Antarctica, Part Two: Patagonia

From Puerto Madryn, hugging the green, hilly coast more closely, we sailed something like a thousand miles south to Punta Arenas. Somewhere in there was New Year’s Eve, which seemed even more artificial than usual, what with the different hemisphere, different time zone, and seagoing-ness of it all. 

Punta Arenas is an isolated port city in the Strait of Magellan, in Patagonia (Chile); it’s at 53 degrees south, which is not Antarctic Circle territory (66 degrees), but it’s getting there. More impressive than its southern-ness, however, is its remoteness: It’s not just in the middle of nowhere, it is the middle of nowhere.  Nevertheless, it’s a real city, in fact the largest city in the southernmost  part of the world. (Nearby Ushuaia, Argentina, is further south, but smaller.) The Splendor docked right in town, and, after passing the usual souvenir-sellers, I went for a little run along the bustling waterfront, which is also the hub of the town’s businesses, and then to a crafts center that had been recommended by, of all things, the Internet.