Chile in our eyes: Part 2: Punta Arenas and Penguins in Magdalena Island

After 12 hours of solid sleep, I was completely full of energy again. It is amazing how quickly our body can recover. Just a day ago, each of my steps was filled up with pain and tiredness. However I felt like I could run if the blisters on my pinky toes did not bother me.

Sightseeings in Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas is a port city and there are not many attractions here. The main reason for tourists coming here is to see penguins in Magdalena or go to Puerto Natales where they depart for Torres Del Pain. We are not an exception. After we signed up for a penguin tour for the next day, we decided to take the day easy. Also it was close to Christmas time, life went slowly in Punta Arenas.

We had a vague idea of what we should do for the day till Dan suggested to visit the cemetery. I immediately shot Dan a "what the heck you are talking" look and frown. Checking out a cemetery while backpacking is never of my interest. I only do it in Vietnam when I go to see the tombs of my grandparents and relatives. I was not convinced till Dan said that it's one of the most massive cemeteries in South America. Dan turned out right.  The park has a unique and lovely design. Rows of immaculately trimmed cypress trees welcome visitors right at the entrance.

Each inner path of the cemetery has a name. For example, this path is named Las Margritas. I joked with Dan that the reasoning of this name is to remind us that we still can enjoy Margritas in our afterlife.

Each path is lined up with two rows of cypress trees in both sides that look like giant chubby fingers

Interestingly like Vietnamese culture, people in the family/clan are burried in the same area and each family/clan has one chapel close/next to the front entrance

After cemetery, we followed the road to see the central market. Dan and I share the same hobby of checking local markets whenever we go to a new place. Both of us are curious on knowing what people eat and buy in the market. When Dan went to Vietnam, he insisted on going with my mom to the small street market next to my house where my mom goes shopping for food every morning. At that time, everyone, in particular kids, stared at him because it seemed that there have never been a white dude following a very short and chubby Vietnamese old lady (my mom) in the market.

We did not get lucky at the central market in Punta Arenas because most shops were closed due to weekend and being close holidays. We continued to wander around in the city. The city is going through urban sprawl with the mixed combination of new and old houses.

Also at the city, we were able to find funky cars like this



Or lockers hanging around somewhere

Food:

Punta Arenas is home to sea food . During our glacier hike, our tour guide said that Punta Arenas is a good place for sea food so that Dan and I tried to eat as much sea food as possible. Later on, we realized that most places we stopped during our trip are next to the coast too:(

Speaking of eating habit, in Chile in general, pan-bread-is served as an appetizer before any food is served. Just like in Mexican restaurants, chips are served right after you take your seat. I prefer pan to Mexican chips because pan is way much heathier. However the downside of it is I always ate too much pan and felt full by the time my food was ready :(. Dan, of course, was always excited to take over most of my portion all the time. Pan and its sauce can be different among regions. We never found the same pan sause in all places we ate.

Also, in Chile, people donot drink water during meal. Instead they drink soft drink. Coke and Pepsi are most popular. If you want to have water, you have to buy the entire bottle. Dan and I had to carry our bottle everywhere because in some restaurants, they completely donot serve water.

Dan enjoyed his pan and Coke:|. Dan barely has a coke in the States but he reasoned that in developing countries, "real" cane sugar  is used to make coke so that coke here tastes much better than in the states.I got a sip but found it has an ugly sweet taste like other cokes.

French fries is an alternative to rice in Chile. I think people prefer french fried to rice. I guess you can figure out which plate belonged to Dan and which one was mine:). After dating me, Dan is restricted to eat unhealthy food like french fries or drink unhealthy soft drink like coke. However during traveling, I usually relax my rule and Dan never forgets to take advantages of it.

We eneded up our day with seafood for dinner again at Mi Luna, a popular restaurant in town. I got ceviche while Dan got grilled salmon. I must confess that Ceviche in Peru is way much better.

Penguins
The next morning, we took the boat operated by Turismo Comada to the Magdalena Island to see penguins, my most favorite animal. On the boat, we ran into Georgios, a Greek guy whom we met at Torres Del Paine. Three of us had an interesting conversation about differences in religion, history, culture, and etc among US, Greek, and Vietnam. Meeting other tourists and exchanging stories are no doubt my favorite part while traveling.

After a 1 hour boat, we arrived to the famous Magdalena Island, the Chile' largest penguin breed sites with over 100,000 magellanic penguins. The island is uninhabited and very raw with no tourist facilities (no stores, no lodging, and no food). In order to protect the ecosystem of the island, tourists are not allowed to bring any food, snack, or fruit to the island. Thousands of penguins make the island a spectacular sight with the softly undulating hills and the waves of the blue ocean. Penguins on this island migrate from Brazil for warm weather here. After staying here for several months to the end of summer, they swim back to Brazil

Seemingly those penguins are no stranger to tourists who are curious about them. It is easy to catch the sight in which penguins are crossing the street in the witness of watchers nearby

Another was about to cross the road

This guy kept growing curious about me. Whenever I moved my head, he moved his in the same direction

Some are bathing sun by themselves or with their kid. 

 On average, each couple of penguins has one child per year. However some have two like this dude. Its hard for me to distinguis penguin mom and dad. Theoretically, the dad has a slightly bigger size than the mom has but all penguins look the same to me

Male penguins have a very cute way to find their mate. Like humans, they try to make their nest very nice and physically appealing to attract female penguins. The penguin is famous for its monogamous practice. This guy was diggning out some grass and carrying it home to build his net

Also they use their unique sound to call for their mate. One do it by himself

Some do it in a group

This guy is luckier than others because he alreayd found his mate. 

Another also found the one who is looking at the same future direction with him

An hour flied  fast.The island gradually became smaller in our sight. Goodbye to the damn cute and clumsy penguins!!!!