From Punta Arenas (21:30)
Today had it all. I finished updating this morning and went to get on the plane. A woman followed me and asked if I was going to Punta Arenas. I said I was and she said, you speak English, i am following you. Then she wanted me to sit down and talk to her about what she should do while she was in Chile. She quit her job and has traveled here and will be here for about 1 to 3 months? She had already been here a week I think. Did I mention she is old enough to have grandkids? Very interesting. Well, after offering my humble suggestions of where to go and how to get there, she thanked me and said she was going to the bathroom before we boarded. We had been sitting between gates 1 and 2. There were 2 flights going to Puerto Arenas just 15 minutes apart on 2 different airlines. I thought she was on my flight, but I don´t know if she was. I looked up after we finished talking and it was 10 mintues before our plan was to leave. I walked over to Gate 1 and was the last one on. Barely Made it! And the poor woman didn´t. I kept trying to tell the gate agent i think someone else is supposed to be on here, but she is confused about the gates. Oh well, good for me. . . bad for strange lady if she was supposed to be on my plane!
Then I get here and get to the hotel. I ask about when my penguin tour will pick me up? It was scheduled for 11:30 pick up. Bad for me. . . I had told the guy yesterday that it needed to be 15:00 like the internet said because that is when I would be there. But the hotel could not have been nicer and got the agency on the phone. Monica, who deserves the service award for the year, got it all straight and said I would not have been able to go to the Magdalena Isla today anyway becuase the Straits of Magellan were not navigable. So, she re-booked me to go to Seno Otway. Still get to see the penguins, just not as many. This was a blessing from God anyway. In His good providence, he knew i needed a shower and some time to settle in before I headed right back out. So, I unpacked, took a shower and felt like a new woman by the time Monica was bringing me my new voucher. It all worked out perfect! I even had time to stroll around downtown a little bit and review my book and get myself sorted on where I am located in town and what I want to see if time permits in town.
By the way, my hotel, HOtel Tierra del Fuego, in addition to having great service is NICE!! For the same price I paid on Easter Island, I would say my room is 3 times better? Maybe more. I have a double bed, 2 chairs and a table, a TV, a nice bathroom that is like a normal hotel bathroom with a counter, toliet, tub-shower, and soap, shampoo, conditioner out for you, and 2 towels! I totally unpacked and am going to have them wash all my clothes I have worn so far tomorrow. So, Monday I can start with a fresh load of clothes. And let me tell you that the pants from Easter Island needed it!! They were black on the bottom hems from my walking through rain drenched grass and dirt/mud roads. It was awful. No way I could have worn them again. So, I am happy with my accommodations!
Back to the penguins at Seno Otway. This would be the ugly. Many people find penguins to be ugly animals, but I think they are adorable! It was a great afternoon trip. There were 10 of us in a minivan. 2 nice young couples from DC. 1 couple from Germany or somewhere? 1 couple from Calgary and then me and another random guy who I never got the scoop on. We drove the hour outside of Punta Arenas and then saw the penguins. They are in their natural habitat, so you have to stay on these wooden platforms, but you get to see them and they are so cute! The pictures are there. The fluffy ones are the babies. The slick black ones are the moms and dads. You can´t tell the difference from male and female on outward appearance. The babies are not even 45 days old. They were just shedding that fluffy down layer. This starts when they are 30 days old and takes 15 days. It was a fun trip to see them and our group was very pleasurable. The 4 from DC and the 2 from Calgary had all 6 just gotten back from Torres del Paine National Park. All said it was truly fabulous! They all also said it was windy, rained on them some, etc. Typical patagonia weather, but if you are prepared for it, then it wasn´t too bad. I think that is just part of it! Can´t to see myself. We´ll see if I am singing that same tune in a week! :)
After the tour I went to the Plaza and took some pictures. It was darker than I thought so it didn´t turn out very well (the main one of the park), but the cute penguins make up for it!!
Now, I am going to eat and then go to bed early. Tomorrow I get picked up at 10:00 for the day trip to Tierra del Fuego. Monday I get picked up at 11:00 to start the hike. I still have 2 things I want to do either-or-both of these mornings. I want to go to the cemetary. There is a grave that has a tombstone that is supposed to be a replica of the Victor Emmanuel Monument in Rome, which by way of reminder is HUGE!!!! I can´t wait to see that and who doesn´t love to go to the cemetary? Always fun. And second, I wanted to walk up to the top of some steps above the Plaza. It is supposed to have good views of the city and even the Straight of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego.
Lonely Planet hooked me up with Calafate internet. There are tons of computers and it is FAST. The files downloaded really quick and it is really easy to access the USB, etc. Just set up so nice. So, I will take advantage of this and be sure to update the site again tomorrow and maybe even Monday before I leave. And it is cheap internet--about $1 an hour.
