Things to do in Punta Arenas

Entering the Montevideo Cloud Forest, the world suddenly sinks into a grey-green seabed. Gnarled tree roots, wrapped in moss, resemble the spine of a prehistoric behemoth, and each fern is adorned with diamond-like droplets of mist. On the suspension bridge, hummingbirds flutter their wings eighty times per second, frozen before bromeliad blossoms, while twenty meters below, in the layer of decaying leaves, the legend of the golden toad's extinction gently turns its page with a sigh from the guide. The most magical moment is the "sun dog"—a crack in the thick fog, sunlight dyeing the steam iridescent, and thousands of shades of green awaken in an instant. Touching the roots of epiphytic orchids leaves your hands covered in cool mist, and you understand why the locals call this place "the forest of eternal breathing."