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PUNTA ARENAS CITY
TOUR Code:PUQ401, $30 Per Person.
Duration: Half day.
Frequency: Daily, year-round.
Includes: Private transportation
(car or minibus),Guide.
Itinerary: To get acquainted
with Punta Arenas, start on Mirador Hill, which offers an expansive view
of the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego, and the city itself. Continue
on to the city’s main streets and avenues and the Plaza Muñoz Gamero,
which features a monument to Magellan (note the representation of the Ona
Indians at his feet) and a border of grand mansions and homes, at one time,
of the pioneers who settled here and earned fortunes in wool and livestock
industries. Costanera Avenue offers beautiful views of the Strait and the
bustling activity of the harbor. Visit the Salesiano Regional Museum, which
superbly documents the history of the region and the lives of the Yagane,
Ona, Alacalufe peoples in particular. Along the avenues, observe various
monuments: the shepherd, which represents the worker’s struggle, as well
as the dog, horse, and the sheep that made the region rich. Proceed to
the cemetary where the tombs of those pioneers have been exceptionally
preserved among well-kept gardens and cypress stands. Return to the hotel.
THE PENGUIN COLONIES
OF OTWAY SOUND Code:PUQ402., $30 Per Person
Duration: Half day.
Frequency: Daily, November through
March.
Includes: Private transportation
(car or minibus),Guide.
Itinerary: From Punta Arenas,
head north on Brunswick Peninsula along the Strait of Magellan. Take a
detour to Otway Sound, a beautiful landscape of plains, bays and fjords.
Next, proceed to the Pecket Mine, an important open-pit mineral deposit
in the region’s gigantic coal mantles. Finally arrive at the penguinera,
the nesting ground, of the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magallanicus).
Thousands of birds, which are called jackass penguins due to the donkey-like
braying sounds they make, come ashore in the spring to breed and lay eggs
here. Return to Punta Arenas.
MAGDALENA ISLAND,
A NATURAL PENGUIN RESERVE Code:PUQ501.
Duration: Full day. Frequency:Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from December through February.
Includes: Regular transportation,Guide,
Cruise.
Itinerary: Sail through the
Strait of Magellan to Magdalena Island, a natural monument in southernmost
Chile noted for an extremely high concentration of Magellanic penguins
(Spheniscus magallanicus): The island hosts more than 50,000 of the birds
which is more than 95 percent of the world’s Magellanic penguin population.
Disembark on the island and enjoy a leisurely day observing these curious,
entertaining birds. Walk to the lighthouse on the island for a panoramic
view of the landscape. Box lunch (not included) is available. Return to
Punta Arenas.
CRUISE TO BALMACEDA
AND SERRANO GLACIERS Code:PNT501, $20 Per Person.
Duration: Full day.
Frequency: Daily, November through
March. (charter service only from April to October.)
Includes: Regular transportation,
Lunch or box lunch en route,Cruise, Entrance fee to national park or protected
area. Itenerary: From the dock in Puerto Natales, board the ship to cruise
through the Seno de Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound). The exquisite Patagonia
landscape unfolds along the way. Be sure to glance back for a breathtaking
view of Puerto Natales surrounded by imposing mountains. Disembark at the
dock in front of Serrano Glacier and take a short walk for a closer look
at the glacier’s ice walls. Back on the ship, proceed to Balmaceda Glacier,
which appears to hang from stately, snowy peaks. Return to Puerto Natales.
TORRES DEL PAINE
NATIONAL PARK Code:PNT502, $98 Per Person.
Duration:Full day.
Frequency:Daily, year round
(from April to October operates only on private service)
Includes:Regular transportation,Guide,Lunch
or box lunch en route, Entrance fee for national park or protected area.
Itenerary: Drive out of Puerto
Natales along the Seno de Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) to Milodón
Cave, the cavern, about 90 feet high, 200 feet deep, in which Captain Hermann
Eberhard found the remains of a prehistoric animal (which he named Milodón)
in 1896. Continue on through the hills and extended pampas of the beautiful
and beautifully diverse Patagonian landscape. Next, enter the spectacular
Torres del Paine National Park, which is part of the United Nation’s World
Biosphere Reserve system. Here, pumas, foxes, guanacos and rhea coexist
in what is nothing if not Patagonian Eden, a rich landscape of lengas and
coigües, fragrant heather, legendary calafate (it is believed that
those who sample this regional berry always return) and other amazing flora.
Watch as the emerald Nordenskjold Lake at the base of the mountains pours
through roaring Salto Grande (Grand Waterfall) into Pehoé Lake,
a grand lake in its own right and a great spot to study the Cuernos del
Paine (Horns of Pain). Drive along the bank of the lake to Salto Chico
(Little Waterfall); stroll through an old lenga forest; enjoy a picnic
watching giant chunks of ice, pieces of the nearby Grey Glacier, drift
along the Grey Lake. For the return, cross Amarga Lagoon for yet another
breathtaking view of the park’s iconographic Torres del Paine. Return to
Puerto Natales. |
