When the Spaniard Pedro de Sarmiento arrived on the Strait of Magellan in 1584, it was not for a Patagonia vacation. Instead, he disembarked 300 colonists at Punta Santa Ana to found the Ciudad del Rey don Felipe which, unfortunately, lasted only a few years before most of them died from a variety of causes including starvation, leading to the name Puerto de Hambre (Port Famine).

Nearly three centuries later, in 1843, Chile established its own remote outpost – named Fuerte Bulnes – that met with nearly the same outcome before moving to the site of present-day Punta Arenas five years later. Some decades ago, the government rebuilt a replica fortress that, recently, has reopened as the Parque Histórico Patagonia (Patagonia Historic Park), less than an hour south of Punta Arenas road. In the process, new operators are turning the site into an attraction focused on its role in the settlement of the Strait from the earliest visitors to the present. A new visitor center is under construction, along with footpaths and panoramic viewpoints of the Strait, and archaeological excavations are underway. There is also abundant birdlife along the shoreline, including gulls, petrels, skuas and upland geese.

Thanks to the newly paved road, Fuerte Bulnes and the Parque Histórico Patagonia make an attractive half-day excursion at the start or end of a Cape Horn cruise. The scenic shoreline drive is a bonus.