I started my journey to Antarctica with two weeks in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego to mentally and physically prepare myself before joining the ship in Ushuaia, Argentina. First I spent a couple of days organising my south american adventure, buying various bus tickets and a ferry passage in Punta Arenas.
Punta Arenas has a great stand of old growth Monkey Puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana) in the town cemetery. Recently people have started using bonsai versions of these Araucarias as feature plants in their front yards in Punta Arenas. They look stunning, and remind me of home, because the community I live on is called Araucaria. It is a reminder of the ancient Gondwanan connection between Australia, South America and Antarctica.
Advertisements
