Punta Arenas--My Last Days in Chile

Sarah and I spent our last full day together exploring the town of Punta Arenas. It was remarkably cold, a fact I found irritating as I had not packed properly for cold weather! Luckily, Sarah and I are very skilled at sniffing out good and fun places to shop, so I soon had a scarf and hat to fight off the chill. Sarah, by the way, is such a good shopping pal! And by good, I mean she encourages me to splurge on things I don't need, and I always come away wondering how I got worked up into such a frenzy. For this reason alone, it is probably for the best that we went our separate ways after Punta Arenas!

We walked to the top of a lookout and gazed at the city. Punta Arenas is an incredibly bright city. All the houses and roofs are brightly painted, which makes it a very cheerful and inviting place.

Part of Punta Arenas, as seen from the Mirador.
I can't get enough of the lupins!

Oh, and who could forget the poppies!

Later that evening, Sarah and I explored the cemetery, which was lovely and a fun place to experiment with my camera. I love the cemeteries in Chile. They often look like small cities, with the "poor" and "rich" sections. Also, I love the bright colors, the little collections of memorabilia, the contrast of faded fake flowers with the rich colors of flowers planted on the graves. The idea of being buried and having a headstone sort of horrifies me, especially seeing the gruesome appearance of graves that are not well taken care of. However, the cemeteries of Chile are such a celebratory experience, that it almost makes me reconsider.

The light was again poor (damn clouds!), but these pictures turned out okay and give you an idea of our wanderings.

On our way home, we stopped in a huge church and gazed at the stained-glass windows, the chandeliers, and the Christmas pageant preparation. All in all, it was a very religious day! We cooked up some delicious pasta at the hostal and crashed for the night. While there wasn't a ton to do in Punta Arenas, I ended up very satisfied with the time I spent there. It was a cute little city, the southern most Chilean city I was going to visit. And, it provided me with one of the most intersting experiences of my travels thus far: a trip to a penguin colony!