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Published: March 30th 2007
Puerto Natales
Rich eyeing up dinner... So needing some recovery time from Torres del Paine, we found ourselves in Puerto Natales for a couple of days waiting to board the Navimag. And after having such good weather up to this point, all was about to change - cloud and rain, and more rain, and more rain, and lots of wind!!!
This meant that the dirt roads turned into mud roads, and we were pretty bored after 24 hours. Not only that it meant that the Navimag - what we thought to be our 4 day cruise ship - couldn´t dock and ended up being 24 hours late.
Our only entertainment was a fairly disturbing experience when a pack of boy dogs hounded a poor girl dog for a bit of you know what. They followed her up and down the street, and at one point she tried to use me and Rich as a shield!!! Not something you want to get involved with. We managed to escape, but saw them again 5 hours later still after her!! Rich has truly been traumatised by the ways of the animal kingdom...
So eventually we were to board the Navimag. We trooped across with all the
Navimag - Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt
The Navimag, our cruise liner / cargo ship other excited passengers and were herded on to the boat. A little too much herding as they tried to get us all in one place. Why we asked? As the ground beneath us started to move upward, we realised that we were actually entering the boat on the lift used for lorries and cattle crates!! The moo-ing above was an all too obvious confirmation - our cruise ship was actually a ´not so fully re-furbished´cargo ship...
We got to our cabin, 4 bunks which we were sharing with a french couple, and a little shower room. Pretty good all in all if not a little cozy. We then made our way to the lounge area - a few comfy sofas and canteen style benches - with the cattle stuffed into crates as our view. This was to become our home for the next 4 nights and 3 days.
As usual we started chatting to a few folks. Torres del Paine was pretty much the one thing that all the Navimag passengers had in common and soon we were repeating the same old stories. No sooner had Rich started on one of the better ones, which of course we
had heard via another couple, who had heard via another couple... the Irish couple opposite us were saying, ´that was us´and we had in fact been about to relay one of their stories back to the original source!!
A new friendship was born, and as visibility was about 20m for the first 2 days, much time was spent with 1 (or 2) litre boxes of vin rouge being consumed alongside some intensive card games of Trumps, Jack Changes and Rummy.
As the days went on, the trip became more and more like a series of Big Brother. Even during breakfast on the first day there was an element of queue rage, but mostly the madness was driven by a couple of issues.
Firstly there were not enough seats for all the passengers inside, and as the weather was pretty awful outside this is where everyone wanted to be. Secondly we were on dinner rotation of 3 groups. It therefore became a serious game as to how you could secure either a comfy seat or a canteen bench so you don´t end up sitting on the cold floor to watch the big screen movie (a laptop projector and
Navimag - Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt
Day 1. Summoned on deck to view the impressive glacier... we´ll take their word for it pull down screen) showing big hits like March of the Penguins, or the little known 8 Below - about 8 husky dogs lost in the antarctic... you get the theme...
Anyway on the final night, with Navimag Bingo as the final crowd pleaser, a number of people were caught pretending to still be eating dessert (horrific orange jelly like substance) for a good half hour, heads down to avoid eye contact, whilst others wandered around not having anywhere to sit for dinner. Writing this I am sure this is nowhere near as funny for anyone at home as it is for us...
Fortunately on the last day, we had clear blue skies and we say seal, dolphins and even a glimpse of whales. Whilst we can only describe the experience as bizarre, in some strange way the Navimag has been one of the most memorable parts of the trip.
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Rach B
non-member comment
Photos
Hi Rich and Catrin, Loving the stories and photos. Nothing like seeing your cute faces watching a pig roast, watching out for wildlife and reading a book all togged up in a raincoat to brighten up a dull day in the office! Looking forward to hearing your next update! Rach B xx