Not Quite the End of the World – Punta Arenas & Monte Leon National Park

Maggie and I had about a week left in South America. We wanted to get a far south as we could, but we needed to budget some time for the long drive back north. We settled on stopping through Punta Arenas, then made some fun stops on the way north through Argentina.

3 February 2023

We woke up in our tent on the side of the road. After a week of eating backpacker food in Torres del Paine, Maggie and I were keen on getting a good breakfast in town. We packed up and made the short drive into Puerto Natales. Eggs, avocado toast, hot coffee and tea got our day off to a good start. After buying a loaf of fresh baked sourdough at a local bakery, we didn’t linger in Puerto Natales so we could get to Punta Arenas, about 3 hours away.

Rolling into Punta Arenas, we stopped first for groceries, made sandwiches by the beach, then got a room at a hostel.

Maggie and I dropped our bags and drove down Ruta del fin del Mundo – Route of the End of the World. This is functionally the southern most road on the South American continent. Any further and you have to take a ferry across the Strait of Magellan to access Tierra del Fuego. Superlatives, qualifiers, whatever… We found the end of the road around 5 pm. It was a bit late to set off for a walk on the beach, but the sun set was so late this time of year; we knew we had a few hours of daylight to wander a few miles further south.

It was cool and breezy. The forest was casting shadows on the beach of pebbles. A massive cruise ship motored off into the distance in the Strait of Magellan. The shoreline snaked left and right as we ambled and admired curiosities from the sea. Mollusks clinging to rocks. An island claimed by Imperial Cormorants. Kelp washed ashore.

We made it to San Isidro light house and took in the view for a moment. This was where we turned back north.

What’s mind boggling to me is that, even here at 53.78°S, it is still 800 miles to Antarctica! It felt like we were so far south, but in reality there was still quite a bit of planet between us and the south pole. For reference, the equivalent northern latitude is around Edmonton, Canada, or Dublin, Ireland, far from what we would consider arctic villages.

Maggie and I retraced our steps on the beach back to the car.

With the hour drive to Punta Arenas, we got back at 9 pm. Thankfully, some restaurants were still open, so we walked downtown for dinner at La Luna.

The atmosphere was warm and cozy, and the food was great too! Salmon for Maggie, eel for me. Our time in Punta Arenas was brief, but we definitely enjoyed it.

4 February 2023

Intent on catching up on some sleep, we got out of bed around 9 am. Breakfast was provided by the hostel, which saved us time and money. We took proper showers before checking out, since we were still carrying the grime from our last day in Torres del Paine. It was dreary and drizzly, not bad for a day in the car. We left town around 12 pm after getting groceries for the long drive north. Perhaps an hour after leaving Punta Arenas, our hunger was setting in. We pulled over at an enclosed bus stop shelter for lunch. It was the perfect spot to make sandwiches, using more of the artisan sourdough from Puerto Natales and a ton of fresh vegetables. For some reason, this meal stands out in both of our memories.

Satiated, we drove a little further to the next border crossing. There were loads of cars, and long lines at both Chilean and Argentinian customs. Organization and directions were lacking, as the line of people spilled outside of the building. It took two hours. Woof…

Waiting, and more waiting…

Maggie and I drove another 3 hours to camp off a side road by Monte Leon National Park. It was super windy. An orange outburst lit up the clouds and the horizon as the sun set.

We made dinner in the back of the car, and eventually, the wind died down a bit. We pitched the tent down wind from the car and weighed it down with some rocks…

5 February 2023

We slept off and on with the tent flapping the wind, but we were able to sleep a little bit. It was all nice and fine for a few hours, until the wind shifted… We were awoken at 5 am to the tent collapsing in on us. Luckily nothing had broken. Rather, the arch of the tent pole inverted under the force of the gusts, sort of like an umbrella caught in the wind and flipped inside out. There was no sign of the wind relenting, so we hastily threw everything in the car and tried to sleep some more in the front seats as the sun was rising. I dozed off for a bit, but Maggie couldn’t fall back asleep. She maybe got 3 hours of sleep, I fared better with 5 or 6…

We drove to Monte Leon National Park visitor center. Maggie had spotted this park along our route and found out that we could see a Magellanic Penguin colony! We made breakfast burritos in the parking lot as we waited for the visitor center to open. Operating hours are more of a suggestion on Argentina time. After checking in with the park ranger, we drove down towards the coast. Large herds of guanacos shuffled across the road. At the trail head, we saw a crested tinamou, what a treat!

It was about a mile of walking to the coast. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but the wind was still howling. The local environment would give no indication that the Atlantic ocean was just beyond the horizon – it felt like the driest, sandiest deserts I’ve ever been to. Naturally, errant gusts sandblasted our faces every few minutes, but we persevered for the penguins!

A modest wire fence directed the last hundred yards of trail. Suddenly, we looked down and saw our aquatic-avian friends taking shelter under the scrawny bushes right next to the path. I did not expect to see the penguins this close up! They seemed relatively undisturbed by our gawking and picture taking.

A small wind shelter was perched on the steep slope that dropped down to the ocean. Several groups of penguins could be seen, bumbling around and lounging by the surf. A handful of intrepid penguins took to the sea, the waves at least five times their own height. It was great fun watching them swim and waddle around.

We eventually turned back and drove to another short boardwalk trail, which took us to an overlook. There we saw some sea lions down by the water, catching waves to rest on a sloped rock outcropping. Some more penguins were hanging out on the shelf above the sea lions, and I wondered if the sea lions were looking for lunch.

We didn’t hang out here too long, it was still insanely windy! We drove inland a bit and made sandwiches again. We got on the road again at 2 pm and drove through the most flat, homogeneous landscape yet for 5.5 hours. Other than the occasional guanaco, there wasn’t anything of interest. Near the end of the day, we consulted iOverlander and ended up camping in a little nook by the ocean. We were happy to find this quiet, sheltered camp spot. After eating dinner and watching the waves, we got to bed to catch up on some sleep…