Blogs from Puerto Natales, Magallanes, Chile, South America
April 20th 2012
Yes the weather forecasts were correct!! A nice blue sky morning as we head for Torres del Paine (the Towers of Pain). We had been hearing from people that had been tramping while the weather had not been good and they could not see the mountains. It had been cloudy and rainy for the past five days! The ride out turned up 20 minutes early and put us in a bit of a panic. While we raced to clean our teeth the van left to pick up some others. Finally aboard and on time!! We drove out of the very picturesque Puerto Natales. I thought it was a lake!! I learned the error of my ways when we caught a ferry here a few days later. The van driver and a good portion of the passengers ... read more
March 14th 2012
Reaching Patagonia has been paramount on our list of things to do thus far on our travels. After almost two months in the tropical heat of Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina, the cool, subpolar winds that hit us as we stepped out of the airport at Ushuaia, along with the icy sharp, pyramidal mountains rising ahead of us, presented a shock to the system. After a four hour flight from Buenos Aires, we had finally arrived in the southern most city in the world with nothing left ahead of us but antarctic sea; a stark contrast of everything that had come before. Ushuaia lies on the south island of Tierra del Fuego in a wide bay with forest, glaciers and mountains rising up behind the settlement which would become our home for the next week. After ... read more
?Mañana?. "This is South America."
Published: March 9th 2012South America » Chile » Magallanes » Puerto Natales
March 5th 2012
Dropped round Erratic rock and said my goodbyes. Photo of the team and me for posterity. Its phiily cheese steak sandwich tonight. Shall miss them all and the good cheap food and drink. Promised to return one day. Might even come back for the season and help out at the bar. Life has a funny way of lending a hand in this area. Writing this entry on first day on board the navimag. (navi as in Irish road builder- navvy) Calm day. Sun breaking though occasionally as boat makes its way through the fjords of Patagonia. ( or feeordland as the american folks on the boat call it). Mountain and glaciers to the left and right. A beautiful setting. Saw a whale this morning .so lucky . Came out of the cabin onto the port side ... read more
Disney, chilling out and quiz night in Puerto Natales.
Published: March 5th 2012South America » Chile » Magallanes » Puerto Natales
March 2nd 2012
2nd March 2012. Happy St Davids day for yesterday to all my welsh readers. Sat here in the Lilo Patagonicos hostel in Peurto Natales, a town the size of a postage stamp, letting my leg recover and wait for the 'Navimag' ship to arrive in a few days to continue my journey north. This will be an old freighter. The company have taken advantage of the tourist/traveller situation and so now offer a limited number of berths to the likes of me who want to sail for 4 days on the Pacific Ocean though the fjiords. Have already bought sufficent wine for the journey. Those I have spoken to who have arrived in PN from the north by freighter have all raved about it. whale and dolphin watching, the amazing coastline and the comerardie of the ... read more
Los Pengiunos and then to Punta natales
Published: March 1st 2012South America » Chile » Magallanes » Puerto Natales
February 23rd 2012
So, up at the crack of sparrows and re-met Jack and Claudia from Aspen who were on the calamity boat yeseterday. Claudia is the sister in law of Jack, who's mum and dad fell ill on a cruise and were dropped off in Punta Arenas and have been here for three weeks in a local hospital. his dad has developed double pneumonia and mum has a broken ankle. They fly out with them tomorrow and my thoughts are with his folks. Anyways, we take a fast speed boat to see the pengiuns and then it's coffee and Pisco sour, a delicious Chille rum based drink. Also saw a sealion colonly and the smell was quite overpowering. Really, sealion shit really is pungent. As a bonus on the way back saw some dolphns, so a good day. ... read more
January 22nd 2012
So, its been a packed few days since our last blog. We made our way from Cochrane to Villa O´Higgins all the way to the end of the Carretera Austral. We travelled down with our group of new-found friends after two nights in Cochrane. The scenery going south from Cochrane was beautiful and it was appreciated all the more because we didn´t do it like so many other travellers - on bicycle. The cyclists seem to outnumber the backpackers in this part of Chile. We were a group of eight and found ourselves a cozy Cabaña in town with a fireplace and fully equipped kitchen. We tasked one of our travel companions, Dirk the Belgian chef, to cook us a meal. So, given a budget, we visited all the supermercados to look for some fresh produce ... read more
January 10th 2012
Scenic Cruising: Woke up to overcast skies and drizzle. Every now and then the sun would peek through and while having coffee I saw a rainbow, grabbed my camera and in my robe headed to the verandah for a picture. A note about my camera; the Cannon refuses to work even with fresh batteries. I turn it on and get a message “change batteries”. This is a real bummer as I am relying on the telephoto lens to get good shots of the icebergs. I took it to the photo shop and he tried his rechargeable batteries and the camera works fine. It appears that the Duracell Ultras are too lightweight to power the lens. Will have to search for a rechargeable kit or some “heavy weight” ones tomorrow in Puerto Arenas. After breakfast I went ... read more
January 1st 2012
My 2012 New Year has been very very quite. I took a walk along the coast in the town this morning after I booked my bus ticket. Almost everything is closed today. Most people slept in and stay home to enjoy a new day of the year with the family. I can imagine they´re gathering around the table for a morning coffee and a warm breakfast. For me, I´m happy to enjoy the peaceful and quite moment to enjoy the view and smell the fresh air. What´s in my head today? What´s my New Year wishes? My mind is literally empty and my walk is just following the curb. why bother to think of a wish? As we all said ¨Happy New Year¨, isn´t that the biggest wish!!! I didn´t sleep well last night because of ... read more
The blog entry that never was
Published: February 3rd 2012South America » Chile » Magallanes » Puerto Natales
December 31st 2011
And so to Chile. We've been in Argentina so long that it feels strange to be crossing the border. How on Earth will we adapt? A bus from El Calafate zips us across the border at Río Turbio, a (yet another) dull, windy, workaday town, and into Puerto Natales. Located on the shore of Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) in Magallanes, Chile's southernmost (and that's saying something) province, Puerto Natales - not a city I'd write home about - is well known as the entry point for a place whose reputation worldwide is nothing short of Legendary. Torres del Paine National Park is, pretty much everyone agrees, the reason you come to this ever-so-distant part of Patagonia. Well, much as I hate to disappoint, this blog entry stops here. The day we arrived in Puerto ... read more
December 28th 2011
Hit Torres del Paine running. After swanning around on a ship in the Antartica for 12 days not doing a lot of physical exercise, it was then a rude shock to don the pack and tackle a steep climb for two hours to reach our accommodation - Refugio Chileno. Settled in a valley next to a glacier river. The climb into Torres del Paine was worth the effort. Three towers in full view, cloudless perched above a glacier and glacier lake. It was fantastic to spot 2 condours taking advantage of the draft and soaring up in the mountain tops. Next stop was the French Valley which consisted of a long day of walking up and down through forest, rock scrambling, dodging tree roots and bull dust not to mention rickety swing bridges over raging rivers. ... read more
