PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE (Port No. 10, 2/4-5/12)

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE

∙ GEOGRAPHY 101
          ∙ Land Mass/Continent: Southern end of South America
          ∙ About Punta Arenas: Punta Arenas is the capital of Chile’s southernmost region, "Magellan and Chilean Antártica" and the Historical Capital of Patagonia (it's known as the "Gateway to Patagonia")
          ∙ Estimated Population: 154,000 (the largest, but 2nd least populated, region in Chile)

LOCATION OF PUNTA ARENAS

            ∙ Distance From Home (San Diego, CA): 6,545 miles
          ∙ The Water That'll Get Us There: Punta Arenas sits on rolling hills overlooking the Strait of Magellan, a navigable sea route between the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans

∙ ITS PLACE IN HISTORY/INTERESTING FACTS
          ∙ Currency:  Chilean peso (CLP)
          ∙ Official Language:  Spanish
          ∙ Local time: 
          ∙ Punta Arenas was once undisputedly regarded as the “southernmost city in the world”, but other settlements (e.g., Ushuaia) have grown further south.  So Punta is now regarded as the "southernmost large city in the world".
          ∙ This remote town was pioneered by Yugoslav settlers and sheep ranchers
          ∙ About half the population is of Croatian descent
          ∙ Travel video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE1JOBt9-1k

COLD PUNTA ARENAS

∙ CLIMATE
         ∙ Punta Arenas has a semi-arid, ocean-moderated climate
         ∙ Since 1986, the hole in the ozone layer exposes its residents to potentially dangerous ultraviolet radiation
      ∙ Average low for February: 43.2
      ∙ Average high for February: 57.9

∙ HIGHLIGHTS/THINGS TO SEE
          ∙ Lots of penguins
          ∙ Whalewatching from December to April (humpbacks, in particular)
          ∙ Contact with nature - birds, marine mammals (more penguins), fjords and channels, sub-antarctic forests, glaciers and lush landscapes
          ∙ The Strait of Magellan (named for Ferdinand Magellan, the first European to navigate the strait)
          ∙ The overlook, the Cathedral, the monument to Magellan, mansions around the square, Sara Braun Museum, Casa Sara Braun, the Maritime Museum, the replica of Magellan's ship, the cemetery and mosoleum where Sara Braun is burried (similar to Recoleta), the Otway Bay penguin reserve, Torres del Paine National Park