Punta Arenas, Chile, latitude 53°00'S longitude 070°51'W
There are less than 2 people per square kilometre in Patagonia and most of them live in the frontier city of Punta Arenas.
First impressions are of a really friendly town with very little crime. It's Spring here but they still get 70 mile an hour winds, just about every week. I took a stroll around town today and settled in at a coffee shop, the key was still in the front door, which goes to show that this is a very safe environment.
Winter time, life here is extremely harsh; daylight is just a few hours and the town gets absolutely battered by strong winds and sub-zero degree temperatures. It's fairly windy here today with bright sunshine but there is a massive cloud formation heading this way from the northwest.The main square is a focal point and there is one main street, which has a pretty good array of shops, no sign of the Colonel or the Golden Arches, which is very refreshing!
Punta Arenas lies on the eastern side of the Magdalen Strait. It is a long way south, under a 1000 miles from Antarctica.We are south of both Australia and New Zealand. Tomorrow, we start our journey by boat to Cape Horn. The cruise ship is a good 200 ft long and to be quite honest, I wouldn't like to take on this sort of environment in anything much smaller.
