Dolphins for Breakfast
After almost one week at the end of the world we decide to hit the road again. Our next sis going to be Chile and the Torres Del Paine National Park. On a nice and sunny day we cross over to Chile on probably the most southern border post of Argentina. From here we take a gravel road leading us west towards the Magellan Strait again that we have to cross.
On our way we and our car have to swallow lots of dust right after coming into Chile. This is still part of the busy transit route north where you find a lot of trucks passing through. Despite this we see quite a few people traveling through Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego with bicycles. While both of us love to cycle we are not sure if this is the experience we need to have. One of of the pictures below you can see the girls still smiling as they cycle south all the way down to Ushuaia. We really take our hats off for this effort and willingness to succeed as we have experienced the strong winds and changing weather conditions first hand.
As usual we hit the road very late that day. While we could have managed to get into the next town we decide to camp somewhere along the road.
With about 50 km still to go to Porvenir - the small village from which we were going to take the ferry to Punta Arenas across the Magellan Strait - we find a very nice spot. Just when you think the road hits the sea you have a small stretch of beach on your left. Here fisherman have their boats and small huts. Very quiet and beautiful spot we thought, parked the camper and cook our dinner.
The next morning we get up very early hoping for a nice sunrise. Nature does not disappoint us at all and gives us a beautiful play of colors only to be topped by several families of dolphins passing by our spot. This is one of the reasons why we like traveling in a camper through such an amazing country. How often do you get a whole bunch of dolphins passing by while you are having breakfast. This is simply amazing.
Roads get worse immediately after crossing into Chile.
Not a sharp picture but you can see they are still smiling. They are tough girls!
Just as we think the road hits the sea we found a great place to camp.
It is typically used by fisherman.
Next morning we get up very early to catch the sun rise.
We are not disappointed at all what we get to see.
Even dolphins pass by to say hello while we are having breakfast.
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Porvenir according to our guide book has its roots in Croatian settlers. Even today you can find street names, restaurants and even typical food here that have their origin in Croatia. Here we reserve our place for the 2pm cruise over to Punta Arenas. A trip that can last anything from 2.5 up to 4 or more hours. Very depending on how rough the sea is.
When we arrive the sea is very calm with only a few fisher boats in the harbor. Not sure if we should feel lucky or not. However, for the entire trip lasting only 2.5 hours on the ferry the sea remained very calm. If you read about the stories of a very rough Magellan Strait you can’t really believe this. A woman from Chile we meet on the ferry confirms that more often that not you do have a very rough sea with high waves up to the passenger deck.
The same day we make it up to Puerto Natales or just within 20km of it where we stop on a hill with a beautiful view towards Torres Del Paine. As it is so nice here we decide to stay for the night. We are joined by a couple from Russia camping here as well.
After a short drive we arrive in Porvenir.
Can't really deny its Croatian roots.
This is our ferry across the Magellan Strait to Punta Arenas.
The see remains as calm as it can be.
Our next spot for the night, about 20 km outside of Puerto Natales.
Some locals need our help but we don't manage to pull him out.
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While enjoying the view a couple of local guys approache us. We watched them already for a while as they seemed to be stuck in mud with their jeep. As they had tried everything they could they are now asking us to help pulling their car out from the mud.
Despite even two cars pulling together we could not manage to get it out. It was really stuck in there. No clue how they managed to get it in there in the first place. With a good meal and a campfire conversation in Spanish with the Russians another very interesting day comes to an end.
