37. Punta Arenas, Chile

Punta Arenas, Chile                

Street Lights

52F (11C)

A city that time forgot! That is how I felt when I got into Punta Arenas. It must have been a powerful supply port when shipping still had to go around Cape Horn, but today the city seemed sleepy. Yes, it is a clean city. Yes, it has lots of history and yes, I like this place, but I could not live here… it is and feels isolated. 

We hired a taxi for a city tour at a cost of US $ 50. -. It was worthwhile to have a driver for a few hours and this chap and I had a good time. He spoke no English but rattled on in Spanish of which I understood 10%. (OK, 30%). With many smiles and hand gestures we managed well, however. 

City View From La Cruz Hill - Island Princess In the Background - Obligatory Schlock For Sale On Left

He drove us to get a bird’s eye view from ‘La Cruz’ Hill and then took us to the obligatory Plaza de Armas in Punta Arenas. The cathedral was at one end of the plaza and on the other side was the Palace of Sara Braun Menendez.  

Cathedral

The area, in history, was settled by Croatians and Russians. 

There was a short mining boom when gold was discovered in the area. The height of wealth accumulation was just after the turn of the century into the 20^th Century.

Sara Braun-Menendez Palace

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 brought the whole shipping industry to a crashing halt.

Sara Brown, a Russian lady, married well and when her husband died of TB early in their marriage, she ran a business of Gold Mining, Gold Transport and Sheep Raising and Wool Production. We could not enter the mansion since it was Sunday and the museum was closed on Sunday’s but from the pictures in the article above, you can get a good idea of how successful this lady was. Lucky for her that the Panama Canal was only in the planning stages during her life time.

Sara Braun-Menendez Mausoleum

We visited a cemetery that felt and looked very much like the famous La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. But here the Sara Braun Menendez Mausoleum is the big attraction. 

German Graves

There is also a spot where soldiers from Germany are interred. I am not sure how they got there. Something about the Graf Spee Ship Crew. I forgot the details.

Monument to the Graf Spee Ship Crew

Most people today cannot afford the elaborate monuments in this cemetery; urns with their ashes are deposited in niche-like memorial spots.

Niche-Like Memorial Spots

Many Other Mausoleums In This Cemetery

This land however is still Patagonia, wild, windy, non-forgiving. Sheep herding is, was, a large business. Very, very large farms (haciendas, estancias) use(d) gauchos to herd the flocks.

Recognize This Gaucho?

I visited a statue to those hardy men who did the herding. Naturally, I had to sit on the iron horse and pretend to be a gaucho. 

We got a good impression of today’s Punta Arenas, too. Driving past a rather large mall, we saw many cars in the parking lot from Argentina. I guess the prices in Chile must be more attractive than in Argentina, or is it that there are very few larger cities around all of Patagonia and people just ‘have to’ visit here to buy what they need?

Supposed to Be Lucky to Touch His Foot

Magellan's Statue

The late show on the ship was David Copperfield, no, not the magician, this David was a singer and had a great operatic voice. Great show!