It's been so windy down here lately that I've caught a cold... I started coughing on the bus trip from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas, and yesterday I decided to take a day off. A holiday from my holiday. Although I don't have to go to work every day, I'm still busy doing and seeing things, and moving from place to place every few days, and that can also be quite tiring. Now I have two full days in Punta Arenas and there isn't a great deal to see or do here, so I afforded myself the luxury of staying in bed most of yesterday. I feel a little better today, but the cursed cough is back...
Punta Arenas is the southernmost city of Chile and the South American mainland. I have actually been here once before, about eight years ago, but that was in winter and it was freezing. It's quite mild now, around 15 degrees, but windy. For the second time during my trip I have booked accommodation with a shared bathroom. Luckily the high season is pretty much over so the hostal isn't very busy.
The only tour I wanted to do from here was to visit the penguin sanctuary at Otway. To my disappointment, it has already closed for the season as the penguins have left! The other option was to catch a boat to Magdalena Island, which would take two hours each way and required a connection with a shared taxi from the city centre. I decided it was too much trouble and didn't fancy travelling for up to six hours, four of which on board a boat on choppy waters, just to see some penguins. I can see penguins for free in Slottsskogen in Gothenburg. I also saw some in South Africa last year.
I decided to have a long overdue haircut today. In this wind, my long flowing mane always get in my eyes, so high time to trim it. The hairdresser was not the chatty type, which suited me just fine. And at the end I even got a receipt! Don't think I've ever had a receipt for a haircut before.
I've also noticed that cars actually stop and let you cross at zebra crossings here. That's never happened since I arrived in South America.
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