A lot of people have asked, “Why Patagonia?” I’m not actually sure why (you’ll find this is a theme for me) but Kim had been talking about it for years and something or other has stopped her every time she attempted to plan a trip. About a year ago after we had a week hiking around Sedona and were discussing where to go next, I asked her if this Patagonia thing is real or just something fun to dream about (which is also okay). With that, we started planning Patagonia.
We had a week in Punta Arenas before the hiking that is more known to Patagonia began. Punta Arenas lies on the Straight of Magellan. We could look out the window of our Airbnb and see the waters and watch ships come and go. I haven’t thought of the Straight of Magellan since ninth grade world history, but being here, walking alongside it, reminded me that before the Panama Canal was built, this was where ships had to come to cross between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. For whatever reason, it seemed pretty crazy that we were just here, hanging out, casually strolling a path along a historical body of water that for all I knew in ninth grade was made up because someone needed another option to include on a multiple choice pop quiz.
I have been practicing Spanish fairly consistently for the past year and a half and was excited to see if I could actually apply it. I was concerned the area was touristy enough that people would automatically speak English, but that was not the case and I was put to the test a few times!
After we had walked along the Straight of Magellan for a few miles on our first full day, we needed to find a bathroom. Neither of us had set up our phones to work outside of WiFi so we were on an old fashioned google-less hunt. We spotted a playground and checked there with no luck. Though, there weren’t any kids so we did take a couple turns down the slide before continuing on. We were crossing paths with two women and I asked them if they knew where a public restroom was. They looked around with thoughtful looks on their faces, but shook their heads no. Then the older one said something to the younger one who looked at me and asked a question. I’m okay with stumbling my way through speaking Spanish, but understanding it when someone is speaking is a whole different story. After a couple moments of hand gestures and words spoken slow and deliberate, I realized they were inviting us to use the restroom in their house! We walked about a block and they ushered us inside and directed us to the bathroom. This generosity they showed to two strangers, clearly not local, caught me totally off guard. I have often joked about how convenient it would be if I could just knock on someone’s door when I am out for a walk and find myself needing a bathroom and here we were, being accepted into someone’s personal home, with their three kids hanging out on the top bunk of a bunk bed.
Most of our time in Punta Arenas was spent just wandering up and down the streets. One morning, we were on our way to the Sara Braun Cemetery which is recognized as one of the ten most beautiful cemeteries in the world when we passed by a cathedral. It was surrounded by construction barriers, but there was an opening so we decided to take a look inside. I’m not sure if we were supposed to be in there or not, but we made our way through a few doors and found ourselves in the nave. There was a man seated in a pew toward the back of the church that appeared to be there for personal reasons and not another tourist, so we made sure to give him space as we separate and walked around the outer edges where there were various stations (14 I have now learned) set up portraying different events in Jesus’ life.
The building also served as a school. This was made apparent when all of a sudden, I could hear the stampeding footsteps and shrieking of teenage kids on the other side of the wall. I was nearing the sanctuary of the church at this time and as I was crossing to the other side, an elderly priest comes out of a back room, gripping a rosary in both hands, shuffling toward the doors to the hallway where the kids were running, I assume to their next class. I attempted a smile and nod with a hint of a partial bow to the man (I wasn’t quite sure what a respectful acknowledgement was!) but he was hunched over too far to notice me. This was a scene right out of a creepy movie…walking slowly around a church when a priest looking all sweet and innocent approaches with his rosary…and stabs it into my carotid artery! Luckily, that didn’t happen and I continued my self driven tour around the other side of the nave, concluding with a view of the largest pipe organ I have ever seen in the balcony!
We saw many things along our walks but we seemed to continuously find ourselves back at the Plaza de Armas which is the main square of Punta Arenas. There is a small park, surrounded by many historical mansions and lined with vendors at certain parts of the day. In the middle, is a large monument honoring Ferdinand Magellan and it is known to bring good luck to anyone who touches the big toe of the native Indian at the base of the statue. Kissing the toe is known to guarantee a return trip to the city!
Kim and I are pretty easy to entertain and we must have spent hours on a bench facing the toe side of the statue where busloads of tourists would gather to pose in front of it and then address the toe. We saw people touch the toe as if it were a sleeping bear, just barely using the tippy top of their finger. Some would tickle the underside of the foot. Many people actually missed the big toe and rested their hands closer to the pinky toe side of the foot. There were quite a few kisses, thankfully we didn’t see any licks. We had lunch there most days, guessing which pose tourists would take as they giggled their way up to the toe and got their cameras out. We also enjoyed creating our own commentary for many of them who really took their time to study the toe before what appeared to be a very strategically planned approach. Don’t worry, before we left, we did each touch the toe.
Toward the end of the week, when we felt we had walked nearly every road in the general area, we decided to go back to the playground we found the first day. Luckily, when we arrived, there were no kids so we had the place to ourselves. When Kim and I are together and we come across a large playground with little to no kids, it’s pretty certain we will find ourselves seeing if we can still cross the monkey bars or how high we can swing. The best is when there is a teeter totter; you just don’t see those much anymore!
This was pretty much our time in Punta Arenas; we hit a few of the “must see” areas, but mostly wandered around aimlessly, enjoying the non promoted sites of the town.
