Day of the Day: November 8, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile

After six days on Easter Island and a day in Santiago to reset and swap out our warm-weather gear in our packs for the cooler temperatures in Patagonia, we flew 2200 kilometers to Punta Arenas, picked up our Ford Ecosport and checked into Hotel Carpa Manzano.
With a half day to do some exploring, we decided on a visit to the Seno Otway Penguin Colony.

Magellanic Penguins (For a larger version, click any image.)
The weather was what we soon learned to be fairly “seasonal”, i.e., cool, overcast and very windy, which didn’t seem to phase some of the other indigenous species, including Darwin’s rhea:

and the ubiquitous sheep:
We ended the day with an unexpectedly, wonderful meal at Damiana Elena Restaurant. Here’s my Tripadvisor review.
The next day we drove to Puerto Natales, from which we would venture to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
Related posts:

• Puerto Natales - November 9, 2008
• Parque Nacional Torres del Paine - November 10, 2008
• Parque Nacional Torres del Paine - November 10, 2008