Across the Straits of Magellan

Tuesday, March 11, Punta Arenas, Chile 12:19pm

"What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road."
- William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways





(maybe the third rainbow out of the seven I have seen so far in Patagonia - this was on the walk up to the national park in Punta Arenas)

Well, what a whirlwind the last few days have been! I love the comments folks, please keep them coming, they really make my day! Hello Cate, Grace and Bridget!! This blog will sum up a lot so it might not have as many details.

Where were we?

The night before I left, I strolled around town some more, took some pictures and re-packed my bag minus a number of things.

Karla got a pair of jeans, some long underwear (promise I´ll be okay, Mom, its very warm here), and some wool socks (all good for Antarctica I hope). I managed to ditch the black messenger bag (later gave it to the women who runs the hostel in Punta Arenas) also which was fabulous.

I wound up staying up all night out with folks from the hostel on Saturday night before my bus. It was fantastic fun- Irish pub again, and then out to a discoteca for some dancing.

Although it was fun, it made for a rather tiring Sunday. Here I am looking a bit exhausted on the bus ride! What parts of the bus ride I was awake for were lovely- lots of ocean views, guanacos (smallish llama type animals), some interesting trees, etc. Apparently I slept through the flamingo colony. I made friends with a lovely Scottish lady name Amy (girl? lady? woman? lass?) who came with me to the hostal I had booked - Hospedaje Costenara. We took a cab with a couple from Montreal who had also booked at the hostel. We were greated warmly by Señora Teresa who served us tea and cookies. We met a young woman from Kansas who had been working on a Fullbright in Chile and was now traveling solo for a bit. Amy is only 18 and has been traveling solo since November in South America. It all blows my mind! Amy, the french woman (Genevievè?) and I headed out to buy bus tickets and to pick up food from the grocery store for dinner. We made delicious chicken fajitas, drank yummy chilean wine and had a lovely time. I was exhuasted and passed out after one or two extraordinarily short emails.

The next day Amy and I headed out to The Maggelans National Park located about 2 hours walk north of Punta Arenas. By the time we made it to the park (up hill the whole way) we weren´t even sure we wanted to walk around. In the end we decided we could do anything, and we did about an hour hike to a beautiful mirador (viewpoint). The wind was wild, but the view was great and it was worth it.

(a nice warning for Hanta Virus at the national park. Don´t worry, Mom, I´m looking out for rat feces!)


We caught a taxi back down to town, and got lunch at Cafe Irlandes, the only place open for food at 2pm. I had a hamburgeusa completa . . .which was really complete . . . with avacado, cheese, ham, lettuce, tomato, and even string beans! It was delicious. My stomach has really been behaving itself (knock on wood) for the most part, and I have been enjoying the food immensely.

After lunch Amy and I headed to our transfer bus to see Seno Otway, the penguin colony. We slept a bit on the bus but we were awake to see tons of south american ostriches, lots of cattle, some skunks, and an eagle. Seno Otway was lovely, the views great, the penguins adorable. In a month they will swim back to Brazil for the winter (who could blame them?).


We got back to Punta Arenas around 8pm and decided to visit Cafe Inmigrante which we had walked passed a couple times and had been seriously intrigued by. It turned out to be an absolutely amazing place run by Croatian immigrants. It was adorable, quirky, delicious and had a superb atmosphere. We almost wanted to stay in Punta Arenas just to visit that cafe some more. Since I had taken one of my lactose-digestive pill thingies at lunch (cheese on the hamburger, remember?) I decided to go all out dairy wise. I had an amazing chocolate-banana milkshake that was absolutely heavenly. Amy ordered a vanilla milkshake which was delicious and had bits of real vanilla bean in it. She ordered a torta rusa- Russian cake, chocolate with raspberries, and I ordered a Meringue tort, with whipped cream and raspberries. They were both fantastic. The meringue was amazing and the raspberries sublime. We were both extraordinarily happy and wound up skipping dinner since we had filled up on sweets!



We went back to the hostel and I showered, emailed, chatted online and headed to bed. This morning I caught the bus to Puerto Natales (the buses are very nice, we watched I Am Legend on the one this morning), and here I am in Hostel Mirador a small family-type quiet hostel. I think I may rest a bit and head into town for lunch. Torres del Paine will happen sometime in the next few days!

Lots and lots of love!!