Day 2 - Hanging off the World, and Penguins!
The first time I went to the Southern Hemisphere was when I went to Cape Town to start my Round the World Trip in 2013. Since leaving Cape Town, I had done so again in Australia later on that trip, in South Africa again in 2016, and now in South America. I remember that first visit to Cape Town, that weird, indescribable sense of 'I'm on the other side of the world.' For some reason, the North-South difference seems more impactful than the East-West difference (say, when traveling to India). Whatever I did feel that day in Cape Town, I felt the same times 10 in Punta Arenas.
Maybe it is the flat, earthy terrain, or the billowing winds, or the strange flora, or, and this will be a recurring theme during this visit, the fact it gets dark literally at 11:30 PM, but it just felt different. And it felt great. I'm no trekker. If I ever make it to Antarctica, it is because I have done well enough in life to afford a very pampered visit. But for me, going to Punta Arenas felt like traveling to the other end of the earth. And for a first impression, the other end of the earth is pretty great.
Our drive from Punta Arenas airport to town was uneventful, and our first stop was to get tickets for the tour of Isla Magdalena, famous for the Magellenic Penguins that call the island home. That went smoothly, giving us enough time to check in to our hotel (Hotel Rey don Felipe) and grab a quick lunch. The hotel is well made, ornate enough to provide 1st world comfort, but 'rustic' enough to make sure you know you aren't in that 1st world for some fairly good reasons.
Our lunch was similar, at El Mercado Restaurant in the heart of the city. I had looked up the place as a potential hit for a grab-and-go lunch, and it proved worthy of that distinction. We were the first people at the restaurant as Chile is a late-dining country. The menu was extensive, and we decided to focus on fish. Putting aside a semi-language-barrier-related issue with our Calamari (we thought we were getting it with a suace and it came normal but still good), the food was great. My dad and I split a Conger Eel (a Patagonian specialty) that was covered with a perfect amount of cream sauce, spiced just well enough. The fish was incredibly fresh, and grilled lightly enough to hold most of its flavor. For a quick, relatively cheap meal, El Mercado was perfect.
We had to be quick as we had to hit the 1:00 - 1:30 ticket pickup time at the pier to take the boat to Isla Magdalena. The 'tour' of the island essentially is a ticket for the ferry there and back, and some chaperoning during the walk around the island. The ferry itself takes about 90 minutes, and sadly there isn't too much more to it than transportation. There is some information provided via loudspeaker in Spanish and English on the penguins, the history of the island, etc., but given we were all a bit sleep deprived, it served more of a nuisance to our slumber than anything of true value. Then again there were a few questions we all had during our walk of the island that probably would have been answered had we listened.
Isla Magdalena itself was amazing, a perfect appetizer to Patagonian tourism. It involves some walking on an incline, but no real hiking. It gave us an introduction to the wind, but not so much so that it was unbearable without a handful of layers. And what made it truly special was those damn little flightless birds. It advertises itself as a (translated) Penguin Monument, and that is exactly what it is. To say there are penguins milling around would be a huge understatement. The island, at least the part cordoned off for tourists to walk through, is full of them.
The Magellenic penguins are medium sized for penguins, and are of the burrowing variety. Each couple has their little hole, and the timing of the visit coincides with child-rearing season, so each hole was hiding a couple penguin babies, in all their furry adorable-ness. The penguins must be very used to human visitors, and none seemed perturbed in the least, instead just going about their normal day. We saw penguin couples play-fighting, cuddling their babies, rhapsodically calling out to their mate who was off fishing that the baby was hungry, and general being as cute as can be.
The island tour itself is a cordoned off path that leads from the shore up to the lighthouse, which traipses along a few small hills with larger ones on the right side (during ascent). Every inch is seemingly housing penguin holes, penguins and penguin babies. In a sense, it does get a bit repetitive (they are after all, the same exact species), but the sheer number of penguin families give you unrelenting photo opportunities and a critical mass of penguins to see in any conceivable situation.
Our dinner, and my late-night drink, was a great capper to a first day in Patagonia. Dinner was at La Marmita, a place I found to be highly reputed across various sites & blogs for a pure Punta Arenas patagonian cuisine. It hit the marks as well, despite the clientele seeming somewhat touristy (though to be fair, that is what we are). The plating was also excellent, something the 'Chef's Table' watching person has come to appreciate. The only miss from a dish was the ceviche, which was just acceptable rather than great, but everything else was excellent.
The highlight dish for me was a Patagonian soup with llama and chicken meat and a host of vegetables and herbs, seasoned perfectly. Our mains were a lamb, cooked quite tender, a
For my late-night beer, I chose what was marketed as a craft brewery to my limited understanding. It did serve its own beer, and it was quite good, but it was more of a real resto-bar. The atmosphere was great. I arrived at 11:20 and left at 12:30 (when it was just getting fully dark), and the place was far more crowded when I left than when I arrived - and to my surprise a clear majority of the patrons seemed to be local. I had both their house IPA and Scotch Ale, and both were good. I was saddened they didn't have their stout on tap that night, but from tasting these two, I imagine the stout is good as well. They played a good set of rock music, and everyone seemed to be having a great time, and enjoying some delicious looking pizza.
My first night in Punta Arenas had two clear takeaways. First is that penguins are truly an unendingly cute species. Second, it is just weird being on this side of the world, in a thrilling way. As mentioned, in the literal sense, I've been further away from home many times - including earlier this year going to India for work. But I've never felt further away from home, in completely a good way. The food has ingredients like Llama and Conger Eel that I've never had before. The scenery was unique. The city itself reminded me a lot of Queretaro, the Mexican town I spent a few months working in, for all the right reasons. The only difference... we were hanging off the bottom of the habitable earth, and of all the things on this trip through Patagonia that I want to continue, it is that feeling.
