Blogs from Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 89

Before I came to South America, Michael Wood loaned me one of those 'classic' books titled In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin. By classic I mean that it was written ages ago and I didn't understand every fiftieth word because it had more than four syllables in it. It was the author's story of travelling through Patagonia on the trail of outlaws and other mysteries. The bit I remembered the most was a tale about going in search of an extinct giant Sloth remains of which were reputedly found in a cave alongside signs of human habitation, thus it was rumoured that perhaps man had bred or used these sloths in recent times. I spent the last day of 2005 completing my own quest for Le Cueva de Milodon ... the cave of the sloth. Admittedly I ... read more

Happy New Year to y'all! A ridiculous o'clock alarm got us up and ready to leave Ushuaia for Puerto Natales. It was a lot of miles, consisting of mainly nothing. Not even roads - bumpy gravel - not ideal for sleeping. We stopped somewhere to swap buses, before embarking on a journey of more nothingness. It was amazing to see so much nothing; just flat, bare, windswept and barren land. The border crossing to Chile was just a couple of huts, 14km apart. It's hard to put into words how empty this part of the world is. 18 hours later, we arrived at Puerto Natales, a small town built mainly of corrugated iron and a questionable fashion sense. Fishnet gloves, anybody? We stayed at a fantastic hostel: Erratic Rock, owned by a couple of American expats. ... read more

...But it´s really about a backpack. Read on... So everyone said that Torres del Paine was one of the most spectacular sights in South America. It´s a national park with pink granite spires, lying at the foot of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field near the tip of the continent. There are two ways to see the park: the first and more popular way, by hiking the "W" route, and the other, longer, windier, avalanche-prone, and presently closed, back Circuit. Well if this was one of the best things to experience in SA, then I was going to go all the way, and hike the Circuit. The hotel owner had said that people had managed to complete it even though a massive avalanche had forced a closure near the pass; and if they could do it, so ... read more

We had a 14 hour bus journey south from Valparaiso to Puerto Montt at the north end of Patagonia, on the edge of the Patagonian Lakes District (Chilean side). We arrived at 9.30 in the morning, both wearing shorts and flip flops after a few days of sunshine on the coast, and got off the bus in what was undoubtedly Lake District, but it was rather more like Cumbrian weather than South American. We spent the first 20mins in Puerto Montt standing on the concourse, fending off touts offering accomodation, whilst frantically rumaging in our packs to find trousers, boots, waterproofs..anything warm! Bienvenido a Patagonia!!! Puerto Montt is actually a pretty grim kind of town, especially in bad weather. We had one night there in a hostel that is difficult to adequately describe...there was a toilet ... read more

On arriving at Punta Arenas, the most southerly city in Chile, our first job was to try and get our flights re-instated as we had found out that missing a flight meant that all our subsequent flights had been cancelled but this could not be rectified without visiting a Lan Chile office in person. Sometime later, after an anxious wait, we got the news we wanted. After checking into Hospedaje Nena (a place recommended by Richard for its breakfast that included endless homemade cakes and rhubarb jam) we headed off to see the Magellan penquin colony at Sene Otaway. It was amazing to see these little creatures at very close quarters but in their native environment. In contrast to our experiences in Argentina, the small entrance fee to the colony was clearly explained when we booked ... read more