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Published: November 11th 2006
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We chanced upon the opportunity to travel from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt in Chile whilst window shopping in El Calafete. The weather was too bad to make anything of the Torres Del Paine in the Chilean National Park, and we needed to start heading north to make our flight out of Santiago at the end of the month (we were 3000kms from the target).
The brochure described a leisurely cruise through fjords, with stop-offs to look at glaciers and small oceanside communities, over 4 nights and 3 full days. The boat was leaving the next night, so we signed up for the cheapest bunks we could get (USD $275, in a 20 bed dorm), and ripped over the border from Calafete to P. Natales on a 5 hour bus ride through the emptiest of Patagonian landscapes.
A few hours were killed in Puerto Natales by eating pizza and drinking beer in an old boy from Croatia's front room, which he seemed to have turned into a bar and cake shop whilst his Chilean wife was at the hairdressers. We took the opportunity to gather up some beer and wine for the trip, just in case we got thirsty.
Cattle Class....
For once, someone else was in worse accomodation than me and Jacko.... We boarded the good ship Puerto Eden at 9.00pm, along with 60 other hopefuls, seeking adventure on the high seas of the Chilean fjords. It was a good start, as we were raised up on the freight deck lift, emerging to the top deck like the support dancers for a Robbie Williams big number (about backpacking).
It got better as we were all assigned to bunks one up from the class we bought, since the ship was not full - so we got a 4 bed room to share with a couple from Dublin, Paul and Trish. It seemed wrong not to go find the bar, so we did, especially as we were allowed to drink our carry ons there. Once installed there, we all looked out to the open cargo deck and saw 10 lorry loads of cows all braying and looking up at the backpacker ensemble with enthusiastic bemusement. At least we won't be shy of steak, I thought.
After the briefest of sleeps, we were woken by the tannoy at 6.00am to inform us that we had set sail and were going through a pretty bit, so we should get our bums to the
outside decks. We did this, me and Jacko wearing everything we owned, since we had packed for the sourthern hemisphere summer and it was minus plenty on deck. Then we had the first of many Navimag meals, which seemingly always had to include cake and a mystery pudding, even at breakfast time.
The staff arranged the first of many meetings after breakfast, and it slowly dawned on us that we were not on a cruise, but a cargo ship with a couple of Chilean language students as our minders. Why did people keep mentioning sea sickness pills? Still, we were heading north, and the fjords and mountains were bonny enough, despite the cold.
After lunch, some movies were shown, and little groups formed amongst the mottly crew of backpackers on board. Time passed nicely. Dinner, and a night in the bar were inevitable, and duly were done. We were advised before retiring that at dawn, we would be in the remote community of Puerto Eden, but due to the forecast weather (which had closed in badly), we would not be disembarking to see the locals.
Dawn and we were indeed at Puerto Eden, along with a filthy
rainstorm. After being at anchor almost all day, we set off to see if we could get out into the Gulf of somewhere or other, to ride sideways to the pacific waves. By nightfall, it was obvious even to non-mariners that to leave the fjords and their thunderstorms would bring a certain swamping of the ship - even the cows, who could have done with a sit down, preferred to be above water. So we dropped another anchor, to "wait for better weather", and the bar was busy till well after my bed time, apparently.
Next day, we were so delayed the captain had to go for it, or the ship might have been declared lost at sea. So we all popped the pills and waited for the waves to hit. And they did, with the boat heaving up, down, left and right like a cork in a whirlpool. Most people hit their cabins right after breakfast, but some of us tried to tough it out on deck. Lunch was steak, but only a handful braved it. By nightfall, everyone was tired of the lurch - 14 hours rocking through arcs of about 50 mtrs - not one beer
Too many cooks....
The captain must have regretted that invite to us to visit the bridge anytime we fancied - everyone was there for the skinny bits... got drunk at the bar. At bed time, I thought I saw a shooting star, falling from the top of the sky to the low horizon. But when it turned tail and wen back to the top of the sky, I realised it was just another lurch of the ship.
Next day, calm sea beckoned, and it was a race to see if we would get to Puerto Montt early enough to kick us off the ship, or we'd all score a free night - the cut off time was 9.00pm. Sadly for us, we docked at 8.50pm, and 60 of us were set ashore to try to find beds in Puerto Montt. Nice one Navimag!
How we gonna find a bed and a bus ticket to Argentina at this time of night?
Would we do it again? Maybe. We got north, Navimag can't be blamed for the weather, and the staff, food and our shipmates were all good. Shame we spent so much time at anchor or in heavy seas.
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Woodsy
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Glad to see that yopu made it out of 'The Bell'. Its good to see your pics - Ilike the idea of the trip on the boat. My geography is not up to scratch but did you go from Barazil to Easter Island and then back to South America? (I should have concetrated better during lessons). On the football front its a bit of a roller coaster at the moment (5-0 win then 2-0 loss) - we missed then annual trip to Burnley last week but thats not a bad thing as I'm trying to keep away from Burnley fans at the moment. Looks like we are slowly slipping into a bit of a flirt with relegation, plus we have three shitty shirts to choose from for next season. If you go to Bolivia and need some help I have some 'contacts' there. See ya, Woodsy