Day 116: December 8 Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales

  Puerto Natales, Chile
Saturday, December 8, 2007

Day 116: December 8, 2007 Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales

We had a good breakfast at the hotel dining room which overlooks the church on the plaza from the 2nd floor. After that, I gathered the passports and went over to the bus company office to buy the tickets to Ushuaia for the 11th. After I made the purchase, I asked the stupid question, I thought, if the bus left from the bus terminal. She looked at me with surprise and said that it left from the office. I'm glad I asked!

I returned to the hotel, picking up some more cash at the Santander Bank, which does take Visa on its ATM's. We loaded up the truck and I got directions about the easiest way to exit the city. It was quite easy. We were soon heading north at 120 kph on the beautiful, relatively new road. In 1998, when I last drove it, the road was finished but not yet opened. I drove the entire 275 km on the world's worst dirt road that ran along side of the newly finished road awaiting its official opening. It was very frustrating then but a joy to drive on now. The Nissan 4 x 4 pickup has a diesel engine, double cab, and only 8000 km on it. It handled beautifully.

Clouds Over the Chilean Pampas

After about two hours, I started getting very drowsy so I let Elise take it on the final stretch in Puerto Natales. I remembered where the Hotel Glaciares was located, from my stay there in 2002, and we drove right to it. The weather was not great to the north so we decided to take a breather and catch up on our lives for the afternoon. We will go to Torres del Paine tomorrow and take the boat ride on Seno Última Esperanza the morning after, before we head back to Punta Arenas.

We had a lunch of fried calamari at the Restaurant Última Esperanza and then found a bank with a Visa sign to get more cash. We then went to an internet café where I caught up on my blogging. I returned to the hotel to find we were out of gin so we all walked to the supermercado to get some and also bought food for sandwiches for tomorrow. After our cocktail hour, we walked around the block to a restaurant (Pez Glaciares) that the girls had discovered on a walk they did along the waterfront to look at the black-necked swans. We ordered two ceviches, salmon, and merluza (hake) along with a round of Pisco and a bottle of white wine. It was all very tasty.

Back at the hotel, the owner told me that a new road to Torres del Paine National Park opened up this year so that we can now go in the old way and return via the new, making a loop that allows one to visit the major sites throughout the park in a single day. We wouldn't have much time for hiking but somehow I didn't think that will be a problem. Happy with that new information, I turned in and was soon asleep.