Smells like Chinatown
Trip Start
Dec 24, 2008
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6
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Trip End
Jan 24, 2009
Isla Damas, Chile
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The tour guide showed up and told me to put on some pants and shoes. I wasn't very prepared today, and would pay badly for this later on ... ooh ... foreshadowing! We stopped first at a gas station to pick up some drinks and snacks, as we wouldn't be having lunch until 4 or 5 PM. The tour guide had some coffee there, and advised us that gas stations were some of the best places in Chile for coffee, because they actually make it fresh, and don't use Nescafe.
I sat next to a German couple on the bus - the husband was also a mechanical engineer and actually tried getting work in Calgary 12 years ago, with no luck
a
. He would've had no trouble if he tried a few years ago during the boom! He ended up becoming an SAP consultant when there wasn't much mechanical engineering work back home, so it probably worked out best for him. There was an older couple from Newcastle who were in Chile visiting their daughter, who has been teaching English in Santiago. They must pay English teachers well here, because she lives in Providencia - an upscale expat neighbourhood!
The tour was in both English and Spanish, which was great practice for me. Apparently the guides here all speak very slow and clear Spanish, because they are quite easy to understand compared to the average Chilean. We drove out to the coast and took a tiny little boat out to Isla Damas.
I was glad that I had changed and brought a jacket, because it was a long, chilly ride out there. You could almost smell the sea lions before you could see them! It was pretty rank - every time I glanced at the German engineer's wife, she had this look of absolute disgust on her face. It was terribly fishy, and can only be described as smelling like Chinatown, but 10 times worse. Those of Asian descent, or that have been to Chinatown will know what I mean - it was a lot like the scent of the dried salty fish that us Chinese love so much
c
.The guide told us not to get too close to the penguins because they scare very easily, and have been known to either commit suicide or have a heart attack when threatened. I didn't think anything of it and took the guide at his word, but at a later date, someone told me it was probably just a scare tactic to prevent tourists from disturbing the penguins. They even used a personal example, saying that they were once told at a young age by their parents that they shouldn't get too close to the animals at the zoo, because they would die of fright. So apparently, I'm as gullible as a 5 year-old child!
After a spin around the island to observe the different wildlife, we were dropped off at one of the island's beaches. I wish I had brought my swim trunks! As I said earlier, I was ill-prepared for today. I did the quick hike up to the lighthouse, and then over to a larger, nicer beach. I wandered back to the beach where the boat had docked, and sat on a rock, listening to music, and writing in my journal.
It was a beautiful setting, with a lovely crescent of sand framed by deep-blue waters, a refreshing sea breeze, the sun shining down, and several bikini-clad women - positively inspirational for a wannabe writer like me
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! While enjoyable at the time, I would later rue this time spent on the beach ... ooh ... more foreshadowing!We hopped back on the boat, then subsequently into our bus and a short ride over to lunch. It was about 16:00 by the time we arrived at the restaurant, so I was thankful for the granola bars, cookies, and peach juice that I had been munching on at Isla Damas.
Back to the hostel for a shower, and the I was off to Jumbo, which appears to be the Chilean equivalent of Wal-Mart. After such a late lunch, I only wanted to have an early, light meal, so I figured groceries would be a good idea in lieu of eating at a restaurant. The Jumbo really was like Wal-Mart - it took forever for me to find what I needed, and forever to pay! The early meal turned into a rather late one by the time I made my way back to the hostel.
It was a nice night to eat in the courtyard, though a tad chilly. A German girl (her name was Celia, I think ...) was sitting in a corner by herself munching on potato chips, so I offered up some of my food, since there was enough to make two meals. She gladly accepted, and we ended up chatting for a while, as she was simply killing time until her midnight bus. If only Spanish women were so easily tempted by food ... things would be so much easier for me!
