Patagonia - Rain, Rain, go away

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Our day started with a light breakfast at the hotel and then a van ride to the airport. We caught a Sky Airline flight to Punta Arenas. When we landed and got our luggage when went out and there was no sign for us or for the Eco Camp. We waited. After about 20 minutes, Shelly went off to find a phone to call the emergency number. I asked each person that came in and looked like they were looking for folks (Eco Camp? Cascada?) Finally someone came and said yes and this was about the time Shelly got back. We went outside and it was a taxi??? Huh and he already had our suitcases in. Well we were trying to get them out as by now we figured this wasn’t our transportation when our van finally arrived. They had been delayed at the port picking up the other passengers. Crises adverted.



Off for a long ride to the camp. We knew it was supposed to be about 5 hours with a stop for lunch and our itinerary said a stop at a cave. But, the “guide” said that there wasn’t going to be time for the cave. The drive was let’s say boring. It was windy so the van got pushed around a bunch and we drove for 2 hours before stopping for lunch (at 3:30). I got a hamburger and it was ok. Shelly and Arena got a cheese sandwich which was all bread and hardly any cheese and Marty got some tuna sandwich which he wasn’t impressed with. We hoped this wasn’t going to be how our food was.



Back in the van for another hour, then we hit Puerto Nateles where we had to sign in for the Eco Camp and use the restroom, then back to the van for the remainder of our journey. The clouds were low so we didn’t see much of anything. 2 hours later we arrived at camp.



Dinner was grand and it was in a shared set of domes and we got a Pesca Sour (kinda like a whiskey sour) and then a briefing on the activities for tomorrow. Wine came with the meal every night and was good. We didn’t drink much though as we knew we had outings the next day. Shelly of course signed up for the hardest one. I choose the easier one. Either way we were in a bit of a panic as the weather for tomorrow was rain. Neither of us was prepared for that. Finally, we both found a guide that had an extra rain jacket that we could borrow.



We went back to our dome, stoked the fire and crashed. Of course the fire died during the night and we woke to cold, wind and rain. Oh, today is going to be miserable. I started the day with yoga at 7:30 (stretching yoga). It was good. Then I went back to our dome. We dressed warmly and headed to breakfast and then to meet our guides for our trips. Shelly took the water proof camera; I took the good one in a waterproof bag.



My hike consisted of a van ride to the hills above the lake and then about a 2-2.5 hour hike to the lake, around it,…. I saw wildlife, bones of the animals that had died, flowers,.. We opted to not stop for our bag lunch as the rain and cold would have just made it miserable, but we did get to see some good sites and I got a few good pictures.



Shelly’s hike was much tougher it was around 22 kilometers long (about 15 miles) and they went to a glacial lake. Only 2 guests went out on that hike. She didn’t return back to camp until around 6:00pm and she was wet too. It was then that we realized how much nicer the suite domes were. I would have hated, and I mean HATED it, if we had not had a suite dome. We had a wood fire stove, ie heat. The regular domes had no heat. We had a private bathroom that was attached. They had a shared dome that was not attached. I guess since most folks coming here are big campers/hikers, they are used to these conditions but, I’m neither. I love our suite dome.



I got the fire going again when I got back and it was nice and toasty for Shelly when she returned wet.



We got ready and headed to dinner for our Pesco sours and the information on the next day. Oh no, they say more rain. WHY, why on or two days here can we not see anything. It’s just not fair. Oh well. They have another big hike for the morning and an easier hike. Guess which ones we both signed up for.



We then had dinner and shared the table with the guide that took Shelly out today. Meche is from Ecuador and we really enjoyed her company. After dinner we head to the bar to check out that area and then off to bed. It doesn’t get dark here until about 10:30 and it gets light before 5am. On the way back we saw the local fox and snapped a few photos.



Remember to look at the bottom for more pictures on each blog entry. Only 4 show up in the text, the rest are at the bottom.

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Photos

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Lake in Patagonia

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Claire with the guide

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shelly on her hike

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at a waterfall

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at the core dome for dinner and drinks

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more at the core dome

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the fox

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our room in the inside

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our dome