Punta Arenas (Means Sandy Point)

Punta Arenas is the southernmost city on Earth, overlooking the Straits of Magellan. Situated astride one of the world's historic trade routes, its prosperity has risen and fallen with that trade. Punta Arenas enjoyed its first great boom during the California Gold Rush, when it served as a haven for great clipper ships. Although the port's importance diminished after the opening of the Panama Canal, the city reached even greater prosperity early in this century as the center of Chile's international wool trade. Today, Punto Arenas reflects a great mix of cultures, from English sheep ranchers to Portuguese sailors, and it remains an utterly fascinating testament to the Chile's rich history. Punta Arenas is also the starting point for excursions to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

PUNTA ARENAS: capital of the 12th region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, with 100,000 inhabitants. Located at the base of the Andes Mountains and the western riverside of Magellan's Strait (in that sector, the strait goes from north to south).The regional activity includes: fishing industry, sheep cattle raising, mining, hydrocarbons and tourist services. At the end of the XIX century, together with the import of a flock of sheep coming from the Malvinas Islands, 600.000 hectares of cattle lands were bid in the sector and there it is where famous last names related with the sheep cattle business appear, like Nogueira, Menéndez, Saunders and Braun among others. In 1987 begins the exploitation of carboniferous mantels close to Punta Arenas, one of the biggest reserves in the world. In Cabo Negro a great methanol plant is inaugurated.

OTWAY INLET
The penguin colony is located 65 kilometers north of Punta Arenas on Seno Otway (Otway Inlet), along the northwest of the Brunswick Peninsula. The Magellanic Penguins return annually to this spot between October and March to lay eggs and raise their young. At the site, you will walk approximately two kilometers to the middle of a natural reserve filled with penguin burrows to see the comic antics of these delightful and defenseless creatures at close range.

Hard to believe that she is living so close to a penguin colony in South America!