Patagonian Grand Adventure
Day Seven – 19 February 2014
Weather: The horseshoe was still there. It was cool…but the sun was out.
Today was a full day excursion to Parque Nacional Bernardo O’Higgins.
Sorry, New Zealand, but Milford Sound can’t hold a candle to Last Hope Sound.
I was up too early but couldn’t get back to sleep. Breakfast was very basic even though the hotel was quite nice and the room very comfortable.
But hey, we were in a small, remote town close to the edge of the Earth.
One can expect excellence. Just don’t expect miracles.
I went out and was immediately greeted by this:
You just knew we were in for that kind of day.
The bus took us a short distance to the old docks where there used to be a meat packing plant. The town was founded in 1911 and the meat packing plant opened two years later. It closed in the 50s and now the meat is shipped from Punta Arenas.
We boarded a tour boat and Marcello said we had the penthouse suite reserved for our tour.
Sweet.
Just enough room to fit us all, and with everyone there, it warmed up nicely. But who was I kidding? I was not staying inside!
Nope. As the boat plied through the green waves, the wind had to be over a hundred kilometres per hour at times. Two water spouts even formed, but I wasn’t looking in the right direction. It was so windy that the deck cleared after only a few minutes and I was up there by myself like Kate Winslet waiting for Leonardo De Caprio.
So, I took pictures. Lots of them.
We chugged along the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) towards Monte Balmaceda. We got a chance to slow next to a cormorant colony. These birds were much smaller than the ones I saw in China. They were also black and white.
We also slowed next to a waterfall where the water was blowing to the side because the wind was so high.
I spent the whole two and a half hours up on the bow with a Chilean kid named Max. We discovered that the bow was the driest spot on the boat. Everyone in the back was huddled behind the cabin and peeking out for the odd shot before the spray soaked them.
I was dry as a bone. So, if you dress right, you can easily spend the whole time up there. You don’t get to do this every day, so take it all in!
We got to the base of Monte Balmaceda and got some close pics of the Balmaceda Glacier. Like more than 85% of the world’s glaciers, it is retreating. Only three glaciers in Patagonia are advancing. Marcelo meant to bring along photos of the glacier thirty years ago to give us an indication as to how fast the glacier was receding. Just fifteen years ago, the glacier was level with the water.
After a photo snap fest, we sailed around the mountain and docked.
We disembarked and walked along a narrow path (just wide enough for two people to pass without dumping one in the glacial water below) to the base of the Serrano glacier.
About two minutes before we crested the hill to see the glacier, we heard a rumble and crash. By the time we got a look, we saw a wave moving away from the glacier where the ice had calved.
We got about fifteen minutes to take pics and then headed back.
Guess what happened just as we turned that corner? Yeah. Rumble and crash.
But hey, the sun was still peeking out between the clouds.
We reboarded the boat and as we sailed away I realized we could see the Torres del Paine Mountains.
They would be tomorrow’s treat.
We sailed for about an hour and Marcelo treated us to a sample of Grant’s Scotch Whiskey with glacial ice. Being a non-drinker, it was a good thing I wasn’t driving the boat.
Holy cow. I should drink more often. That stuff was smooooooth.
We pulled into a ranch where there was a BBQ going!
The ranch was set up to serve at least two hundred people, if not more. We got a vegetable soup appetizer, a plate of lamb, chicken and sausage and then half a peach for dessert.
Delicious.
I even tried the lamb. It was okay, but I’d want to try a juicier segment to decide. The piece I got was a bit dry.
By 4:30, we were back aboard the boat and heading to Puerto Natales. We were going with the wind so it was much easier on the deck. I ran into Max again and he was with a man named Luis who used his broken English (and my non-existent Spanish) to chat. The moment he found out I was Canadian and retired, he got down on his knee and proposed.
I was thinking he got two scotch whiskies.
Thankfully, one of my tourmates saved me. When I looked back, he was proposing to another woman. Then he had his arm around a man.
Yup. At least two scotch whiskies.
The rest of the tour was wondering if they should set out another place at the breakfast table.
Heck no. Bags and Luis are supposed to be out by 7:15!
We got back to the hotel by 6:30 and I dropped everything and went in search of a fridge magnet and a hat. There were a lot of shops open and I eventually found both and then picked up a couple of small bottles of Coke for tomorrow (since lunch would be a box lunch).
I expected the weather horseshoes to still be there in the morning.
And boy, if you think today was incredible…just wait until tomorrow.
Go to Day Eight
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