This morning, we were up and ready to go long before the ship was in position in the bay in front of Punta Arenas, Chile. It has taken a little longer than the captain anticipated yesterday. And we are at anchor rather than at the dock as I expected. There is no more room at the pier. This is a bigger city than Ushuaia, but it is not very touristy. There are oil platforms in the water not too far off shore. While we were out today, we saw the Holland America Zaandam in port at the far eastern end of the city.

By 11:30, the ship had cleared customs and the dock was set up for the tender service. We were on the first tender ashore. Taking another Seabourn tour, we went to four places today. The first stop was at the Nao Victoria museum. It is a replica of the only one of the five ships that Magellan left Spain with on his round-the-world voyage that actually made it the entire way. It returned with only eighteen men. The others died on the way, including Magellan, or they were on the one ship that mutinied and returned to Spain soon after they arrived in Patagonia. Patagonia was the name given to the area by Magellan when he saw the people there. It is a corruption of the words for tall people with big feet according to the guide today. It is not what the natives called themselves.

The replica ship was built by one man on his own without the support of anyone else or any organization, and it is quite impressive. It is a true, life-sized replica based on plans he found in a library in Seville, Spain. He also has replicas of Darwin's HMS Beagle and two of Shackleton’s ships, the Ancud and the James Caird which was one of the lifeboats on the Endurance.

Next stop on the tour was back in central Punta Arenas at the Maggiorino Borgatello Museo. The museum is next door to the cathedral that were both founded by the Salesian missionaries in the 19th century. The museum shows flora and fauna of Patagonia as well as its history and culture. We then drove on to a high lookout point for a broad view of the city and the Strait of Magellan. Last stop on the tour was at the city square with its grand, old buildings as well as a few new structures. Phil and I walked to a farmacia to pick up some hydrogen peroxide. I didn’t find it, but I did find an acceptable substitute. It was more fun trying to decipher the labels and conducting the purchase in Spanish than I think we would have had snapping photos of the buildings and monuments.

We had beautiful weather for touring today—bright, clear skies, light breeze, and temperatures in the 50s.