Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas is the largest settlement on the Straits of Magellan.The name literally means sandy point, for obvious reasons. It is the third largest city in Patagonia with a population of ~120000. Our journey from Punta Arenas to Antarctica was 1400 km through the Straights of Magellan and across the Drake Passage. After two failed attempts to start a colony here in the late 1500’s the region was deemed inhospitable because of harsh winds water shortage. In 1843 the Chilean government found water and established a permanent base here after which it rapidly became on the largest sheep producing regions in the world. One family alone controlled over 10000 square kilometers of Patagonian pasture. Today the town is a popular port of departure for Antarctic expeditions of all kinds, from science to tourism to extreme sports.