I came across Sir Francis Drake and the Strait of Magellan while reading a mystery novel. I have been to Chile and Argentina on many business trips, and I was not aware of the significance of the Magellan Strait. Today the preferred sea route for crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean is the Panama Canal, but previously the safest route was through the Magellan Strait.

It's hard to compare the way we look at the world and the way we can go from one side to the other in less than a day, when back then they still didn't know what there was to find. Columbus thought he was in India, because they were pretty confident with the globe theory, but they got the size wrong by a few thousand miles. Going around the world was a long term project.Today there isn't much wilderness left, unless it's a place people don't want to go

My fascination comes from analyzing certain historical events with 20-20 hindsight. I like your comments because this seems to indicate some important events we consider truths today could be off by a lot.

To quote Elbert Hubbard: "Travel broadens one's sympathies, increases imagination, makes history vivid, romance real, fixes in memory sights and scenes never to be forgotten, prevents introspection, makes one look out, not in, up not down, and moreover, adds to one's length of days by keeping the heart young and the brain active".