Going where the climate suits my clothes

Filed from: Punta Arenas, Chile

Greetings from the Straits of Magellan! I’m here in Punta Arenas, Nelson’s home city and where I’ll be based until my return to the U.S. in July. We’ll be traveling around a bit but this town way down on the southernmost tip of South America will be our main base. It is beautiful, with lots of 18th-century architecture, brightly painted buildings, broad clean streets, and a tree-filled central plaza. Stategically located along the straits, Punta Arenas was an important stop on the trade routes and as a result received many European visitors, quite a few of whom settled here. This migration can be seen in the city’s architecture (I’ll get pictures up later) as well as in the German, Spanish, Croatian, and Basque names of the city’s 100,000 inhabitants.

It’s been almost a year since I was last here. This was my last stop on my work tour to meet Patagonian activists and, incidentally, where I met Nelson. As most of you know, our journey over the past 10 months has taken us to Alaska, California, Boston, Argentina, and now back to Chile. It’s hard to believe it’s only been 10 months!

I was glad to leave the sweltering heat and cosmopolitan bustle of Buenos Aires and head on down south. The difference in climate is significant—the temperature in Buenos Aires when I left was 30 degrees (celsius), and half that when I arrived in Rio Gallegos, a 3+ hour flight down South America’s Atlantic coast. As most of my clothes are winter and rain gear, it’s nice to feel like the climate suits my clothes (as the song goes). It’s also nice to get out of the big city and closer to the natural world again.

Nelson met me in Rio Gallegos, and after a couple days, we took the four-hour busride across the Argentine steppe and into Chile. We arrived in Punta Arenas on Sunday and have spent the past few days doing errands and getting ready for heading on still further south to a village called Puerto Williams, on an island just south of the island of Tierra del Fuego. Nelson’s currently working there, so we’ll be there for the next three weeks while he finishes up his fieldwork and I get to go tromping around in the wilderness. It’s supposed to be spectacular down there, and I’m looking forward to it.

In other news, I’ve been hearing from grad schools and am happy to report that I’ve been accepted at my top two choices: University of Montana and Yale School of Forestry. I’m leaning towards Yale because of its international resources and proximity to family and friends on the East Coast, but I’m going to take the next few weeks to think it over. Thanks to everyone who helped and supported and encouraged me during the application process—I couldn’t have done it without you.

I’m not sure how how much internet access there will be in Puerto Williams—a fishing village of 1,500—so it may be a while before my next post. But I’ll be thinking of you all as I sip my mate and contemplate life from the southernmost town in the world.