Patagonia...

I have arrived to Puerto Natales, after spending one night in Punta Arenas (shown here)....ahhhh...I sigh because Punta Arenas despite the amazing tour to Isla de Magdalena to observe the magellenic penguins and sea lions, was not the best place I have been. It was dirty, lots of stray dogs, abandoned buildings, and not really too much to see. I arrived after a long, 13hr, bus ride from Ushuaia, the cool part was that we loaded the bus and ourselves onto a ferry, got to see a dolphin, and empathize with a truck loaded with sheep. I then arrive to my hostal, which was ehhh, not worth what I payed for. I right away booked my tour to see the penguins and sea lions, bought a bus ticket for the next day for Puerto Natales, ate some food and passed out. After having to get up at 4 am for my 5 am bus this day, I then woke up this (Tuesday) morning at 6 am for a 7 am tour, Yeesh...

I did get to see the sun rise and it was beautiful. At first the sun came up behind the mountains creating a fuschia hazy reflection on the, at this early in the morning, calm water. 30 min later we loaded onto a little boat and headed out to the Island where I saw hundreds of thousands of magellenic penguins. After we went to observe an island of sea lions, however we were not able to walk here, because these crazy mammals are quite dangerous, I wouldn´t mess with one!

After the tour, I napped and went into the center of town and bought a hand-made headband hat thing for the hike, so the top of my head can be free to release heat from what I presume to be a difficult hike in Torres del Paine. In addition I made a donation to CODDA, an organization aiming to reduce the stray dog population, which is 20,000!! Keep in mind that the human popualtion is only 130,000. Yes, it is true. Alas, I left on the 5:30 pm bus...

When I road into Puerto Natales I instantly felt the change in energy. The town is clean, there are still stray dogs, but less, and they serve (North) American breakfast in my hostal. This means, not just the typical bread with butter and jelly (ugh..), but eggs too!! In addition the hostal also has free internet with USB (hence the post and pics :)), they recycle, and I can drink the water from the faucet, booo-yawww, ohh, but its not cheap...

I made a fantastic dinner: avocado, cucumber, red pepper, onion, garlic, cabbage, tomato salsa on top of a corn tortilla with melted cheese, yuuuummmm....One question that has been asked is what I eat..I prepare most of my meals (budget plan), therefore, I live off of eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, cheese, bread, nuts, raisins, and yogurt. I have bought prepared food a couple times, and I always choose empanadas, they are quite delicious!! Ohh and I did buy a milanesa sandwich one day, which is meat and eggs, cheese, tomato, and lettuce. I have yet to purchase a real full meal!

I am now planning my 5 day trek. I plan all day tomorrow, rent my gear, and buy my food. I leave on Thursday morning, WOOO HOOOO!

I will be sure to post something when I return, which will not be before Monday!!

CIAOOOO!

Andrea

One last thing, I want to post pic last time in Ushuaia, but I ran out of time! This is some local graffiti on the corner outside the hostal, I thought it was pretty cool and worth sharing