Puerto Natales, Fish, and Food

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After spending time hangin' with the penguins we jumped on a bus from Punta Arenas and headed for Puerto Natales. The bus ride was not uneventful, as we spotted guanacos and rheas in the fields as we drove.

Puerto Natales is a town that is clearly a 'base camp' for outdoor enthusiasts. With the Chilean National Park Torres del Paine just outside of town, this is where people get the last bit of food, gear, or whatever before hitting the park. We arrived in the early afternoon on Monday and made our way to the very nice Hostel Shuen. One of the coolest parts of the place is an extra third story room with two large windows from which we could view the mountains--or the snow storm that decided to greet us! You can see the views from the photo.

After settling in we decided to catch lunch at the "Red Crab", if you want the Spanish name you have to look it up. John and I shared the Lamb Ranch plate, piled high with lamb chops and sirloin--oh my. It was so good we went back Tuesday night to have the Marine Plate wth mussels, shrimp, fish, and scallops. And the dessert was a tart made with the indigenous Calafante Berry; joy, joy.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening knocking around town where 'puffy' jackets from either Patagonia or North Face seems to be a required uniform. Early to bed as we had an early moring meeting with the guide that was taking John and I fishing.

Today John and I headed out to an unnamed stream with our guide, Benjamin, to try and catch the crafty Patagonian brown trout. On the way to the stream we saw condors and eagles, and while there we would see more varieties of ducks than we could count, a fox, and a wide variety of birds.

Fishing was, to say the least, a challenge. A late snow and cold temps, 4 Centigrade this morning, had put the fish down. And the wind of 10 to 20 knots an hour made casting a real treat. Of course our guide pointed out that it was perfect weather, wind-wise, as the gusting breezes kept a bit of chop on the water. Really? So when would he decide that it was too windy to fish? Well, he admitted, he would not take clients out when the wind hit 100 kmp, or 60 mph. Right.

While it was a challenge, as you can see from the photos, John picked up the first brown and I had to try and top him with one a bit larger. I must admit these were the only two fish we actually touched all day, having missed a few in the process.

Tomorrow we head for Torres del Paine where we will spend four days trekking on the "W Circuit". We will be deep in the Andes with no access to internet so our next missive will come in about 5 to 6 days.

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Photos

Hostel Shuen
View from the top floor as Marcia and John enjoy a quiet read.

Riverside lunch
Patagonia fishing guide provides lunch, including a fine Chilean wine.

Comments

[Daniel]

fun
looks like your having a great time .....enjoy the blog......looking forward to hearing about your trip when you return.....be safe and enjoy.......Dan