We have arrived in Punta Arenas! We left Santiago very early in the morning, and landed in Punta Arenas just in time for a late breakfast.
Chile is a long, skinny country. It is 2,700 miles long, which is about the same distance as the width of the U.S., from the west to east coast. A lot can change over that distance, so there are a lot of different ecosystems in Chile. (Think about how many different ecosystems are in the US across that distance!) In the northern part of the country that we flew over to land in Santiago, there is the Atacama Desert. The area looks very familiar to those of us who live in Arizona. But, the Atacama Desert is actually much drier than the Sonoran Desert where we live. In Phoenix, we get about 8 inches of rain per year. The Atacama receives less than one inch per year on average. The wettest places receive 1-3 inches per year, but some places have no record of rainfall at all!
Punta Arenas is at the very southern tip of Chile. It is at the southern end of Patagonia, which is a steppe ecosystem in the southern end of South America. It is a cold, rainy, and windy city! While we were in Santiago, it was sunny and 85°F. Here in Punta Arenas, it's only around 50°F, and it drizzles much of the day. It is also very windy. Even though it's summer, most people are bundled up in winter coats and hats.
Punta Arenas is on the Strait of Magellan. A strait is a narrow band of water that connects two larger seas or oceans. The Strait of Magellan cuts through the southern tip of South America to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A lot of cargo ships and cruise ships use the Strait of Magellan to cross between the oceans, and Punta Arenas is also a popular port for heading to Antarctica. So there are a lot of ships in the area. We had time for a quick walk on the shore before we had to check into the hotel for our week of quarantine.
The orange ship you see in the distance is one of the research vessels that the U.S. Antarctic Program owns. The last time I was in Punta Arenas, it was to board this ship and head to Antarctica. This year, though, we are with the Chilean Antarctic Program, and we will be flying in an airplane to our research base. It will be a much faster trip!
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