Today is Tuesday, November 26 in Punta Arenas, Chile. We are still waiting for our weather break to fly out – we’ve been told that Wednesday is a possibility and Thursday looks more likely. The difficulty in actually getting to Antarctica reminds us that in many ways, Antarctica is still untamed and wild. Just getting there is proving to be an adventure.
Today we walked around Punta Arenas for hours, enjoying the sites and sounds of this friendly city. Here are a few facts that we learned:
– Punta Arenas means “Sandy Point” in English and has a population of approximately 160,000.
– It is the southernmost city in the world, located on the north shore of the Strait of Magellan.
– Much of the population here is Spanish and Croatian.
– It has high geopolitical importance because of its access to the Antarctica.
And now we’ll answer another question that was submitted on our “Submit a Question” area on our website:
Q: (from Mrs. VonTrapp’s fifth grade class, North Bend, WA): We are wondering if this weather delay is going to affect your overall plans for the trip. Did you factor in possible delays when you planned your expedition?
A: The weather delays should not affect our overall plans for the trip. We had heard that weather delays could occur as the plane that flies us to Antarctica needs certain weather conditions to land on the blue ice runway at Union Glacier. Luckily we have flexibility in our schedule, so if we start and end a little later than expected, it will be ok for us (although we will want to get home to see Keenan as soon as we’re done).
Finally, a quick thanks to Mrs. Bradburn’s third grade class at Opstad Elementary School for following along each day!
I think Ushuaia Argentina is the southernmost city in the world