Hola All,
So we got to the loading wharf for the ferry and all we could see was a ferry called Bahía Azul but no accomodation. The ferry looked like just your typical river crossing ferry and we were going into the open ocean on it! Found the seating accomodation in a 2m wide and 10m long section on the side. This seated 20 people but luckily there were only 9 including us.
Vanessa and I hogged a couple of seats each so we had somewhere to curl up and sleep. The seats were...basic. This was a 34 hr journey. A panicking voice inside me said get off and get a refund right now...but for some reason we kept going. Next question was where where the toilets then where was the kitchen? Toilets were in a seperate area outside as was the mess that only had 2 tables, seated 8 people, 4 of which were passengers, the other crew.
Headed off at 7pm ( south american for 6pm) in the ocean and immediately into a small swell that rocked the ferry. I instantly thought that it was going to be a rough ride but it turned out that the ferry, while bobbing around like a cork, rode the swell well. No brown sick bags need for us. First night. Do we get tea? Yes. The portly cook squeezed into the seating compartment with a tray of ham&cheese rolls and some cake. Quick intruction on the coffee machine then walks out. We look at each other and wait. Someone makes a move for the food. Phew. We all grab something to eat in turn.
Skinny walkway. Sign of things to come? Legroom? why are my knees pressed against the seat in front of me? ok lets recline. Hmmm. doesn´t really recline. Maybe 3cm. Supposed to be a pulman seat like a bus....not really. False advertising! How many different positions can one try to get comfortable. Many. Hit the open water later at night. Seemed to manage to get some sleep somhow.
Woke up to the waves crashing on the windows of the ferry. Amazing number of albatross around the area. Snow capped mountains either side. Lovely cruise. Cold. Cold. Cold. Rain. Snowing at some stage. Beautiful rainbow hitting the water just metres away from the ferry. Petrels. Turns. Fog. Waterfalls running of the mountains. Penguins. No icebergs. Full moon in the evening partly obscured by the clouds. Large glaciers on the top of mountains at 9pm that once met the water.
The cook made the trip personal. His warm vamous (lets go) at food time was a relief each time. Probably as we wondered if there was another meal coming. The food was quite good and filling. Afternoon tea (4pm) was so filling that Vanessa couldn´t eat tea (7pm). Thanks cook.
Arrived at Puerto Williams at 6am. Place has 2000+ people. Lovely weather. Lovely place. Chose to stay at refugio El Padrino (the godfather) run by the homely Cecilia. Lovely and warm inside with the slow combustion stove and just us. Cecelia said that she would get us some crabs as a gift - her husband was a crab fisherman. We went for a walk into the mountains. Hard work. 8 hrs return to the top of the local mountain. Great views of dientes de naverino mountains. Also could see large beaver affected areas of woodlands. Woodpeckers in the almost silent forest. Whispers in the trees like voices with the wind. Followed a stream of the mountain to the main river. Dense forest. So many fallen trees. So much peat bog. Cold. Wet feet. Hole in my shoe. Find a marked path. lose the marked path...
Returned back to the refugio and a sink full of king crabs. Ala barring sea...same type. We thought they were cooked as they were orange until one moved. They were still alive and one was very BIG. How do you cook crab was our thought? Large hot water pot but it isn´t big enough for the big crab! We cook one crab. Sorry mate. We wait and Cecelia turns up and show us how it is done. Steam rather than boil. Dismember alive. We can´t watch. She just keeps on talking without blinking an eye. We blink a lot. How to get the meat out of the crab? a rolling pin of course and the end of a tea spoon. Roll the meat out of the crab legs! Amazing. The crab is dinner and surely covers the cost of the accomodation for the night. We eat with Cecelia until full. Lots left over.
Head into the mountains next day. Hoping to walk the 5 day dientes deo navarino circuit. Beautiful blue sky day no wind. Get up to the top of the mountain and find the track eventually as it is poorly marked. Uses the french marking system. Weather changes and wind is gale force and very cold. We are unfortunately walking a small trail on the scree slope of a very steep mountain with partial snow cover. Not good. At least the wind is blowing up not down.
Vanessa not happy with snow crossing on a dangerous slope so we head back in. I think it is fine but probably need a couple of ice axes and rope for safety. This track is rugged and unmaintained. Beautiful views of our feet. Wind has increased and we need to get down off the mountain fast. Plenty of caines to follow and we find the path down eventually. We walked further on the mountain than I thought. Back in the forest. Vanessa is cold and I have run out of energy.