The first time I went to the Southern Hemisphere was when I went to Cape Town to start my Round the World Trip in 2013. Since leaving Cape Town, I had done so again in Australia later on that trip, in South Africa again in 2016, and now in South America. I remember that first visit to Cape Town, that weird, indescribable sense of 'I'm on the other side of the world.' For some reason, the North-South difference seems more impactful than the East-West difference (say, when traveling to India). Whatever I did feel that day in Cape Town, I felt the same times 10 in Punta Arenas.
Maybe it is the flat, earthy terrain, or the billowing winds, or the strange flora, or, and this will be a recurring theme during this visit, the fact it gets dark literally at 11:30 PM, but it just felt different. And it felt great. I'm no trekker. If I ever make it to Antarctica, it is because I have done well enough in life to afford a very pampered visit. But for me, going to Punta Arenas felt like traveling to the other end of the earth. And for a first impression, the other end of the earth is pretty great.
Our drive from Punta Arenas airport to town was uneventful, and our first stop was to get tickets for the tour of Isla Magdalena, famous for the Magellenic Penguins that call the island home. That went smoothly, giving us enough time to check in to our hotel (Hotel Rey don Felipe) and grab a quick lunch. The hotel is well made, ornate enough to provide 1st world comfort, but 'rustic' enough to make sure you know you aren't in that 1st world for some fairly good reasons.
Our lunch was similar, at El Mercado Restaurant in the heart of the city. I had looked up the place as a potential hit for a grab-and-go lunch, and it proved worthy of that distinction. We were the first people at the restaurant as Chile is a late-dining country. The menu was extensive, and we decided to focus on fish. Putting aside a semi-language-barrier-related issue with our Calamari (we thought we were getting it with a suace and it came normal but still good), the food was great. My dad and I split a Conger Eel (a Patagonian specialty) that was covered with a perfect amount of cream sauce, spiced just well enough. The fish was incredibly fresh, and grilled lightly enough to hold most of its flavor. For a quick, relatively cheap meal, El Mercado was perfect.
We had to be quick as we had to hit the 1:00 - 1:30 ticket pickup time at the pier to take the boat to Isla Magdalena. The 'tour' of the island essentially is a ticket for the ferry there and back, and some chaperoning during the walk around the island. The ferry itself takes about 90 minutes, and sadly there isn't too much more to it than transportation. There is some information provided via loudspeaker in Spanish and English on the penguins, the history of the island, etc., but given we were all a bit sleep deprived, it served more of a nuisance to our slumber than anything of true value. Then again there were a few questions we all had during our walk of the island that probably would have been answered had we listened.
Isla Magdalena itself was amazing, a perfect appetizer to Patagonian tourism. It involves some walking on an incline, but no real hiking. It gave us an introduction to the wind, but not so much so that it was unbearable without a handful of layers. And what made it truly special was those damn little flightless birds. It advertises itself as a (translated) Penguin Monument, and that is exactly what it is. To say there are penguins milling around would be a huge understatement. The island, at least the part cordoned off for tourists to walk through, is full of them.
The Magellenic penguins are medium sized for penguins, and are of the burrowing variety. Each couple has their little hole, and the timing of the visit coincides with child-rearing season, so each hole was hiding a couple penguin babies, in all their furry adorable-ness. The penguins must be very used to human visitors, and none seemed perturbed in the least, instead just going about their normal day. We saw penguin couples play-fighting, cuddling their babies, rhapsodically calling out to their mate who was off fishing that the baby was hungry, and general being as cute as can be.
The island tour itself is a cordoned off path that leads from the shore up to the lighthouse, which traipses along a few small hills with larger ones on the right side (during ascent). Every inch is seemingly housing penguin holes, penguins and penguin babies. In a sense, it does get a bit repetitive (they are after all, the same exact species), but the sheer number of penguin families give you unrelenting photo opportunities and a critical mass of penguins to see in any conceivable situation.
Our dinner, and my late-night drink, was a great capper to a first day in Patagonia. Dinner was at La Marmita, a place I found to be highly reputed across various sites & blogs for a pure Punta Arenas patagonian cuisine. It hit the marks as well, despite the clientele seeming somewhat touristy (though to be fair, that is what we are). The plating was also excellent, something the 'Chef's Table' watching person has come to appreciate. The only miss from a dish was the ceviche, which was just acceptable rather than great, but everything else was excellent.
The highlight dish for me was a Patagonian soup with llama and chicken meat and a host of vegetables and herbs, seasoned perfectly. Our mains were a lamb, cooked quite tender, a
For my late-night beer, I chose what was marketed as a craft brewery to my limited understanding. It did serve its own beer, and it was quite good, but it was more of a real resto-bar. The atmosphere was great. I arrived at 11:20 and left at 12:30 (when it was just getting fully dark), and the place was far more crowded when I left than when I arrived - and to my surprise a clear majority of the patrons seemed to be local. I had both their house IPA and Scotch Ale, and both were good. I was saddened they didn't have their stout on tap that night, but from tasting these two, I imagine the stout is good as well. They played a good set of rock music, and everyone seemed to be having a great time, and enjoying some delicious looking pizza.
My first night in Punta Arenas had two clear takeaways. First is that penguins are truly an unendingly cute species. Second, it is just weird being on this side of the world, in a thrilling way. As mentioned, in the literal sense, I've been further away from home many times - including earlier this year going to India for work. But I've never felt further away from home, in completely a good way. The food has ingredients like Llama and Conger Eel that I've never had before. The scenery was unique. The city itself reminded me a lot of Queretaro, the Mexican town I spent a few months working in, for all the right reasons. The only difference... we were hanging off the bottom of the habitable earth, and of all the things on this trip through Patagonia that I want to continue, it is that feeling.
