Punta Arenas, Chile: The dentist and a walk through the square

After my morning excursion, I visited the dentist and got a temporary fix of my missing two crowns.  The dentist explained that I needed to replace the two crowns when I returned to the US.  The entire “emergency” Saturday visit (no insurance) was only 100,000 Chilean pesos which I paid by credit card.  I wasn’t sure how much I was spending, but I knew it had to be done.  It turns out that 100,000 Chilean pesos is $164.  No bad for an emergency visit on a Saturday afternoon.

The taxi driver the ship had engaged to bring me to the dentist was soon dispatched to pick me up.  He was a very friendly guy, but he made it clear, “My English is not too good.”  I got him to drop me off at the town square and I took a walking tour of a few sites in this beautiful city they say is at the “end of the earth.” 

Here are a few of my photos the afternoon.

These are the sea birds (cormorants) I thought were penguins at a great distance.  They're not penguins.

Smiles are universal, and these mounted officers agreed to pose for a picture.  Our ship is in the background behind them.

The trees in the town square are beautiful.

Dr. Christian's English was much better than my Spanish (I can only say "hello" and "thanks").  The assistant used her phone to communicate with me regarding the payment of the bill.  They were friendly and great at what they do.

It's siesta time after lunch, and these dogs make themselves comfortable outside of this shop.

Ferdinand Magellan can be found in the town's square.

Note how shiny the toes are.  It's said that if you kiss or touch the toe you'll return to Punta Arenas.

I decided to touch rather than kiss the toe. 

Cormorants are medium-to-large seabirds.  They look kind of like penguins at a distance (and somewhat walk like them).

This type of cormorant can swim and fly.  They do walk kind of like penguins.