We camp at the cascada (waterfall) at the start of the walk on the opposite side of the river. Beautiful. Just us. Just the noise of the waterfall and the breeze. Tough life. Camping in a clear area. Plenty of trees down around us but this seemed safe enough.
Next day. Headed to the end of the track to walk in the opposite direction. 7km walk along the coast with geese along the way. Start of the track is where? Walked up the hill struggling through scrub until eventually finding a track on a scree slope. Not happy. Track is poorly marked and only in one direction. Not our direction so it is a slow game to find the markers as we wander the forest and mark in the GPS as we go. So many trees down with marks on them. Track was marked in 2001 and needs maintenance. Running out of light. No suitable camp sites. Entering the snow line. Clearing. Beaver dams everywhere. Bog. lots of peat bog. Waterfalls. Boggy ground. Not at our destination. Find a small area of gravel that isn´t wet. A beautiful spot. Waterfalls in front of us and behind us. Beavers dams next to us. A river running nearby. A green forest. Snow capped mountains all around us. Not so bad not to make our destination. Cold overnight. The lakes freeze as does the condensation on our tent.
Head up into the mountains. Keep the camp setup. Just looking for the campsite. Snow gets thicker. Climb a waterfall. Then long walk on snow to another waterfall climb leading to a large frozen lake surrounded by snow capped moutains. The pass is covered with snow and is very steep. There is no way at the moment that it can be crossed yet. Slow and careful walk back down to camp. Soup again. Food starting to run a little low seeing I ate most of it knowing we weren´t going to complete the circuit. Bread and dulce de leche (caramel spread) for dessert. Laze around the tent for the afternoon as it is bitterly cold. Tapping on the tent. It is snowing. Wake up to heavy snow.
Break camp and head down to the forest. Markers hard to find. Dropped low enough that is now raining. Wet feet. Need new boots as the hole gives no protection. Tap, tap, tap. Vanessa spots a pair of woodpeckers just near us. We watch and attempt to photograph. Light is low. Beautiful. So quiet apart from the birds. Head out of the forest and lose the path. So many as the cows have made their own. I curse a lot. Bog. Lots of peat bog. Find a trail and follow it down to the coast. Almost made it without much hassle until dropping knee deep into the bog. Vanessa wants to laugh but know I will get mad so keeps it to herself. She has clean boots - she follows almost all the time and treads carefully. Every step is considered. Walk back to Puerto Williams after soup for lunch. Keep scaring the geese.
No ocean views for us anymore. The front rooms are taken. Paul the builder, stonemason, from france and two noisy chillean election representatives. Election on saturday. Discover we are trapped again. Hotel California again. Will we ever be able to leave? Hopefully. Head to the sailing club. No one there. Manana, manana, manana... Cecelia is making arrangements for a yacht passage to Ushuaia on friday. Captain is sick at the moment. So.....manana (tomorrow), manana, manana... For Greg. The weather in patagonia seems to have no relationship to the weather forecast you are looking or any forecast we have seen. The locals say they don´t bother. The weather changes so rapidly that it doesn´t matter. Sun, rain, snow, wind, clouds all in a matter of hours. The worlds slowest internet...
Gave up on the internet yesterday as it took 3hrs and continued to crash during the blog. I was getting very frustrated. Throw the computer out the window frustrated... It cost us $4800 chillean pesos or $10 USD for the pleasure. Grrrrr. Today we found the biblioteca (library) and free internet.
Bad news for us. Met Paul and Mariette last night. 40 ft yacht very nice inside. They aren`t going to Ushuaia until December. We had drinks and garlic bread on the yacht and a chat for hours. Guess the life of live on board world sailors can be a little conversion deprived. Paul looked at the barometer and said it was rising sharply. In this part of the world it means bad weather coming and that turned out to be true. Lots of snow. Still snowing now in the morning. Snow line on mountains is now 200m. Sea level really as it is snowing outside.
Today we WILL(?) make progress to get off the island! Looks like we will have to pay the extortionate $150 USD each to get a 30 minute zodiac trip across the beagle channel to Ushuaia, Argentina. You can check in...but you can never leave (for a reasonable price).
Just looked at the australian dollar. Maybe I can play guitar and Vanessa can sing and dance on the snowy street corners of Puerto Williams. Just kidding. The local dogs would probably find the sound so irritating that they would chase us back to the refugio...
Adios,
David & Vanessa
