Punta Arenas - Chile

We actually arrived in Punta Arenas about midnight instead of in the morning due to the anticipated high winds that would have prevented us from docking. You cannot dock in high winds since they will cause the ship to rock and bang into the dock and then cause hull damage. It did happen to another non-Viking ship on our last cruise, so the captain announced that we were going more quickly.
Then in the morning we had an excursion to a reconstructed fort on the hillside overlooking the Strait of Magellan. The winds did arrive overnight and instead of having us walk down the pier into the bus, they took us by van due to the danger of someone being blown off of the pier into the water.
The winds were at 80 mph when we left the ship - hurricane force. We heard later on in the day that a passenger on the ship next to us was walking down the stairs from her ship and was blown onto the pier (she was wearing a big parka that was open and caught the wind). The locals called this the 'Patagonia Winds'. This is the Patagonia region of South America.
Instead of touring the fort, there were hiking trails down the side to an overlook of the Strait for some wonderful ocean views and a fishing boat out for the day. The winds slowed and the sun tried to come out. There was a second trail down another side of the hill to the ocean. It was nice to get away from the ice, icy water and be able to take a walk on dry land.
We had a snack lunch before returning of empanadas and the local favorite, a Calafate Sour. The calafate is a berry that grows in the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile, and tastes like blueberry, raspberry, cherry. We left the tour in town to walk around, shop and sample the local food - Pollo Empanadas, some pastry we had no idea what it was with phyllo dough and caramel, another Calafate Sour, apple empanadas and a coffee with cocoa and orange.
Then back to the ship for our sea day tomorrow...Read more