Day 1 – Punta Arenas, a superficial historical summary

During our descent toward Punta Arenas, the view over the Strait of Magellan revealed strong winds that transformed the surface into a vast expanse of whitecaps. Our landing was a stark contrast to how the Strait was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan who endured gale force winds and rough seas but not a Philipino Braveheart when he was funded by the Spanish Crown in 1519 to discover a quick western route to Spice Islands; what they called Indonesia back in the day.

We were scheduled to board an over-the-top-vessel equipped with stabilizers promised to protect us from first world inconveniences such as high waves and tornado like winds. Our profound mission was to traverse the frigid southern seas and glare at the pelagics that inhabit the Falkland lslands and South Georgia over two and a half weeks. As Magellan set out to define the global map, we showed up with our expensive camera lenses to make photos of penguins, seals, whales, birds and rocks.

In 1519, Magellan and a crew of over 250 men left Seville and headed west toward the Atlantic Ocean. They spent weeks approaching the equator enduring storms that foreshadowed a year long quest for “El Paso”, a passage perhaps known to Magellan through old Chinese maps. While sailing along the southern coast of South America, a nasty storm in October 1520 drew them into a narrow passage. They spent days winding through the rocky islands of Tierra del Fuego, land of fire because of the many fires that were sighted, and faced severe storms until they finally reached the end of the Strait. Magellan, enchanted by the calm and peaceful sea declared it “Mare Pacifico”, which is the source of the modern name, the Pacific Ocean.

From there, they headed east without adequate food supplies, assuming the journey to take days and not months. Magellan and his scurvy ridden crew reached Guam only to be immediately attacked by natives. They continued the journey to other islands in the Philippines and upon reaching Cebu, some guys wanted nothing to do with conversion and Spanish rule so they provoked lethal resistance. Lapulapu the Raja of Matcan (chief) ended Magellan’s life in the Battle of Matcan in 1521 and he was buried in the Philippines.

The strait was unnavigable from then on until Bernardo O’Higgins, Chile’s exiled Head of state, got wind that the likes of Fitzroy and Darwin were conducting surveys around the strait. Untouchable by outside forces and controlled by various indigenous tribes until the 19th century, it was Bernando’s moment of glory.

He sent an expedition “Ancud” down south to establish a permanent Chilean outpost in the strait. The Chileans finally went ashore in 1843 after an arduous journey, raised the Chilean flag, asked the obnoxious French Expedition who arrived a few days later to put down their flag and began to forage for natural resources.

They built “Fuerto Bulnes” a fort on a rocky hill at Punta Santa Ana to claim the area. A few years later, in 1948, severe weather forced them to move the settlement up north with good grazing grounds to Punta Arenas  a former penal colony. With a small population of less than 500, tensions between the convicts and the indigenous population escalated, resulting in several mutinies by  prisoners and military commanders over the years.

Once the dust almost settled (no punt intended), President Perez decided that a volatile mix of convicts and exiles who burnt things down when upset was not a good idea. So he ran a proper KYC (Know Your Colonist) check and offered generous land grants including healthcare and education benefits to lure a wave of Europeans in 1867.

After one last mutiny where the town was burnt down again, in 1877, the good sparks started to fly when sheep was brought back from the Falkland Islands by Diego Almeyda and sold 300 of them to Henry Reynard, a British entrepreneur who ignited the sheep farming boom. With the Strait literally on their doorstep, exporting wool became profitable. Things got even better in 1879, when Lt Ramón Serrano Montaner finally confirmed gold traces, validating the incomplete reports from previous expeditions.

As is tradition with every economic boom, the region instantly became El Dorado attracting sheeples from all over the world as the French headed north to construct the Panama Canal. Quickly realizing their grand engineering plans were harder than expected, they were bailed out by the Americans who changed the maritime industry in 1914.

Back in Punta Arenas, the sheep farming success started to unravel after trade lanes were rerouted to pass through the calmer Panama Canal. Two World Wars were a buzzkill for consumerism, wool was promptly out of fashion after oil was discovered and mysterious Pumas began to roam freely around estancias gifted to the original European settlers. The large cats hit the jackpot when the estancias soon became hunting grounds and their status as the most respected predators in Patagonia was established.

Nowadays, Punta Arenas is just another “Windy City” and an excellent destination for hypochondriacs given the alarming number of pharmacies on every corner. It’s also a colorful city packed with a collection of statues featuring historical figures, I naturally felt compelled to stare at feeling like a dimwit because I had no idea how geographically and historically important this colorful city was. I was too busy on a meaningless pursuit to rack up my daily steps before the long journey ahead.