Arrived yesterday in Punta Arenas via Sky Airlines. During most of this trip I’ve been using buses for long-haul transportation in South America. I discovered that traveling to Patagonia in the far south of Chile is complicated, but flying is the easy way out.
Sky Airlines is wonderful! Their fares are reasonable (better than LAN – now LATAM), and they don’t charge non-Chileans more for tickets. I was dreading check-in knowing my baggage was over the 44 lb. limit, but they didn’t charge extra! Then, I forgot and left a Swiss Army knife inside my backpack. Security let me return to check-in, where they retrieved my checked baggage and let me toss in the knife! They didn’t even growl about it….
I’m leaving for Puerto Natales this morning – a three-hour bus ride, so there isn’t much time to explore. Yesterday, the weather was very WINDY and cold and went from raining to snowing to sunshine in five minutes. This morning it’s warm and beautiful.
A hotel employee said winds near 65 mph are not unusual here! I bought some warmer gloves. Think I will have to rent a thicker jacket and pants for trekking, but am sure Puerto Natales offers those services. Some refer to the area as “gortex heaven”.
There are some beautiful old iconic buildings in the center of town, and I tried to get a few photos – difficult with the wind. The people are friendly – many indigenous faces.
On the two-hour flight from Puerto Montt, I did some reading about Chile’s indigenous people and colonization. Now it’s easier to associate street and city names with explorers and colonists who were enamored with Patagonia – Arturo Prat, Juan Fernandez, Lord Cochrane, Juan Ladrillero, Isaac Le Maire, James Cook, Ferdinand Magellan, Rodolfo Amando Philippi, and more…