Climate impact - Patagonia

Punta Arenas, aboard the MV Arctic Sunrise

Today I woke up aboard the MV Arctic Sunrise that we joined yesterday here in Punta Arenas, Chile. I can see Tierra del Fuego through the porthole of our cabin.

When we arrived there was a very long line of people on the quayside. After a while I realised they were all waiting to get onboard our ship! The port authorities say that about 2000 people visited the ship during the five hours we were open.

We are stuck here a couple of days waiting for some spare parts. This is an opportunity for me to edit all the material I’ve collected so far, and also to update this diary that has been sadly neglected.

It has been a busy couple of weeks in Patagonia. Yesterday feels like a week ago: so many new impressions! Two days ago we stayed at the Estancia Christina (estancia is a farm or a ranch), close to the Upsala glacier in Argentina. The only way to get there is by boat or horse.

Tourists arrive every day to see the glacier, but at large the estancia has not changed much since the first people came here in 1914. Pablo, one of the guides, said: “the estancia has not changed, but the glacier did”. Pablo has only worked here for two years, but he has already noticed how glacial retreat, how the distance from the ranch to the glacier increased.

Posted by Irene at January 20, 2004 07:42 PM