Full-Day Punta Arenas and Magellan Strait Tour

Es una lástima hacer un viaje tan largo y que los museos estén cerrados, y cierre de restaurantes de 3 a 8 pm

Un paseo al comienzo de la historia de Punta Arenas. Alli conoci el fuerte desde donde se controlaba el pasaje de cualquier nave por esa zona, y se trasladaban el oro y otras riquezas. No fue nada facil porque nadie queria ir a vivir a una zona tan fria, alejada de todo y con tierras que no eran aptas para cultivar. Solo algunas familias europeas, principalmente croatas vinieron a radicarse alli. Muy interesante y muy bien explicado por las guias. Se conservan algunos cañones de la epoca.

Booked this trip independently of our ship Coral Princess with my wife and 4 friends, we visited Punta Arenas on February 29th 2020. The ship was slightly late in docking due to a late departure from Ushuaia the previous day as a result we later leaving the ship to meet our tour. We were met at the quayside by our tour guide and driver, we were just the six in a mini bus for the duration of the trip. Edmundo, our tour guide, explained that we would be travelling along the coast road to the national park, small museum and Fort Beule. The fee for the entrance to the park was not included in the cost of the tour. This turned out to be about $96 for the six of us. The ticket office accepts cards and a variety of currencies including US dollars. The journey to our first stop took around 30 to 45 minutes, we spotted dolphins and Eduardo told us there was a good chance to see whales as they were in the area at this time of the year. The journey was interesting looking at the variety in house styles, most built on stilts in small communities, along the road.Our first stop was at a cross roads prior to the national park, this was a way marker with distances to Buenos Aires and Antartica highlighted. Leaving the park ticket office we had a 10 to 15 minute ride to the museum and viewing spot. We parked at the entrance to the Fort area to take photographs on the way to the museum. Here Eduardo gave us a brief insight into the history of the area. The museum was small and , unfortunately, badly lit which made it almost impossible to read the information about Magellan and the exploration and settlement of the area. The lighting may have been for atmosphere or to protect exhibits but it rather spoiled our full enjoyment of the visit. There was an exhibit of the scientific developments in navigation which lead to European exploration. We had 30 minutes within the museum site and viewing area. We then moved on to the Fort itself along a short hilly dirt road. The Fort is a reproduction built on the site of the original settlement before the settlers moved to Punta Arenas as it could be better defended against the indigenous peoples, and was better for farming. The Fort was an interesting place with buildings made from timber and turf. Within one of the larger building was an interesting display about the settlement of Punta Arenas. The views across the channel were well worth the visit, we had around 30 to 40 minutes to explore the fort and take photographs of the views. There was a small incline on grass and unpaved pathways around the fort which may not be suitable for anyone with mobility issues. Leaving the fort we retraced our journey back to the city of Punta Arenas, this took around 40 minutes. Our first stop in the city was the main square, surrounding the square are some of the important buildings of the town. Eduardo was excellent at pointing these out to us and took us across the square to see the former home of Sarah Braun an important early member of Punta Arenas society. Leaving the central square were taken to the town cemetery which is now a world heritage site. Within the cemetery we were shown the important Mausoleums of Punta Arenas important citizens. Being English we found this visit very strange but nonetheless interesting to learn about the culture of this area. Our final stop was five minutes from the cemetery by mini bus, we were taken to a viewing area high above the dock and main city area. This was a good viewing point giving a panorama of the city with it's many coloured houses. We were returned to the dock area in plenty of time to walk back to the ship before departure. All in all an interesting day with Eduardo ready to answer our questions. Final comment, there is no lunch with this trip, there was a small cafe in the museum but we did not really have time to have a coffee or snack.