonia.
We landed in Punta Arenas and immediately ran into many issues. Firstly, the signage was very unclear, so after asking many members of staff where to go we made it to baggage claim and picked up our bags. Evelyn's rucksack had lost a hip strap en route, which was a real pain for the upcoming hike. We then tried to walk out via security and realised we were somehow on the wrong side of passport control and were then required to walk all the way back around and join the end of a long queue. When we finally made it to the last bit of security and customs, I was pulled aside for unknowingly having brought a carrot in my bag, and being warned that I could face a serious fine.... Thankfully I got away with it, and walked out only to find that there were no buses, our planned route to the hostel. Despite all of these chaotic issues and events we finally managed to find a taxi and get to the hostel, which was very friendly and had some lovely fellow travellers (and free wifi!).
We had arranged to meet up with Laura (different to Laura on the cruise) who we had last seen in Montevideo where she had spent 3 months and was now spending a similar amount of time in Punta Arenas, all working on Antarctic research. We were taken to a very nice restaurant called "La Mamita" where I had some local Austral Hake from the Straits of Magellan. I also tried a Pisco Sour with Calafate berries, a local specialty, though this was unusually made with crushed ice, still very pleasant. On the ship, we had been told many times by many separate people that we had to visit the Dreams Casino while we were in Punta and that we definitely had to go to the top floor loos. So we were definitely doing that, but it was still quite early so we headed back to Laura's place where I quickly became a "master" at her wobbleboard!
When we finally made it to the casino we went straight to the rooftop bar for some amazing views of the city and the straits. I had a frenetta and coke, another local liquor, although the very strong menthol flavour was somewhat unusual. Finally, the time came to investigate the toilets. The cubicles had panoramic views, but for some reason they were facing the city and absolutely none of the window was frosted, so you could see the entire city and vice versa.... after making the most of that experience we headed down to the casino proper to make the most of the evening's entertainment. The headliner was "Luiz Pedraza" (of the Chilean Voice fame) who we all enjoyed a lot, especially his Spanish version of "Wrecking Ball".
04/02/23
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