At the Museum with Magellan’s ship was another ship famous for bringing Charles Darwin to this area. He who claimed to have done many things while here and for this area as well as mankind in general. Dr Sherry apparently is no bigger a fan of Darwin than I as she says most of the things for which Darwin claimed credit were actually done by the captain of the HMS Beacon while Darwin was out riding sea turtles. In any case I spent all of our allotted time there on Magellan’s ship. Very harsh conditions on board as well as the weather. I still cannot fathom how the feat of charting a passage way thru these waters was accomplished. The Insignia has maps, charts, satellites, and well trained officers to navigate these waters yet it is a requirement of Chile that all ships passing thru the Straits must have an officer of the Chilean Navy aboard. Gotta believe that the original journey was made with considerable help from above. I asked Gonzalo where Magellan got his crew. The answer was “mostly pulled them out of bars and such.” Interesting.
Loved the city. Loved everything I learned here except for the truth of the demise of the original inhabitants. They had either walked here from Asia or paddled a tiny canoe across the Pacific. Either way quite a remarkable feat. Saw a replica of the canoes. Could fit both of them in half our stateroom with lots of room to spare. Once arriving here, they lived off the land as did our Native Americans. Until the immigrants came. Prior to the arrival of the immigrants and their sheep, these people hunted or fished for their food. They saw no difference in the sheep and the wildlife they had been eating. They killed the immigrants’ sheep. The immigrants gathered all these pour souls together and slaughtered them. No this is not the first inhumane treatment of human beings by other human beings I’ve heard of, but I’m still having problems with the injustice. Seems the immigrants did not believe these people had a soul. Hmm! Disturbing to me.
From this museum we traveled to the town square to view the Statue of Magellan. The square is surrounded by buildings built and donated to the city by the offspring of said immigrants. Perhaps they were trying to redeem their souls.
Today, 2/25, was spent entirely cruising the Straits of Magellan around Cape Horn to arrive at the other City at the End of the World. Seems Argentina is just as adamant as Gonzalo that their city is the real authentic end of the earth. We look forward to an equally wonderful experience tomorrow. A tad warmer perhaps?
This is SOMEDAY, enjoy it!
2020 Around the World Tour 