Retrovisor: Catching Up

Catching up on recent fotos, this time shots from the 3 days of sailing on the NAVIMAG RORO ship, the Puerto Edén. As noted in a previous entry, the NAVIMAG vesels are for cargo and cattle, with passenger accommodations being an afterthought, a clip-on. The cattle are in open top/side trucks/trailers on the weatherdeck of the ship, and when the wind is blowing from behind the ship, the smell of cattle ammonia is rather strong.

The Pto Edén is hardly a luxury ship. Food is decent to marginal, but adequate for surviving the trip. The bunks are small and when more than one or two people are in a cabin for four, it feels like a WWII troopship. Well, maybe not quite that bad. Actually I rather like traveling on the Edén. You invariably meet interesting people from all over the world while aboard.

This time the crossing of the open-ocean Golfo de Penas was not as rough as I have seen it at other times. In fact it was easier on me than usual. We usually have winds of 40 mph or greater, and 6 foot rollers. I did not suffer the early stages of seasickness, as I usually do (have yet to urp on one of these crossings, and I have kept from taking the medication). In fact, for the last several hours of the crossing I was able to work on the laptop while lying in bed, something that would normally be impossible for me.

Puerto Montt

Now in Puerto Montt cyber café, after the trip north on the NAVIMAG ship Puerto Eden. Also known as the RORO, the Ferry, and The Cattle Ship. It is all of the above.

On this run I was fortunate to have a window cabin to myself. That was partly due to a friend at the NAVIMAG ticket office in Puerto Natales, but we won't go into that here.

The Puerto Eden is indeed a bit shabby, but the AA cabins had evidently received new bathrooms. Small structures as one expect on a cattle ship retrofitted for the backpacker crowd, but now with newish fixtures, and they all worked. The shower in particular was much appreciated. There was more hot water flow than in most new American homes. And after so long doing bucket showers once a week, I enjoyed every drop of that hot water.

Update, and plates

It was like pulling teeth. It took several expensive trips to Punta Arenas, and to the local Registro Civil and to the Aduana. There were errors upon errors in the documentation. I started the local importation and registration process back in February (it is now 24 April) and this morning I managed to get the last of the 4 sets of plates. One set for the pickup, and one set for each of the KLR650 bikes. "Set" because here motorcycles have both front and rear plates.

It doesn't end with just getting the plates. Now there are the additional measures of the technical inspection, and the obligatory insurance, and a few other items. But at least this major hurdle is done.

Heading out tomorrow on the Navimag ship, northward through the channels to Puerto Montt. Three days on the ship should give me some time to relax and work on the translations for the Chilean Antarctic Institute. I was thinking of loading up the older KLR and heading north on that after at Puerto Montt. The additional charge for a bike on the NAVIMAG ship is about US$155 right now. But in the end, a far simpler and more pedestrian trip seemed to be in order. Perhaps there will be another time. I am already considering an epic trip to crisscross the frontier between Chile and Argentina, visiting all the 25 or so frontier crossings, with photos and details. Perhaps an article. Maybe next year.

Estancia and lodging at Guido

I had passed by the Cerro Guido estancia in the past, on the road to Baguales, but I had never looked into the lodge. The tourism facilities are located a bit above the working part of the estancia and not readily visible. Very nice operation and location.

It must be a very comfortable and pleasant place to visit, and I understand that they now offer local wi-fi via a satellite connection. http://www.cerroguido.cl/lodge.html The order of my fotos is a bit mixed up.

Out of the park

Left Torres del Paine after a pleasant little lunch, sitting inside the Toyota while munching ham and cheese sandwiches. The usual views of the guanacos and surrounding sites.

Raindrops keep falling on my lense

Overnight at the lodge at the area that used to be the estancia headquarters. A rare sunny moment, early in the morning. Cold all day and rainy for much of it. A quick run out to the Gray glacier overlook in the wind and rain - all looking as though it was coming off the Patagonian ice cap. I think the sign warning about not swimming was because of a friend of mine who went skinny dipping there a few years ago. But that is another story.

Toyota Advert, Torres del Paine

On the new old road to Torres del Paine. I liked it better when it was the old 4WD road and I had it all to myself as long as the stock gates were left unlocked. But now that has changed. Now it is the main approach to the park, and a much quicker route from Natales. I stopped here for a late afternoon lunch. The wind is often very strong here, and during the short break it rocked the truck around.

Flamingos

On the way back from Punta Arenas, in a small lake by the highway, there was a group of Chilean flamingos. And while the bulk of the reader population may think of these critters as tropical birds, they are far ranging. I have seen them from the salt lakes high in the Andes in northwestern Argentina, all the way to Tierra del Fuego. I am told that they are found in large numbers around Puerto Natales during the local winter.

View of the day

And then there some fotos of the area around Río Verde and Skyring. There is a 41 km segment from Río Verde with some interesting sights.

The last foto is from Natales, looking toward the glaciers, before heading for Punta Arenas.

To Estancia Perales

Despite the recent cold and rain, it seemed like a good thing to check out some local roads I had not yet visited. For today, that meant a trip to Estancia Perales. I had been there on the boat that takes visitors up the fjord to the glaciers. Today's trip involved a turnoff from the main gravel road to the park, about 3 km past the milodon cave, and then about 20 km of further travel shown in the attached fotos.

South of Punta Arenas

On Tuesday I took the truck south of Punta Arenas, in the direction of the Fuerte Bulnes reconstruction, and further south. I could see snow in the clouds, and the wind blew mercilessly. Pavement quickly gave way to muddy gravel. At a bend in the road I came to what was described as a 19th century cemetery. Further along, there was a three-way fork in the road, and I drove out through an austral beech forest to the reconstructed Fuerte Bulnes site.

Snow

Headed for Punta Arenas on Monday. Snow was down to near sea level and it was sleeting in the port in Puerto Natales. A short distance inland, and intermittently during the run into Punta Arenas, the snow had started to stick.