The members of the Spanish expedition to Antarctica have spent thirty years travelling to the white continent and stopping at two points on the map: Ushuaia in Argentina and Punta Arenas in Chile, which by themselves are worth a visit. These two cities compete against each other for a place as the best austral city in terms of tourism, commerce and maritime business in the region.

For those of us who are lucky enough to travel to Antarctica, the cities of Ushuaia and Punta Arenas become places to stay for a few days, places to meet up with the friends made in earlier expeditions, or places for the latest shopping or the last minute preparations, and of course places to drink plenty of caulker beer. And with the passing of time, there is also the healthy tradition of wasting a couple of days getting lost and chilling out around the mountains and glaciers of Patagonia. This is exactly what I am doing these days, while the research vessel Hespérides is moored, for a pause, at the dock in Punta Arenas.

Ushuaia and Punta Arenas, both equally important unless you are a nationalist from Chile or Argentina, boast to be the second tourist destination in their respective countries, above the Atacama Desert. This is because the Andes has the most spectacular and whimsical geological formations here: Paine Towers, Grey glacier, and Perito Moreno Glacier. For those who come from Antarctica, and have seen the endless succession of immense glaciers, the Grey or Perito Moreno glaciers are small, so I am told. Not true. The five hours of travel are well worth it. The serene beauty of the landscape at Paine (blue skies in mapagundun) and the dazzling force of nature takes over the spirit of the visitor.

I belong to the generation of people who can travel for hours and hours contemplating the landscape through the window of a train or a bus without feeling tired, without needing anything but a quick pit stop every three hours, for a toilet break, a sandwich, and some nuts. The rest is made up by the landscape: the pampas, the steppe or a plateau which along with the traveller’s loneliness create the miracle of the other journey, the one inside oneself.

Sky blue towers, the eighth wonder of the world, doesn’t disappoint. Even less so when it welcomes you on a clear day – the needles and the teeth hide at times among the clouds and nothing distracts your attention from the natural monument itself. You can almost read the geological history of these formations, for instance, twelve million years ago, during the Miocene period, these mountains emerged hoisting their crowns of clay, adding wonder to the wonder. What are 12,000,000 years in the life of a mountain range!

Rightly so, and if I may add “scientifically so”, this Magellan region opened Darwin’s eyes wide and illuminated the darkest places of evolution. All sailors and explorers who have gone before and after Darwin and have passed through the Patagonian channels and the countless islands that make up the Tierra del Fuego belt, have undergone a certain scientific Stendhal syndrome, a kind of awakening of the senses and the emotions, the same as I felt yesterday in front of the icy tongue of the Grey glacier. Fifty different shades of light shadows from Grey glacier in Patagonia.

All the past visitors have built the recent history of Punta Arenas – a colony of Croatian immigrants, a thriving modernism city, scarcely a century and a half old – from which we can also learn the history of their indigenous people who were destroyed by civilization, trade, and alcohol. A seal’s skin, a bottle of whiskey. Its recent history can be read in the cemetery in Punta Arenas, which is the second largest in South America, and full of luxury headstones, an architectural delight.

I read the imprint of those explorers and immigrants on the virgin landscape still unbuilt, made up of immense prairies hardly touched by a shepherd’s hand. But I also read their imprint on the map that summons me into adventure: Darwin mountain, Fitz Roy mount, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa lake, Nordernskjold glacier, Valentin Bay. And I read their traces in the anonymous place names such as Porvenir, Primavera, Deseado, Despreciado, Escondido, Port famine, Whaler channel, and Desolation island. The map of Tierra del Fuego is like a poem. It can be read in any direction that your mood takes you. As the mountain range with its ridges and its glaciers tell us the geological and volcanic history of the planet, the map tells us the human adventure of their discovery. Bitter lake. White Throne. Horns viewpoint, Condor lookout. Hidden Valley. Forgotten glacier. Desired Port… you can continue the poem yourselves.