We flew to Punta Arenas, the southernmost airport serving Patagonia which is located right on the Straight of Megellan.

The hotel itself was an older place and not very fancy but comfortable enough. We ended up with a 4 person family room which was perfect for us. It had one large bed and two twin beds. It was just fine, except for everyone sharing one bathroom and pretty much zero storage. Still more than sufficient for one night.

We got a restaurant recommendation from the front desk to check out The Beagle just a few blocks away. The streets were pretty empty except for the ever present stray dogs but The Beagle was pretty lively. Food there was very good and dirt cheap! While we don't normally drink beer we heard Patagonian beers are good and they were right!

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Otway Sound & Penguin Reserve

Just a few miles outside Punta Arenas and on the way to Torres del Paine was the small but otherwise awesome Otway Penguin Reserver. We booked a van to take us all to the Hotel Rio Serrano and we asked the driver to make a stop at the Otway Penguin Reserve. It wasn't that far off the main road but the road was a very bumpy dirt road. Once there the area has well marked paths and raised pathways because the area is very damp and muddy.

The Penguins were a bit of a walk from the entrance and there were only a few at the area where the burrows area. There were quite a few more on the beach just hanging out and swimming. There they have a wooden hut that looks like it's there to obscure the tourists so the Penguins don't freak out. The visit was pretty amazing since we were able to get very close to the Penguins. This was also our first experience with typical Patagonian weather, it was very cold and windy.

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