Tons of sea lions - get it. ha ha. OK, dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds if you count the entire island. Many family groups with a bull and his harem and kids and then the younger males waiting for an opportunity to sneak in and mate and steal away some females. Have to say that my photos were absolutely rubbish. Did get a few but it was like I was on a bobbing boat the entire time trying to take photos. I blame it on the age of my camera as it has been getting blurry. yes, that's it.
So a very good look at the colony. Many of the younger ones popping up next to the zodiacs to see what strange creatures we were. And the smell goes away after you have been in it awhile. Would truly have enjoyed seeing the penguins more but too late in the season. Penguins have calendars after all and know when it is time to move on to their next home.
So back to Punta Arenas. We had all gathered up our passports this morning, duly stamped into Chile so we don't really have to go through immigration but we do have to go through customs. It's the "luggage into the hallway by 10" and then sit and wait. We docked around noon - no lunch on board and all the snacks that had been so prevalent had been gathered and put away. We watched the tugs shove us into the dock until we were tied. And then the Spanish speakers got off the boat first. poo. We are about 100 yards from the customs shed but because it is a working dock, we are not allowed to walk there. We have to be transported by bus and while there are two, it takes a very, very, very long time to load them up, unload them 100 yards down the road, turn around and come back and turn around and load up again. So we didn't get off the ship until almost 2 p.m.
Instructions had been VERY CLEAR to board the bus and go immediately to the back so that everyone could get on faster. We were the 9th and 10th people on the bus and there was no one in the back. Everyone had sat in the front so they could get off quickly so we did too. To the customs shed and then wait some more before they let us into the room where our suitcases are lined up by colored ribbon - according to what your cabin number had been. But first we must go through the metal detectors. Someone in front of us has stalled the line with whatever he was wearing and he can't understand what they are asking. geez. this man is in his early 60's maybe and he's never been through a security check before apparently. Finally someone with some common sense just walks around him and we are moving again.
We are quickly through then and met our guide who will take us to our transportation who will take us to Patagonia Camp which is a 4 hour drive, we were told. whew. Supposedly we were going to leave around 4 or 5 p.m. It is now 2:30 and she tells us that there are people waiting at the airport also going to the camp so the driver is on the way now to get us. She will take us to a hotel where we can have lunch and leave our luggage until Rueben arrives for the transport. Have no idea where we went as there were many twists and turns to get to this small boutique hotel where they had no idea we were coming just for lunch and baggage storage. But they rolled with it and whisked our luggage into storage and we went into the restaurant and ordered the set meal as it would probably be the fastest.
Food was good and a lot so we honestly couldn't eat but about half of it and well before we got to the dessert course, Rueben shows up in a Patagonia Camp van and comes inside looking for us so without dessert, we pay the bill and away we go to the airport to pick up three couples who are Spanish speakers with just a bit of English. Rueben doesn't speak much English either but I am able to ask him if there will be toilet breaks. yes, of course. typical male. this really means "not unless you are bursting and hollering at me to stop asap".
We had scooted over in the seats so there would be room but luckily for us, one of the party wanted to sit in the front and everyone else climbed into the back so we had a row seat to ourselves and since it was a long ride- thank goodness. We are away and driving and driving and driving and driving. It is interesting country. There are many cattle. My hubby is snoring away though so he misses the picturesque and handsome horse-riding cowboys rounding up their herd. Also many sheep and at one point I thought I saw llamas and ostriches or emus. Turns out they were guanacos and rheas, the smaller relatives.
Finally I am at the bursting point so I ask Rueben to stop and about 20 minutes later he pulls into Cafe Ruben which was one of the few stops along the ride. I'm just there for the toilet but the rest of the party wants coffee and cakes so we are there a bit. Not drinking anything else until we get to the camp. Bathroom stops are too few and far between whether we are stopping or not. Mostly this is just wide open country and ranches.
Finally to the camp and down a convoluted road and into the camp where it is getting dark but we can see the beautiful mountains around us and it looks magnificent. Our hostess shows us to our yurt and they bring our bags for us and we get the welcome drink which is very welcome as I am so thirsty and then we must hustle over to the briefing room so we can choose what we want to hike and do while in the camp.
Chris is our briefing dude and a bit over enthusiastic and also giddy as they have been working the entire season with few breaks and they are closing in on the off season. We are thinking easy to moderate hikes for us as the harder ones seem quite a bit harder and full day and such. Then we discover that we aren't actually in the Torres Del Paine National Park so everything we will do means we drive anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 hours to get to the starting point of the hike. That fixes it for us definitely then, the easy ones. When my hubby asks if the hikes are flat, Chris replies that they are flat - "Patagonian style" which means, never flat but maybe not quite so steep when it isn't flat. So we choose our hike for the next day and we choose Fauna so we will see some wildlife and we also choose our lunch as they will pack it for us. Then off to dinner which is excellent and then to bed. A long day but lovely if you don't mind sitting in a car for a long time and standing in a boat lounge waiting to get off. looking forward to tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment