January 19, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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We had an early breakfast as the Zodiac departures had been announced for 8:!5 AM. It was snowing quite heavily. My instinct was to stay back or at least leave the Camera bag and equipment behind. The "What if" question forced me to carry my camera bag and my sunny optimism about the snow stopping shortly forced me to hop onto the Zodiac!
We cruised around on our Zodiacs with 50-metre visibility and falling snow for the next 90 minutes or so. My "waterproof" pants were soaked and the wetness had seeped through my trousers as well. The camera bag was taking a pounding from the Snow and I tried to shelter it as much as a Penguin Parents shelters her new born between her legs during the winter months.I did not open my camera bag and take a single picture. There is absolutely no sense in ruining $4K worth of equipment by trying to capture a still, grey sky and dark waters!
My fingers were numb. Unlike many folks who ad bought their monster gloves with them, I had chosen some lighter gloves as they would enable me to operate the Camera easily as well. The constant snow had soaked the gloves and my fingers were cold and numb. When the Zodiac driver decided to return to the ship around 9:45 AM, I was overjoyed!
On reaching the boat, I had to request someone to pull my gloves off and undo my life vest! It was most certainly a far from pleasurable experience. Almost all of our "Waterproof" material had allowed water to seep in. Mike, Antti and I all hung our waterproof pants, regular pants and gloves to dry in our cabins. I had a hot shower to restore my body circulation.
I must mention one thing about the gear we were given. The Quark expedition Jackets consists of a Gore-Tex outer layer and an inner fleece layer. We were all provided these Jackets by Quark and get to keep it as a souvenir. To a person we felt that this was the best Jacket for winter wear, PERIOD. All I wore was a cotton shirt under the Quark Parka. My upper body (with the exception of my fingertips) never experienced even an iota of the cold Antarctic weather. Kudos to Quark for designing this and giving it to us for free. To top it all, it is "Made in Vietnam" ! Ah, the Joy!
Although the final Zodiac cruise of the voyage was scheduled in the afternoon, I decided to stay in as did many others. I copied my pictures to my hard drives and spent time chatting with the other passengers. The Zodiac voyagers did not see anything apart from a few fur seals. I did not miss much by staying in.
The post dinner entertainment was the Hugh Grant movie "Love Actually". I passed and went to bed.
January 20, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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We had started our way back to Ushuaia, Argentina and were on the Drake Passage. I started my course of Phenergan (Motion sickness pills)! During Lunch, Tim (the Kayak Master) mentioned that on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 represents DRAKE LAKE (CALM) and 10 represents DRAKE SHAKE (you get the idea), we were experiencing a 4!
Many of the folks have already started skipping Lunch by staying in their Cabins. I slept between Lunch and Tea but tried to stay awake between Tea and Dinner by chatting with folks and playing cards. The sea had calmed a bit by now. However, worse weather is predicted for tomorrow.
We watched "Ice Age" after dinner. Quite a bad movie. I cannot believe how folks on the ship thought highly of this!
I read a bit of Bruce Chatwin before falling asleep.
January 21, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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I could not sleep beyond 5:30 AM. I got up and shaved and showered despite the heavy rolling of the ship! Breakfast was Scheduled at 8:30 AM. We heard heavy crashes and sounds of glasses breaking a few times and before we knew it breakfast was cancelled. If we wanted something to eat, the Kitchen staff could perhaps give it to us in our hands. No sit down breakfast as the plates and glasses had broken twice already due to the heavy rolling!
Antti and I had some OREO cookies. I went to the Bridge to take it the sight. I saw waves washing over the Bridge windows! I returned to my cabin and had a nap until Lunchtime. It was still quite bad. The ship was rolling heavily. I had lunch with a few hardy souls and we managed to put all of our food into our mouths. After Lunch, Mike, Antti and I headed to the bridge and spent some time there.We witnessed 45 degree inclines frequently and had to hold onto the supports to keep from flying from the right side to the left side of the bridge and back! I headed back to the Cabin, read for a bit and had a short siesta.
We had tea at 4 PM and played cards afterwards. Around 5 PM we started cruising into calmer waters. We had crossed the islands at the Southern tip of South America and they were protecting the ship from the heavy swells that we encountered while crossing the DRAKE passage. Today was to be our farewell dinner and it was delayed until 8 PM. We were all asked to settle our shipboard accounts with the restaurant manager.
I exchanged $500 in Travellers checks to $500 cash (All I had to do was Sign the checks without dating them). I settled the ship tab and provided tips to the Russian crew and the Kitchen Staff. The expedition staff were not included in the Tip suggestion list. The Tips for the Russian crew and the Kitchen staff was well worth it. I would not grudge it at all. The number of times the Russian crew had to work to unclog the toilets because some idiot in our group had thrown something there that was not to be thrown in there! I think people sometimes lose it completely when they leave home! As Tim (Kayak Master) rightly said "Perhaps they should make an announcement that if you cannot put it in your mouth, do not flush it down the toilet".
We had farewell cocktails at the Bar at 7 PM. There were speeches from all the expedition staff as well as some speeches from passengers. The gist of it being "we are a great group of people - expedition staff" and " the expedition staff are fantastic - passengers". I completely concur with the passengers´ sentiments. This is the best expedition staff I have seen in all my travels. I have to hand it to Quark on this one. Martin was clearly the expedition leader and the entire crew´s prior experience on the Antarctic was clearly on display.
We had dinner at 8 PM. Far more people showed up than had been showing up for the past 2 nights :) The farewell dinner was decent. After dinner, we returned our shoes and life vests to the staff. We were treated to a Slideshow of pictures from our 14-day voyage. Most of them were taken by Jaime (Expedition Naturalist) and a few were contributed by members of our group. We were told that QUARK would send us a DVD of our voyage in 2-months or so. We shall see.
Martin told us that today´s situation could be compared to a violent storm and Tim said it could easily be a 5 of his scale. I am glad to have survived it!
We returned to our rooms and packed up. The ship had dropped anchor for the night in these calm waters. We would start sailing again around 3 AM or so and try to be in Ushuaia (Argentina) by 7 AM tomorrow.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
January 17-18, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
January 17, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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Following an early breakfast we were slated to go Zodiac cruising at 8:15 AM. I was still quite sleepy that I got my left and right wellington boots mixed up. Surprisingly they still fitted on the wrong feet! I set them right before boarding the Zodiac. We had anchored off Argentine Islands and were to cruise here for 2-3 hours in the morning. Although there were lots of icebergs, crabeater seals and penguins around many of us did not even bother to open our camera bags. There is certainly a limit to the extent of the same scenery or the same species of mammals or birds one can take and we most certainly ad reached it.
We stopped to visit another abandoned British research station (WORDIE House). This place (after being abandoned) had been cleaned up by the British (as required by the Antarctic treaty) and is now a museum. The station operated between 1947-1953.
There was a small snow covered hill next to WORDIE house and many folks from our group had already started clambering up to its top. I had decided to give it a pass until the ship´s doctor (who shared my interest in Photography) strongly urged me to do the climb to take in the view. The climb was not at all difficult and the view from the top was truly fantastic as Raymond had said. There were snow covered mountains all around, numerous channels of water dotted with icebergs and a few Yachts as well. Private Yachts can be found in these waters. I wonder how they cope with the Drake Passage!
We also passed by the Ukrainian Research Station VERNADSKY. The folks at this base have apparently been too welcoming of cruise ships and its passengers and the Ukrainian government has not been too happy about this as it takes them away from their research (for which they have been sent here!) We did not visit the station for this reason.
We got back to the ship after 3 hours. I decided to skip the Zodiac landing this afternoon as we were to land on an Island and see the same Mammal and bird species we had seen before! I visit the Penguin store on the ship and purchased some post cards. They also sell stamps issued under the "British Antarctic Territory". The stamps were all $1 (irrespective of where in the world the card was being mailed to). We could mail these cards and stamps when we call at the functioning British station at Port Lockroy (possibly tomorrow). The Penguin store also sells T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs and the usual tourist junk (all made in China!)
As the Bar area was occupied with all the tourist goods, Eva (the bartender) told me to take the Ship´s laptop with me and bring it back whenever I was done with it! I spent the next 2 hours backing up all my memory cards and completing the post cards. I met Tom Nelson (he who is currently travelling with a Mac book) and broached the subject of testing the RAW Images from my Canon 5D using the Adobe Light room software on his Mac Book.
Tom was positively enthusiastic. He gave me his Mac book and went off to shower. I played with it for over an hour and realized that Light room definitely functioned way better on a Mac book than my Windows Machine. I may decide to get one later on (Those reading the Blog can perhaps contribute and get me one!). As I suspected the Zodiac cruisers did not see anything spectacular.
As the weather was quite reasonable, it was decided that the Campers were to Camp at Petermann Island for the night. I did not envy them now as (a) It was not below the Antarctic Circle and (b) It was NOT on the Antarctic Continent. One of the Original campers had dropped out for these very same reasons.
For those staying back on the boat, the night´s entertainment was to be the new James Bond Film CASINO ROYALE! As I had nothing better to do, I watched it a second time! Apart from the opening chase scene and where African did all his stunts himself, there was nothing much to laud about this movie. The movie ended around 11:20 PM. As the ship was Anchored for the night, Antti and I debated about staying up until 1 AM or so and taking a few pictures. We decided that we would go to Sleep and wake up around 12:45 AM and take some pictures around 1 AM. I set my Alarm and we went to bed. We both woke up around 12:45 and went up to the deck in our sandals (too lazy to put on socks and shoes). Antti took 1 picture and went back. I took 3 more pictures. While the experience was similar to what I did at Barrow, Alaska (where the town and buildings provided some backdrop at 1 AM) there was not much backdrop here except a dull grey sky and icebergs that appeared quite flat in this light.
January 18, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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We had breakfast at 7 AM. We were then told that we would not reach the British research Station - Port LOCKROY until 10:30 AM! We wish they had told us earlier and delayed our breakfasts to 9 AM as me and my Finnish cabin mate could have really used the extra sleep (having been up at 1 AM to take pictures of an Antarctic Sunset that did not happen). I took a shower. Showers in the Ship have always been good. Good hot and cold water (in case anyone needed it) and good water pressure. Lots of handles to hold onto especially if folks were taking showers when the ship encountered heavy swells. I wrote my diary for a bit.
E-mail messages can be sent and received at a cost of $4 per message. The messages are saved by the passengers (wanting to send them) on the ship´s computer and then given to the ship´s radio officer who presumably Morse codes them and any responses to these messages. I am guessing here. One cannot check e-mail messages. One can also make and receive Phone calls. All Calls use the IRIDIUM satellite link and the cost is $4 per minute whether making a call or receiving one. I did call my Parents and spoke to them a few days ago for 4 minutes. I will have a lot of BLOGWORK to catch up on when I get back to South America and cheaper internet rates!
There was a sighting of Humpback Whales but they were too far away even for a 300mm lens to get a decent picture. I still have an hour to go before we reach Port Lockroy. The Scenery outside is quite beautiful. Then again how many snow capped mountains do I want to Photograph ?:)
We anchored shortly thereafter off Port LOCKROY. The port officer came on board our ship and gave a short speech on the activities at the base, the time the researchers typically spend here and so on. He also left a rubber stamp that said Port LOCKROY and gave its Latitude and Longitude and said today´s date and the word Antarctica somewhere. There were few on the ship who did not get their Passport Stamped with this stamp. No, I was not an exception!
We boarded our Zodiacs and went to Port Lockroy. We mailed our cards and visited the small museum there. I bought some nice British Antarctic Territory first day covers as the rest of the souvenirs were too tacky (T-Shirts, baseball caps, and so on).
Port Lockroy also has a good GENTOO penguin colony and a part of the island is marked as off limits to the lay tourist. Research has shown that the Penguins living in the area visited by the tourists breed better! This was attributed to the fact that the tourist traffic scares away the natural predators of the Penguins (the vicious looking SQUA Bird).
Once back on board, we had lunch and I went in for a Siesta. The siesta was rudely interrupted by an announcement of a HUMPBACK Whale sighting. We grabbed our cameras and headed to the outer decks. The paid of Whales was the best sighting so far. They were around us (or we followed them - take your pick) for close to 30 minutes. They swam so close to the bow of the ship that many of us with long lenses got just part of the whale! I think I have a few decent pictures here. 30 minutes after this sighting there was another announcement of MINKE Whale sighting. By the time I got to the deck, I had missed it.
All announcements can be heard in all Cabins. The early morning wake up calls all the worst as you cannot shut the noise out and you are forced to wake up!
Later in the afternoon we anchored off an Argentine research station - ALMIRANTE BROWN and made a 3rd attempt of setting foot on the ANTARCTIC CONTINENT. The research station is used infrequently by the Argentines and it was not in use now. We observed a decent GENTOO Penguin colony here and some of the Penguins came really close to me (whenever I stood still). The rabble went off to climb YET another snow covered hill and slide on the way down. I passed. A light snow had started and I observed that the flakes here were perfectly symmetrical (as one sees in Geography or Geology books).
After the research station visit, we started cruising the waters around the base for an hour. Our Zodiac (driven by the expedition leader Martin) spotted a few Weddell seals lying on land. As the water was too shallow, Martin jumped out and pull the Zodiac close to land and allowed us to land and walk closer to the Seals and Photograph them. I think we still maintained a distance of 10 metres or so from the closest animal. We all got some great close-ups. What this also meant was that the group of us (10) were the only folks who had made 4 landings on the Antarctic Continent! Upon continuing our cruising, we had a lone LEOPARD seal put up a performance for us against a nice iceberg backdrop. Thanks for the memories :)
The post dinner entertainment for today was SIDEWAYS. I watched it again and enjoyed it. Tomorrow may be our final landings before we head back through the DRAKE passage back to Ushuaia, Argentina.
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Following an early breakfast we were slated to go Zodiac cruising at 8:15 AM. I was still quite sleepy that I got my left and right wellington boots mixed up. Surprisingly they still fitted on the wrong feet! I set them right before boarding the Zodiac. We had anchored off Argentine Islands and were to cruise here for 2-3 hours in the morning. Although there were lots of icebergs, crabeater seals and penguins around many of us did not even bother to open our camera bags. There is certainly a limit to the extent of the same scenery or the same species of mammals or birds one can take and we most certainly ad reached it.
We stopped to visit another abandoned British research station (WORDIE House). This place (after being abandoned) had been cleaned up by the British (as required by the Antarctic treaty) and is now a museum. The station operated between 1947-1953.
There was a small snow covered hill next to WORDIE house and many folks from our group had already started clambering up to its top. I had decided to give it a pass until the ship´s doctor (who shared my interest in Photography) strongly urged me to do the climb to take in the view. The climb was not at all difficult and the view from the top was truly fantastic as Raymond had said. There were snow covered mountains all around, numerous channels of water dotted with icebergs and a few Yachts as well. Private Yachts can be found in these waters. I wonder how they cope with the Drake Passage!
We also passed by the Ukrainian Research Station VERNADSKY. The folks at this base have apparently been too welcoming of cruise ships and its passengers and the Ukrainian government has not been too happy about this as it takes them away from their research (for which they have been sent here!) We did not visit the station for this reason.
We got back to the ship after 3 hours. I decided to skip the Zodiac landing this afternoon as we were to land on an Island and see the same Mammal and bird species we had seen before! I visit the Penguin store on the ship and purchased some post cards. They also sell stamps issued under the "British Antarctic Territory". The stamps were all $1 (irrespective of where in the world the card was being mailed to). We could mail these cards and stamps when we call at the functioning British station at Port Lockroy (possibly tomorrow). The Penguin store also sells T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs and the usual tourist junk (all made in China!)
As the Bar area was occupied with all the tourist goods, Eva (the bartender) told me to take the Ship´s laptop with me and bring it back whenever I was done with it! I spent the next 2 hours backing up all my memory cards and completing the post cards. I met Tom Nelson (he who is currently travelling with a Mac book) and broached the subject of testing the RAW Images from my Canon 5D using the Adobe Light room software on his Mac Book.
Tom was positively enthusiastic. He gave me his Mac book and went off to shower. I played with it for over an hour and realized that Light room definitely functioned way better on a Mac book than my Windows Machine. I may decide to get one later on (Those reading the Blog can perhaps contribute and get me one!). As I suspected the Zodiac cruisers did not see anything spectacular.
As the weather was quite reasonable, it was decided that the Campers were to Camp at Petermann Island for the night. I did not envy them now as (a) It was not below the Antarctic Circle and (b) It was NOT on the Antarctic Continent. One of the Original campers had dropped out for these very same reasons.
For those staying back on the boat, the night´s entertainment was to be the new James Bond Film CASINO ROYALE! As I had nothing better to do, I watched it a second time! Apart from the opening chase scene and where African did all his stunts himself, there was nothing much to laud about this movie. The movie ended around 11:20 PM. As the ship was Anchored for the night, Antti and I debated about staying up until 1 AM or so and taking a few pictures. We decided that we would go to Sleep and wake up around 12:45 AM and take some pictures around 1 AM. I set my Alarm and we went to bed. We both woke up around 12:45 and went up to the deck in our sandals (too lazy to put on socks and shoes). Antti took 1 picture and went back. I took 3 more pictures. While the experience was similar to what I did at Barrow, Alaska (where the town and buildings provided some backdrop at 1 AM) there was not much backdrop here except a dull grey sky and icebergs that appeared quite flat in this light.
January 18, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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We had breakfast at 7 AM. We were then told that we would not reach the British research Station - Port LOCKROY until 10:30 AM! We wish they had told us earlier and delayed our breakfasts to 9 AM as me and my Finnish cabin mate could have really used the extra sleep (having been up at 1 AM to take pictures of an Antarctic Sunset that did not happen). I took a shower. Showers in the Ship have always been good. Good hot and cold water (in case anyone needed it) and good water pressure. Lots of handles to hold onto especially if folks were taking showers when the ship encountered heavy swells. I wrote my diary for a bit.
E-mail messages can be sent and received at a cost of $4 per message. The messages are saved by the passengers (wanting to send them) on the ship´s computer and then given to the ship´s radio officer who presumably Morse codes them and any responses to these messages. I am guessing here. One cannot check e-mail messages. One can also make and receive Phone calls. All Calls use the IRIDIUM satellite link and the cost is $4 per minute whether making a call or receiving one. I did call my Parents and spoke to them a few days ago for 4 minutes. I will have a lot of BLOGWORK to catch up on when I get back to South America and cheaper internet rates!
There was a sighting of Humpback Whales but they were too far away even for a 300mm lens to get a decent picture. I still have an hour to go before we reach Port Lockroy. The Scenery outside is quite beautiful. Then again how many snow capped mountains do I want to Photograph ?:)
We anchored shortly thereafter off Port LOCKROY. The port officer came on board our ship and gave a short speech on the activities at the base, the time the researchers typically spend here and so on. He also left a rubber stamp that said Port LOCKROY and gave its Latitude and Longitude and said today´s date and the word Antarctica somewhere. There were few on the ship who did not get their Passport Stamped with this stamp. No, I was not an exception!
We boarded our Zodiacs and went to Port Lockroy. We mailed our cards and visited the small museum there. I bought some nice British Antarctic Territory first day covers as the rest of the souvenirs were too tacky (T-Shirts, baseball caps, and so on).
Port Lockroy also has a good GENTOO penguin colony and a part of the island is marked as off limits to the lay tourist. Research has shown that the Penguins living in the area visited by the tourists breed better! This was attributed to the fact that the tourist traffic scares away the natural predators of the Penguins (the vicious looking SQUA Bird).
Once back on board, we had lunch and I went in for a Siesta. The siesta was rudely interrupted by an announcement of a HUMPBACK Whale sighting. We grabbed our cameras and headed to the outer decks. The paid of Whales was the best sighting so far. They were around us (or we followed them - take your pick) for close to 30 minutes. They swam so close to the bow of the ship that many of us with long lenses got just part of the whale! I think I have a few decent pictures here. 30 minutes after this sighting there was another announcement of MINKE Whale sighting. By the time I got to the deck, I had missed it.
All announcements can be heard in all Cabins. The early morning wake up calls all the worst as you cannot shut the noise out and you are forced to wake up!
Later in the afternoon we anchored off an Argentine research station - ALMIRANTE BROWN and made a 3rd attempt of setting foot on the ANTARCTIC CONTINENT. The research station is used infrequently by the Argentines and it was not in use now. We observed a decent GENTOO Penguin colony here and some of the Penguins came really close to me (whenever I stood still). The rabble went off to climb YET another snow covered hill and slide on the way down. I passed. A light snow had started and I observed that the flakes here were perfectly symmetrical (as one sees in Geography or Geology books).
After the research station visit, we started cruising the waters around the base for an hour. Our Zodiac (driven by the expedition leader Martin) spotted a few Weddell seals lying on land. As the water was too shallow, Martin jumped out and pull the Zodiac close to land and allowed us to land and walk closer to the Seals and Photograph them. I think we still maintained a distance of 10 metres or so from the closest animal. We all got some great close-ups. What this also meant was that the group of us (10) were the only folks who had made 4 landings on the Antarctic Continent! Upon continuing our cruising, we had a lone LEOPARD seal put up a performance for us against a nice iceberg backdrop. Thanks for the memories :)
The post dinner entertainment for today was SIDEWAYS. I watched it again and enjoyed it. Tomorrow may be our final landings before we head back through the DRAKE passage back to Ushuaia, Argentina.
January 15-16, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
January 15, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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We had a late breakfast today (9 AM). After breakfast we gathered around the bow of the ship to celebrate "Crossing the Antarctic Circle" with a Champagne Toast. After a few delays ("We are 17 Minutes away", "We are 13 Minutes away", "We are 8 minutes away" announcements from the Bridge) we finally crossed the circle around 10:30 AM. The Ship sounded its Horn and we all jumped as it was quite loud. Guess it was the Russian captain{s way of signalling the crossing of the circle from his perch on the Bridge of the ship. Maybe he wanted to have some fun as well (by seeing us all jump!).
As there were no other plans this morning, we all lounged about until Lunch. Lunch and dinners on board the ship have all been 3 course affairs. A Soup (almost always vegetarian), a main course and a dessert (vegetarian of course!). I doubt very much if anyone can ever lose weight on these voyages! (Unless of course, you have very very strict dietary requirements which the ship canters to infrequently).
We dropped anchor after lunch around 1:30 PM. It had turned out to be a Gorgeous Sunny Day. Sun was out in Force with a perfect blue sky and very few clouds. PERFECT!
We set out to visit DETAILLE Island.The Zodiac ride was quite a rocky ride as some of us encountered salt water sprays during our ride. On reaching the Island, we made our way to an abandoned hut. The wind was blowing heavily and it was wickedly cold (Yes, I know, it is THE ANTARCTIC!) What an experience (although not very pleasant at the moment of experiencing it)! This used to be an old British research Station that was abandoned in 1956 or so.
Our historian had the keys to this hut and only 6 people were allowed to visit it at a time. I was a member of the first group to visit the hut!. It was quite fascinating to see things remaining here as though they were occupied just a week ago.It appears that the station was abandoned in a hurry and people just took the essentials and went out the door. Numerous Magazines that were apparently being read, boxes of coffee, canned food, beddings and so on. I took some nice pictures from the Island. The perfect day provided a great setting.
The ride back to the ship was less rocky but keeping the Zodiac close to the gangway (while we disembarked) was quite a challenge. The swells were affecting the ship and the Zodiac and each was being tossed about in a different direction. After we clambered on board we could hear the SECOND ANCHOR being dropped to stabilize the ship. A few minutes later, a LONG, SINGLE HORN sounded indicating that all personnel get back on the ship immediately. The wind was getting heavier by the minute and they did not want more challenges in getting the rest of the passengers on board from the Zodiacs.
I went up to the Bridge to take pictures of the ship´s position to show that it was below the Antarctic Circle (66 Degrees, 33 Minutes).
Quark had offered an option of camping on the Antarctic Ice for a night (while the ship stayed in anchor nearby, of course). For some reason, the Quark agent made it appear that the request could be made on board the ship, while most of the Aussies and English had made their camping reservations while booking the cruise. (There was no extra charge for this). The camping was limited to 20 people and it was completely booked. Mike was going camping and Antti and I were disappointed as we both were misled by our Quark representatives!
Because of the heavy winds and swell, camping and kayaking activities were cancelled for the afternoon and night. The Barbecue dinner that was initially planned out on the deck, was shifted inside. After dinner, I watched the final 2 episodes of the BBC Documentary "Life in the Freezer". Quite good stuff and narrated by David Attenborough. I will have to watch the earlier 4 episodes at a later time as I missed seeing them (they were shown on the first 2 days of our Voyage during which I was seasick).
All ships in the Antarctic have a call-in at 7:30 PM each night. They trade weather and wildlife sightings and also indicate where they are heading next. This enables the ships to avoid each other and not have too many people in a single place at any point in time. Our expedition is perhaps the smallest (at 48 People). Most ships carry 100 people or so.
During the 7:30 call is transpired that the weather was getting bad further south. It looks like we are headed North again! Such a shame as I would have loved to spend more time below the circle to see the different conditions and wildlife. We hope to see some additional animal / bird species on the way back.
January 16, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
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We had an early breakfast today (7 AM). There were too many Icebergs around and the ship sailed at a really slow pace in navigating these icebergs. The top speed of the ship is 12 knots. I had a shower and went up to the Bridge and watched the Scenery unfold.
It was yet another spectacular day. Plenty of Sunshine, Blue sky, No Wind and a Tranquil Sea. The best weather so far on this Voyage.
We dropped anchor around FISH Islands (HOLTEDAHL Bay) around 9 AM and set out on our Zodiacs shortly thereafter. There are no assigned Zodiacs. Depending on when one shows up at the Gangway, once boards a Zodiac. There are 5 Zodiacs in operation - carrying 10 passengers each plus the Zodiac driver. Raymond (the Doctor) always accompanies us with a big medical bag on all our Zodiac expeditions. Passengers are not mandated to sow up for all Zodiac cruises. They can chose to stay on board the ship and some folks do it from time to time.
We observed numerous CRABEATER seals and a pair of LEOPARD Seals. Jaime (expedition staff member) had donned a wetsuit and jumped into the water near the Leopard Seals. One of the LEOPARD Seals did a spectacular jump over Jamie. The only person who got a decent shot was the Bartender (Eva - who had accompanied us on our Zodiac).
We landed for the SECOND time on the ANTARCTIC CONTINENT to visit a small group of ADELIE Penguins.As this could be our final landing on the Continent, we all made the most of it.
The Gorgeous day meant that we would finally have our barbecue lunch on the outside deck. The Vegetarians had Pizzas on offer. Many of us spent more time recording this event (Lunch in the Antarctic on an Outer Deck) than eating Lunch! Most of us (including me) had taken off our Gloves and our QUARK Parkas. According to the Chef (who has been doing these voyages for 8 years), this is the best weather he has seen in all his time here!
We continued to stay at anchor here and set out on our Zodiacs again at 3 PM. There was no time for a Siesta :) We saw more CRABEATER Seals and a WEDDELL Seal. We saw magnificent icebergs - similar to the ones shown on TV whenever Antarctica is shown!
Though many of us gripe about not seeing Whales and other Species, we are quite privileged to be in the Antarctic and experience it firsthand.
8 brave folks decided to swim in these frigid (-1.5 Degrees CENTIGRADE) waters. Someone had to record this event. It was me (and 30 others!). It was quite fun watching the shivering and quivering folks emerge from these waters.
During dinner Mike and I decided to open the first of our Wine bottles. The ship serves one free glass of wine during dinner. We had been sampling that for the past few days. The Ship also realizes that folks (like Mike and yours truly) like to bring Wine on board and they levy a corkage fee of $7 per bottle. All shipboard costs are in US$ and are payable at the penultimate day of the Voyage by Cash, Traveller´s Checks or Credit Cards. I digress. Our first bottle was La LINDA, a 2006 Syrah (from Argentina) that had a light nose, and was light bodied wit a long finish. It is decent although I think we can do better!
Post dinner chatted with some folks and killed time. It is still quite bright as I record this in my diary (10:30 PM). Too bad my Cabin mates are asleep! Otherwise, I am in the mood for a party!
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We had a late breakfast today (9 AM). After breakfast we gathered around the bow of the ship to celebrate "Crossing the Antarctic Circle" with a Champagne Toast. After a few delays ("We are 17 Minutes away", "We are 13 Minutes away", "We are 8 minutes away" announcements from the Bridge) we finally crossed the circle around 10:30 AM. The Ship sounded its Horn and we all jumped as it was quite loud. Guess it was the Russian captain{s way of signalling the crossing of the circle from his perch on the Bridge of the ship. Maybe he wanted to have some fun as well (by seeing us all jump!).
As there were no other plans this morning, we all lounged about until Lunch. Lunch and dinners on board the ship have all been 3 course affairs. A Soup (almost always vegetarian), a main course and a dessert (vegetarian of course!). I doubt very much if anyone can ever lose weight on these voyages! (Unless of course, you have very very strict dietary requirements which the ship canters to infrequently).
We dropped anchor after lunch around 1:30 PM. It had turned out to be a Gorgeous Sunny Day. Sun was out in Force with a perfect blue sky and very few clouds. PERFECT!
We set out to visit DETAILLE Island.The Zodiac ride was quite a rocky ride as some of us encountered salt water sprays during our ride. On reaching the Island, we made our way to an abandoned hut. The wind was blowing heavily and it was wickedly cold (Yes, I know, it is THE ANTARCTIC!) What an experience (although not very pleasant at the moment of experiencing it)! This used to be an old British research Station that was abandoned in 1956 or so.
Our historian had the keys to this hut and only 6 people were allowed to visit it at a time. I was a member of the first group to visit the hut!. It was quite fascinating to see things remaining here as though they were occupied just a week ago.It appears that the station was abandoned in a hurry and people just took the essentials and went out the door. Numerous Magazines that were apparently being read, boxes of coffee, canned food, beddings and so on. I took some nice pictures from the Island. The perfect day provided a great setting.
The ride back to the ship was less rocky but keeping the Zodiac close to the gangway (while we disembarked) was quite a challenge. The swells were affecting the ship and the Zodiac and each was being tossed about in a different direction. After we clambered on board we could hear the SECOND ANCHOR being dropped to stabilize the ship. A few minutes later, a LONG, SINGLE HORN sounded indicating that all personnel get back on the ship immediately. The wind was getting heavier by the minute and they did not want more challenges in getting the rest of the passengers on board from the Zodiacs.
I went up to the Bridge to take pictures of the ship´s position to show that it was below the Antarctic Circle (66 Degrees, 33 Minutes).
Quark had offered an option of camping on the Antarctic Ice for a night (while the ship stayed in anchor nearby, of course). For some reason, the Quark agent made it appear that the request could be made on board the ship, while most of the Aussies and English had made their camping reservations while booking the cruise. (There was no extra charge for this). The camping was limited to 20 people and it was completely booked. Mike was going camping and Antti and I were disappointed as we both were misled by our Quark representatives!
Because of the heavy winds and swell, camping and kayaking activities were cancelled for the afternoon and night. The Barbecue dinner that was initially planned out on the deck, was shifted inside. After dinner, I watched the final 2 episodes of the BBC Documentary "Life in the Freezer". Quite good stuff and narrated by David Attenborough. I will have to watch the earlier 4 episodes at a later time as I missed seeing them (they were shown on the first 2 days of our Voyage during which I was seasick).
All ships in the Antarctic have a call-in at 7:30 PM each night. They trade weather and wildlife sightings and also indicate where they are heading next. This enables the ships to avoid each other and not have too many people in a single place at any point in time. Our expedition is perhaps the smallest (at 48 People). Most ships carry 100 people or so.
During the 7:30 call is transpired that the weather was getting bad further south. It looks like we are headed North again! Such a shame as I would have loved to spend more time below the circle to see the different conditions and wildlife. We hope to see some additional animal / bird species on the way back.
January 16, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
===================================
We had an early breakfast today (7 AM). There were too many Icebergs around and the ship sailed at a really slow pace in navigating these icebergs. The top speed of the ship is 12 knots. I had a shower and went up to the Bridge and watched the Scenery unfold.
It was yet another spectacular day. Plenty of Sunshine, Blue sky, No Wind and a Tranquil Sea. The best weather so far on this Voyage.
We dropped anchor around FISH Islands (HOLTEDAHL Bay) around 9 AM and set out on our Zodiacs shortly thereafter. There are no assigned Zodiacs. Depending on when one shows up at the Gangway, once boards a Zodiac. There are 5 Zodiacs in operation - carrying 10 passengers each plus the Zodiac driver. Raymond (the Doctor) always accompanies us with a big medical bag on all our Zodiac expeditions. Passengers are not mandated to sow up for all Zodiac cruises. They can chose to stay on board the ship and some folks do it from time to time.
We observed numerous CRABEATER seals and a pair of LEOPARD Seals. Jaime (expedition staff member) had donned a wetsuit and jumped into the water near the Leopard Seals. One of the LEOPARD Seals did a spectacular jump over Jamie. The only person who got a decent shot was the Bartender (Eva - who had accompanied us on our Zodiac).
We landed for the SECOND time on the ANTARCTIC CONTINENT to visit a small group of ADELIE Penguins.As this could be our final landing on the Continent, we all made the most of it.
The Gorgeous day meant that we would finally have our barbecue lunch on the outside deck. The Vegetarians had Pizzas on offer. Many of us spent more time recording this event (Lunch in the Antarctic on an Outer Deck) than eating Lunch! Most of us (including me) had taken off our Gloves and our QUARK Parkas. According to the Chef (who has been doing these voyages for 8 years), this is the best weather he has seen in all his time here!
We continued to stay at anchor here and set out on our Zodiacs again at 3 PM. There was no time for a Siesta :) We saw more CRABEATER Seals and a WEDDELL Seal. We saw magnificent icebergs - similar to the ones shown on TV whenever Antarctica is shown!
Though many of us gripe about not seeing Whales and other Species, we are quite privileged to be in the Antarctic and experience it firsthand.
8 brave folks decided to swim in these frigid (-1.5 Degrees CENTIGRADE) waters. Someone had to record this event. It was me (and 30 others!). It was quite fun watching the shivering and quivering folks emerge from these waters.
During dinner Mike and I decided to open the first of our Wine bottles. The ship serves one free glass of wine during dinner. We had been sampling that for the past few days. The Ship also realizes that folks (like Mike and yours truly) like to bring Wine on board and they levy a corkage fee of $7 per bottle. All shipboard costs are in US$ and are payable at the penultimate day of the Voyage by Cash, Traveller´s Checks or Credit Cards. I digress. Our first bottle was La LINDA, a 2006 Syrah (from Argentina) that had a light nose, and was light bodied wit a long finish. It is decent although I think we can do better!
Post dinner chatted with some folks and killed time. It is still quite bright as I record this in my diary (10:30 PM). Too bad my Cabin mates are asleep! Otherwise, I am in the mood for a party!
January 13-14, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
January 13, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
===================================
Woke up early and was at breakfast by 7 AM. Our plans were to have an early Zodiac landing (8 AM) and hence the reason for the early wake up and breakfast. We boarded our Zodiacs by 8 AM to reach DANCO Island which is located in the Southern Part of the ERRERA Channel. We wended our way through numerous ice floes (nothing big enough to warrant being called an iceberg) before reaching the landing area at DANCO Island.
Delphine (our Zodiac driver and the onboard Biologist) pointed out that we were surrounded by the Antarctic Peninsula. We were sailing at last in Antarctic waters and will perhaps set foot on the Peninsula in the next few days. Most of the group went away on a hike. As I did not want to hike up to yet another "viewpoint", I wandered around the beach area. I spotted many Gentoo Penguins (the name has Origins in the word HINDOO) and also spotted a lone ADELIE Penguin which was a rare sight on this Island. I went a bit overboard and took a dozen pictures of the ADELIE penguin! I was however more selective in taking pictures of GENTOO penguins.
We headed back to the ship after cruising through more ice floes on the way back.
After Lunch we were alerted to the spotting of a couple of Humpback whales. They did not come anywhere close to our boat (unlike the mother and calf pair from a few days ago) and I took 2 pictures!
We were heading towards a place called USEFUL Island in the middle of GERLACHE Strait (I am not making these names up!). I listened to Beethoven´s 7th until we dropped anchor near the island at 3 PM. Geared up (Waterproof pants, 2 layers of socks, Quark Jacket, Wellington boots and life vest and my camera bag of course) and headed towards Useful Island on Zodiacs.
There was yet another "hike". I passed and stayed around the beach. As most of the crowd goes away, once can get some peace and quiet and possibly some good pictures! There were numerous GENTOO penguins with young chicks. I got a few good pictures. Upon out return trip on the Zodiac, we passed a "Parliament" of Penguins. After the Zodiac Engine was shut off, the "Parliament" dived and swam around us. They played around us for at least 10 minutes. I took numerous pictures of which a few came out quite well. It is very hard to catch a Penguin diving. I managed to get 1 shot!
After our return to the ship, we had tea and cookies and I chatted with my fellow travellers. Around 6 PM, we gathered at the Bar and the expedition team "recapped" the last 2 days for us. As we travel quite frequently to different islands, it is nice to have a recap of what we have seen and experienced. We have been quite lucky to have ad excellent weather.
After dinner, I copied my memory cards to my Hard drives, played cards with my fellow travellers (IDIOT is the popular game of choice!) and chatted.
Tomorrow we may cruise the well-known LEMAIRE Channel.
January 14, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
===================================
After an early breakfast (7 AM) we boarded our Zodiacs and set off on the Lemaire Channel. Tim (the Kayak Master) was serving as an advance scout in his Kayak to gauge the water depth. A Zodiac with an outboard Motor such as ours will require at least 1 metre of water depth to operate. In addition to shallow waters, the Channel could also freeze up and prevent our passage.
All expedition crew members including the doctor are equipped with 2-way radios. They carry these with them at all times. Tim was sending us quite positive reports and our Zodiacs cruised slowly among the Icebergs. It had snowed the previous night and fresh snow could be seen everywhere. We had to be extra careful on the ship´s deck this morning as it was quite slippery. As a result I decided not to carry my whole camera bag and kit and went out instead with a single lens (24-70 / 2.8).
We cruised for about an hour. The wind had picked up slightly and the tips of my toes (despite wearing 2 layers of thick socks) and fingers were numb. We could see the bottom of the Channel in many places (4 feet depth). So if we toppled, we would not drown! (but we may freeze to death!) We made a landing on an unnamed beach and took our group picture of our first landing on the Antarctic Continent! YES ! The landing area was slush with Penguin droppings and was not a pleasant place to walk around. The only bad aspect of visiting Penguin colonies :) The Penguins and Seals feed on Krill (as do the Whales of course) and their waste has a reddish tinge to it. Seals can eat Penguins and ORCAS can eat Seals though we have not observed either behaviour thus far!
An offer was made by the expedition staff to return to the ship or continue Zodiac cruising. About 20 of us chose to return to the ship. I had done my Continental Landing and we were not expected to encounter any new wildlife so there seemed little point to continue to freeze myself on further Zodiac cruising!
Post Lunch, I had a short siesta. We set our on a Zodiac Cruise shortly thereafter around PLENEAU Island. We cruised around the icebergs of Pleneau Island and it was nice. We did not make any landings. We passed numerous large Icebergs. We spotted CRABEATER and LEOPARD seals as well as the odd GENTOO Penguin. A curious LEOPARD Seal played around our ZODIAC for over 20 minutes thereby becoming the MOST Photographed LEOPARD Seal ever! Our Zodiac was driven by Martin (the expedition leader) and we were quite impressed by his navigational skills.
We returned to the ship around 6 PM. It had been a good day. We had set foot (finally) on the Antarctic Continent and Photographed LEOPARD Seals up close. Our plan was to move back to the DRAKE Passage and sail on the outside (unprotected from wind and sea swells) until we reached the Antarctic Circle. Most of us forked out at least a few thousand dollars extra for the privilege of "Crossing the Circle".
After dinner I noticed that the boat had started rolling heavily as we had moved into the drake passage. I spoke to the Ship doctor (Raymond) and he recommended that I take Phenergan again. I took one and went to bed a little after 9 PM. This is indeed an excellent pill to fight sea sickness. I woke up around 1:30 AM and observed (through the porthole in our Cabin) that the light was still quite bright. The sun sets (or rather disappears) for an hour or so in these parts - say from 2:30 till 4 AM or so. There is no darkness as such at any time in the summer.
===================================
Woke up early and was at breakfast by 7 AM. Our plans were to have an early Zodiac landing (8 AM) and hence the reason for the early wake up and breakfast. We boarded our Zodiacs by 8 AM to reach DANCO Island which is located in the Southern Part of the ERRERA Channel. We wended our way through numerous ice floes (nothing big enough to warrant being called an iceberg) before reaching the landing area at DANCO Island.
Delphine (our Zodiac driver and the onboard Biologist) pointed out that we were surrounded by the Antarctic Peninsula. We were sailing at last in Antarctic waters and will perhaps set foot on the Peninsula in the next few days. Most of the group went away on a hike. As I did not want to hike up to yet another "viewpoint", I wandered around the beach area. I spotted many Gentoo Penguins (the name has Origins in the word HINDOO) and also spotted a lone ADELIE Penguin which was a rare sight on this Island. I went a bit overboard and took a dozen pictures of the ADELIE penguin! I was however more selective in taking pictures of GENTOO penguins.
We headed back to the ship after cruising through more ice floes on the way back.
After Lunch we were alerted to the spotting of a couple of Humpback whales. They did not come anywhere close to our boat (unlike the mother and calf pair from a few days ago) and I took 2 pictures!
We were heading towards a place called USEFUL Island in the middle of GERLACHE Strait (I am not making these names up!). I listened to Beethoven´s 7th until we dropped anchor near the island at 3 PM. Geared up (Waterproof pants, 2 layers of socks, Quark Jacket, Wellington boots and life vest and my camera bag of course) and headed towards Useful Island on Zodiacs.
There was yet another "hike". I passed and stayed around the beach. As most of the crowd goes away, once can get some peace and quiet and possibly some good pictures! There were numerous GENTOO penguins with young chicks. I got a few good pictures. Upon out return trip on the Zodiac, we passed a "Parliament" of Penguins. After the Zodiac Engine was shut off, the "Parliament" dived and swam around us. They played around us for at least 10 minutes. I took numerous pictures of which a few came out quite well. It is very hard to catch a Penguin diving. I managed to get 1 shot!
After our return to the ship, we had tea and cookies and I chatted with my fellow travellers. Around 6 PM, we gathered at the Bar and the expedition team "recapped" the last 2 days for us. As we travel quite frequently to different islands, it is nice to have a recap of what we have seen and experienced. We have been quite lucky to have ad excellent weather.
After dinner, I copied my memory cards to my Hard drives, played cards with my fellow travellers (IDIOT is the popular game of choice!) and chatted.
Tomorrow we may cruise the well-known LEMAIRE Channel.
January 14, 2008 - Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
===================================
After an early breakfast (7 AM) we boarded our Zodiacs and set off on the Lemaire Channel. Tim (the Kayak Master) was serving as an advance scout in his Kayak to gauge the water depth. A Zodiac with an outboard Motor such as ours will require at least 1 metre of water depth to operate. In addition to shallow waters, the Channel could also freeze up and prevent our passage.
All expedition crew members including the doctor are equipped with 2-way radios. They carry these with them at all times. Tim was sending us quite positive reports and our Zodiacs cruised slowly among the Icebergs. It had snowed the previous night and fresh snow could be seen everywhere. We had to be extra careful on the ship´s deck this morning as it was quite slippery. As a result I decided not to carry my whole camera bag and kit and went out instead with a single lens (24-70 / 2.8).
We cruised for about an hour. The wind had picked up slightly and the tips of my toes (despite wearing 2 layers of thick socks) and fingers were numb. We could see the bottom of the Channel in many places (4 feet depth). So if we toppled, we would not drown! (but we may freeze to death!) We made a landing on an unnamed beach and took our group picture of our first landing on the Antarctic Continent! YES ! The landing area was slush with Penguin droppings and was not a pleasant place to walk around. The only bad aspect of visiting Penguin colonies :) The Penguins and Seals feed on Krill (as do the Whales of course) and their waste has a reddish tinge to it. Seals can eat Penguins and ORCAS can eat Seals though we have not observed either behaviour thus far!
An offer was made by the expedition staff to return to the ship or continue Zodiac cruising. About 20 of us chose to return to the ship. I had done my Continental Landing and we were not expected to encounter any new wildlife so there seemed little point to continue to freeze myself on further Zodiac cruising!
Post Lunch, I had a short siesta. We set our on a Zodiac Cruise shortly thereafter around PLENEAU Island. We cruised around the icebergs of Pleneau Island and it was nice. We did not make any landings. We passed numerous large Icebergs. We spotted CRABEATER and LEOPARD seals as well as the odd GENTOO Penguin. A curious LEOPARD Seal played around our ZODIAC for over 20 minutes thereby becoming the MOST Photographed LEOPARD Seal ever! Our Zodiac was driven by Martin (the expedition leader) and we were quite impressed by his navigational skills.
We returned to the ship around 6 PM. It had been a good day. We had set foot (finally) on the Antarctic Continent and Photographed LEOPARD Seals up close. Our plan was to move back to the DRAKE Passage and sail on the outside (unprotected from wind and sea swells) until we reached the Antarctic Circle. Most of us forked out at least a few thousand dollars extra for the privilege of "Crossing the Circle".
After dinner I noticed that the boat had started rolling heavily as we had moved into the drake passage. I spoke to the Ship doctor (Raymond) and he recommended that I take Phenergan again. I took one and went to bed a little after 9 PM. This is indeed an excellent pill to fight sea sickness. I woke up around 1:30 AM and observed (through the porthole in our Cabin) that the light was still quite bright. The sun sets (or rather disappears) for an hour or so in these parts - say from 2:30 till 4 AM or so. There is no darkness as such at any time in the summer.
Friday, January 25, 2008
January 11-12, 2008 - On-board Professor Multanovskiy
January 11, 2008 - On-board Professor Multanovskiy
=====================================
I woke up at 5:30 AM. My mouth was dry and my body was aching from staying too long in bed. As I was sharing the Cabin with Mike and Antti and did not want to disturb their sleep, I forced myself back in to bed until 7:30 AM.
I headed for breakfast and took it easy with a few sips of Orange juice at first. I graduated next to a bowl of cereal, followed by toast and even some coffee! The doctor inquired after me and all was well.
After chatting with Mike for a little bit after breakfast, I headed to the showers to awaken myself further. We were asked to attend a mandatory ZODIAC briefing session. ZODIACs are inflatable dinghies used to ferry us from the ship to the shores of the Antarctic. We may also use these Zodiacs to cruise around smaller waterways where the Ship cannot take us.
As I mentioned earlier there were 48 passengers in total for this Voyage. The expedition crew comprises of 6 folks - an expedition leader, a Historian, a Biologist, a Geologist, a naturalist and a Kayak master. The expedition leader was a Swede who is a certified master diver for the Antarctic! The Historian (Jeff Rubin) is the author of the Lonely Planet book on Antarctica, Luke (the Geologist) is an Aussie, Tim (Kayak Master) is an American, Delphine (Biologist) is French and Jaime (the Naturalist) is British. The Ship is operated by an all Russian crew of 12 men. In addition we have 2 argentine chefs for the tourists, a Russian chef for the crew, 2 Russian ladies who serve in the dining room (sisters), 2 Swedish gals - 1 the restaurant manager (Karin) and one a Bar Manager (Eva). We also have 2 ladies to make our beds and clean the cabins. We appear to be carrying close to 75 people in total on board.
I might spent some of my free time today continuing my reading of Bruce Chatwin. Lunch was served at 12:30 and was Risotto with Vegetable soup and fruit compote. Not bad. I did not go hungry. Post Lunch I headed to the Bar area to read Bruce Chatwin. Watched the Kayakers (who paid an optional US$700 to Kayak in the Antarctic) be briefed by Tim and Luke. They were given their Kayaking gear as well - including dry suits. I continued reading Bruce Chatwin for a bit and went to the Bridge to check out the operations as well as the view from there.
Tea time was at 4 PM. Cookies, Tea and Coffee. I helped myself generously to the former. After tea we spotted 2 Humpback Whales (Mother and Calf) swimming. We followed them for a bit and I think I got 1 decent picture from the chase!
We started to see a lot of icebergs. I met the new Indian Cricket Coach´s (and former South African player - Gary Kirsten) father-in-law and mother-in-law (Mike and Carol Cassidy). We agreed to talk cricket a bit later on and brief each other on the goings on in Australia which was playing host to the Indian cricket team.
During dinner it was announced that we would be going out on our first Zodiac landings later this evening. Almost to a person, the dinner table emptied! We all got dressed in our wt pants, Antarctic Parkas, 2 layers of socks and Quark issued Wellington Boots (which keep out the water) and offer a good grip while walking as well.
Our first Zodiac trip was to the aptly named DESOLATION ISLAND! We saw lots of Chinstrap Penguins, Southern and Weddell Seals and the predatory Squa bird. It was indeed quite a thrilling experience for all of us (especially those of us who were in bed all day yesterday during the Drake crossing). We are not yet on the Antarctic Peninsula. We may get there on the 13th of January!
January 12, 2008 - On-board Professor Multanovskiy
=====================================
Each night we are provided with a program for the following day. Last night we were provided with our program for today.
We visited Barrientos Island (Part of the Aitcho Island group and located in the centre of the South Shetland Islands) and saw more Chinstrap Penguins, Gentoo Penguins (a new species for us) and Elephant seals (I had seen these in Peninsula Valdes but the proximity of these creatures were far better than at Peninsula Valdes). We had a good hike up a short snow covered hill and came across numerous Whale and Seal skeletal pieces. The Whale Skeletons were certainly from the early whaling days in these places, while the seal skeletons were from death by natural causes. We watched the penguins jumping on and off the ice floes. The Wellington boots are excellent.
The Weather is quite good as well. No wind, No rain, a bit cloudy. 2 out of 3 is not bad.
Post lunch we had a Zodiac landing at Deception Island. Deception Island is an old Whaling Station and still has an active volcano. As a result there are Thermal pools here. We were originally planning to visit these thermal pools and the hardier souls could go for a dip in these waters. But due to some incoming weather patters we visited a different side of the Island called Baily Head that has the Second Largest Colony of Chinstrap Penguins in the world. There were Chinstrap Penguins as far as the eye could see. We could see numerous mothers with their babies and many parents still warming their eggs. I am quite sated with Chinstrap Penguins for now:)
The terrific discovery here was a Black Chinstrap Penguin. Even the expedition staff who have been to these places many times found this species to be unusual and were planning to report this find to Penguin research stations in the Antarctic. Needless to say, the Black Chinstrap Penguins was picked on and harassed by the normal freaks!
During the course of the day, I met and chatted with a lot of people. Some of the Interesting folks were:
Hans Smit - Of Dutch Origin, lives in Perth, Western Australia. Has been to the Theosophical Society in Adyar (Chennai) and cooks Idli and rasam whenever he can in Perth!
Jet Harris and Judith Innes - English Couple. Jet is a retired Geography teacher so is a unique experience for him. They are doing an extended travel for the first time and we chatted on my different travels and what I would recommend next for them (An African Safari or the Galapagos)
Thomas Nelsen - travelling with his French wife, 2 older daughters and a 20-year old granddaughter. We had a great conversation on Photography especially digital photography and post processing in digital photography. Tom is travelling with his Mac Book with Adobe light room software. Before long I may play with it for a bit to help me decide on a Mac for my Photo cataloguing.
I am currently using the Ship´s laptop to copy my memory cards to my hard drives every day. As the laptop is new and has USB 2.0 ports, the copying process takes but a few minutes. I may even decide to write a detailed blog on a word document while on board the ship and upload it when we reach Ushuaia at the end of the Voyage. We shall see.
=====================================
I woke up at 5:30 AM. My mouth was dry and my body was aching from staying too long in bed. As I was sharing the Cabin with Mike and Antti and did not want to disturb their sleep, I forced myself back in to bed until 7:30 AM.
I headed for breakfast and took it easy with a few sips of Orange juice at first. I graduated next to a bowl of cereal, followed by toast and even some coffee! The doctor inquired after me and all was well.
After chatting with Mike for a little bit after breakfast, I headed to the showers to awaken myself further. We were asked to attend a mandatory ZODIAC briefing session. ZODIACs are inflatable dinghies used to ferry us from the ship to the shores of the Antarctic. We may also use these Zodiacs to cruise around smaller waterways where the Ship cannot take us.
As I mentioned earlier there were 48 passengers in total for this Voyage. The expedition crew comprises of 6 folks - an expedition leader, a Historian, a Biologist, a Geologist, a naturalist and a Kayak master. The expedition leader was a Swede who is a certified master diver for the Antarctic! The Historian (Jeff Rubin) is the author of the Lonely Planet book on Antarctica, Luke (the Geologist) is an Aussie, Tim (Kayak Master) is an American, Delphine (Biologist) is French and Jaime (the Naturalist) is British. The Ship is operated by an all Russian crew of 12 men. In addition we have 2 argentine chefs for the tourists, a Russian chef for the crew, 2 Russian ladies who serve in the dining room (sisters), 2 Swedish gals - 1 the restaurant manager (Karin) and one a Bar Manager (Eva). We also have 2 ladies to make our beds and clean the cabins. We appear to be carrying close to 75 people in total on board.
I might spent some of my free time today continuing my reading of Bruce Chatwin. Lunch was served at 12:30 and was Risotto with Vegetable soup and fruit compote. Not bad. I did not go hungry. Post Lunch I headed to the Bar area to read Bruce Chatwin. Watched the Kayakers (who paid an optional US$700 to Kayak in the Antarctic) be briefed by Tim and Luke. They were given their Kayaking gear as well - including dry suits. I continued reading Bruce Chatwin for a bit and went to the Bridge to check out the operations as well as the view from there.
Tea time was at 4 PM. Cookies, Tea and Coffee. I helped myself generously to the former. After tea we spotted 2 Humpback Whales (Mother and Calf) swimming. We followed them for a bit and I think I got 1 decent picture from the chase!
We started to see a lot of icebergs. I met the new Indian Cricket Coach´s (and former South African player - Gary Kirsten) father-in-law and mother-in-law (Mike and Carol Cassidy). We agreed to talk cricket a bit later on and brief each other on the goings on in Australia which was playing host to the Indian cricket team.
During dinner it was announced that we would be going out on our first Zodiac landings later this evening. Almost to a person, the dinner table emptied! We all got dressed in our wt pants, Antarctic Parkas, 2 layers of socks and Quark issued Wellington Boots (which keep out the water) and offer a good grip while walking as well.
Our first Zodiac trip was to the aptly named DESOLATION ISLAND! We saw lots of Chinstrap Penguins, Southern and Weddell Seals and the predatory Squa bird. It was indeed quite a thrilling experience for all of us (especially those of us who were in bed all day yesterday during the Drake crossing). We are not yet on the Antarctic Peninsula. We may get there on the 13th of January!
January 12, 2008 - On-board Professor Multanovskiy
=====================================
Each night we are provided with a program for the following day. Last night we were provided with our program for today.
We visited Barrientos Island (Part of the Aitcho Island group and located in the centre of the South Shetland Islands) and saw more Chinstrap Penguins, Gentoo Penguins (a new species for us) and Elephant seals (I had seen these in Peninsula Valdes but the proximity of these creatures were far better than at Peninsula Valdes). We had a good hike up a short snow covered hill and came across numerous Whale and Seal skeletal pieces. The Whale Skeletons were certainly from the early whaling days in these places, while the seal skeletons were from death by natural causes. We watched the penguins jumping on and off the ice floes. The Wellington boots are excellent.
The Weather is quite good as well. No wind, No rain, a bit cloudy. 2 out of 3 is not bad.
Post lunch we had a Zodiac landing at Deception Island. Deception Island is an old Whaling Station and still has an active volcano. As a result there are Thermal pools here. We were originally planning to visit these thermal pools and the hardier souls could go for a dip in these waters. But due to some incoming weather patters we visited a different side of the Island called Baily Head that has the Second Largest Colony of Chinstrap Penguins in the world. There were Chinstrap Penguins as far as the eye could see. We could see numerous mothers with their babies and many parents still warming their eggs. I am quite sated with Chinstrap Penguins for now:)
The terrific discovery here was a Black Chinstrap Penguin. Even the expedition staff who have been to these places many times found this species to be unusual and were planning to report this find to Penguin research stations in the Antarctic. Needless to say, the Black Chinstrap Penguins was picked on and harassed by the normal freaks!
During the course of the day, I met and chatted with a lot of people. Some of the Interesting folks were:
Hans Smit - Of Dutch Origin, lives in Perth, Western Australia. Has been to the Theosophical Society in Adyar (Chennai) and cooks Idli and rasam whenever he can in Perth!
Jet Harris and Judith Innes - English Couple. Jet is a retired Geography teacher so is a unique experience for him. They are doing an extended travel for the first time and we chatted on my different travels and what I would recommend next for them (An African Safari or the Galapagos)
Thomas Nelsen - travelling with his French wife, 2 older daughters and a 20-year old granddaughter. We had a great conversation on Photography especially digital photography and post processing in digital photography. Tom is travelling with his Mac Book with Adobe light room software. Before long I may play with it for a bit to help me decide on a Mac for my Photo cataloguing.
I am currently using the Ship´s laptop to copy my memory cards to my hard drives every day. As the laptop is new and has USB 2.0 ports, the copying process takes but a few minutes. I may even decide to write a detailed blog on a word document while on board the ship and upload it when we reach Ushuaia at the end of the Voyage. We shall see.
January 10, 2008 - On-board Professor Multanovskiy
January 10, 2008 - On board Professor Multanovskiy
====================================
On having my first spoon of Cereal at Breakfast, my instinct was to throw up. I excused myself and headed to the bathroom. From 9 AM till 4 PM, I was in bed as the crossing of the drake passage was having its effect on me. Determined to make something of this day, I showered and went out on deck hoping that the fresh sea breeze would cure my ills. It was not to be.
I decided to cave in and went in search of the doctor (Raymond) to seek his advice. He recommended that I take PHENERGAN (I think that is the spelling) as a cure for sea sickness and that I continue taking these pills every 6 hours and advised me to lie down after taking the first one. (It does cause drowsiness)
I took the first pill at 5:30 PM and went to bed. The next thing I knew was waking up at 12:30 AM on Jan 11!
I took the next pill and stayed in bed!
January 9, 2008 - Ushuaia, Argentina & On-board Professor Multanovskiy
January 9, 2009 - Ushuaia, Argentina
=========================
I woke up in the middle of the night thinking it was time to get up! It was 3:45 AM. I slept for a few more before getting up at 5:45 AM. Being a triple shared room, one has to take the initiative to be the first. It was quite fine by me. I tried to be as quiet as possible while going about my preparation. I was all done by 6:30 AM.
Antti (the finn) was up next. I tried to pack up my bags without waking up Mike. We were all ready by 7:30 or so and headed for breakfast. Although for a Vegetarian like myself it did not make much of a difference, the meat eaters found it to be an excellent breakfast (a 5-star quality buffet).
We had free internet access at the hotel and needless to say it was SLOW. I checked e-mail and moved by bags to the lobby. The bags would be taken directly to the ship. We would head out on a tour of the Tierra del Fuego park (second time in 2 days for me) courtesy of Quark, followed by an Argentine Lunch (I dread to think of the options) and some free time in the city centre before we embark on the ship around 4 PM.
I wandered around the Hotel and took a few pictures. The Hotel is located on top of a hill and does have good views of the Beagle Channel and Isla Navarino (Chile). The tour bus arrived at 9:20 AM. There were 2 buses and they belonged to Rumbo-Sur (a local company) and were presumably chartered by Quark to shuttle us for the day.
We had an Argentinean guide who spoke fluent English give us some History and background about Ushuaia as we headed towards Tierra del Fuego Nacional Park. He was good.
We reached the park entrance within 30 minutes and headed to Lago Roca for some Photo taking opportunities. It was a great day with brilliant sunshine. There were lots of clouds though. We headed to a few more locations within the park including a short trek. All of these locations were different from the places I visited yesterday. I took a number of pictures.
We stopped for Lunch at a restaurant outside the city. Turns out that Quark had chartered 2 buses for the day. The Ship to Antarctic has a 48-PASSENGER capacity. No wonder there were so few on our bus! The meat eaters had a field day at the restaurant. I had Pasta :(
We were dropped at the city centre by 2:20 PM and were given 90 minutes (until 3:50 PM) to wander around.. Mike and I headed to a local wine shop. Some of the wines, recommended in my Guidebook (Hugh Johnson) and selected by me, turned out to be quite expensive (300+ pesos). We settled on 4 bottles for 130 pesos (US$43). Wines on board the ship were said to be expensive and we wanted to smuggle our own and save some $$. We hit the local grocery store next to get some curry sauces. While we did not have any luck finding Curry (as in Indian) sauces, we did find some good hot sauces - that were NOT TABASCO! I bought 2 small bottles for 8 pesos to make my repeated PASTA dining experience a bit palatable!
January 9, 2008 - On board Professor Multanovskiy
===================================
We got back on the bus. The bus drove past the port security and dropped us in front of the ship. There were no issues is us being able to take the 4 bottles to our cabin. We did hide the bottles under our jackets though! I had a bit of anxiety as my bags were not in my room while Mike and Antti had theirs. This should not be a surprise as I had NO name TAGS on any of them. I wandered around and finally spotted them on another deck. They were apparently dumped in the hallway by a passenger who decided that these were not his (or hers). While Mike and Antti had their Antarctic Parkas in the Cabin, there was NO parka for me. I told the expedition crew and was promptly provided with a medium sized jacket.
We sat around the dining room table and chatted with a few other passengers. As it was close to 5 PM, there were Tea, Coffee and cakes provided. As there were 5 ships sailing out of Ushuaia this evening, there was a bit of delay in getting our ship cleared for departure.
We finally set sail around 6:30 PM. The winds were so strong that they started pushing our ship towards another vessel in Port. It was a sister ship of Multanovskiy. As both crews were Russian, they realized what was happening and communicated to one another from deck to deck. Crew Members from both ships threw a line of inflatable buoys on the side of their ships to prevent any serious damage to either ship. Passengers from both ships were on the top deck watching all this frenetic activity! We finally managed to pull away and set sail on the Beagle Channel leaving Ushuaia behind.
We had a quick orientation by the expedition crew and this was followed by a full blown emergency exercise where we had to don life vests and get into the rather cramped emergency boats. They shut the port holes and a Russian crew member read out a butchered version of the safety procedures.
We had dinner at 8:30 PM and the Vegetarians on board had a decent vegetarian meal (READ: No Pasta or its derivatives!) I met the 2 other vegetarians on board (One a young Canadian and the other a old Australian). I went up to the outside deck after dinner to take some pictures. There was still a lot of light around but the wind was quite strong as well. Did not stay out for too long. I have decided not to take the Sea Sickness pills recommended for the crossing of the Drake Passage. There is a Ship doctor (an American from Louisville, Kentucky) and he has promised to be available 24x7 during the expedition. So will seek his help if needed later on.
=========================
I woke up in the middle of the night thinking it was time to get up! It was 3:45 AM. I slept for a few more before getting up at 5:45 AM. Being a triple shared room, one has to take the initiative to be the first. It was quite fine by me. I tried to be as quiet as possible while going about my preparation. I was all done by 6:30 AM.
Antti (the finn) was up next. I tried to pack up my bags without waking up Mike. We were all ready by 7:30 or so and headed for breakfast. Although for a Vegetarian like myself it did not make much of a difference, the meat eaters found it to be an excellent breakfast (a 5-star quality buffet).
We had free internet access at the hotel and needless to say it was SLOW. I checked e-mail and moved by bags to the lobby. The bags would be taken directly to the ship. We would head out on a tour of the Tierra del Fuego park (second time in 2 days for me) courtesy of Quark, followed by an Argentine Lunch (I dread to think of the options) and some free time in the city centre before we embark on the ship around 4 PM.
I wandered around the Hotel and took a few pictures. The Hotel is located on top of a hill and does have good views of the Beagle Channel and Isla Navarino (Chile). The tour bus arrived at 9:20 AM. There were 2 buses and they belonged to Rumbo-Sur (a local company) and were presumably chartered by Quark to shuttle us for the day.
We had an Argentinean guide who spoke fluent English give us some History and background about Ushuaia as we headed towards Tierra del Fuego Nacional Park. He was good.
We reached the park entrance within 30 minutes and headed to Lago Roca for some Photo taking opportunities. It was a great day with brilliant sunshine. There were lots of clouds though. We headed to a few more locations within the park including a short trek. All of these locations were different from the places I visited yesterday. I took a number of pictures.
We stopped for Lunch at a restaurant outside the city. Turns out that Quark had chartered 2 buses for the day. The Ship to Antarctic has a 48-PASSENGER capacity. No wonder there were so few on our bus! The meat eaters had a field day at the restaurant. I had Pasta :(
We were dropped at the city centre by 2:20 PM and were given 90 minutes (until 3:50 PM) to wander around.. Mike and I headed to a local wine shop. Some of the wines, recommended in my Guidebook (Hugh Johnson) and selected by me, turned out to be quite expensive (300+ pesos). We settled on 4 bottles for 130 pesos (US$43). Wines on board the ship were said to be expensive and we wanted to smuggle our own and save some $$. We hit the local grocery store next to get some curry sauces. While we did not have any luck finding Curry (as in Indian) sauces, we did find some good hot sauces - that were NOT TABASCO! I bought 2 small bottles for 8 pesos to make my repeated PASTA dining experience a bit palatable!
January 9, 2008 - On board Professor Multanovskiy
===================================
We got back on the bus. The bus drove past the port security and dropped us in front of the ship. There were no issues is us being able to take the 4 bottles to our cabin. We did hide the bottles under our jackets though! I had a bit of anxiety as my bags were not in my room while Mike and Antti had theirs. This should not be a surprise as I had NO name TAGS on any of them. I wandered around and finally spotted them on another deck. They were apparently dumped in the hallway by a passenger who decided that these were not his (or hers). While Mike and Antti had their Antarctic Parkas in the Cabin, there was NO parka for me. I told the expedition crew and was promptly provided with a medium sized jacket.
We sat around the dining room table and chatted with a few other passengers. As it was close to 5 PM, there were Tea, Coffee and cakes provided. As there were 5 ships sailing out of Ushuaia this evening, there was a bit of delay in getting our ship cleared for departure.
We finally set sail around 6:30 PM. The winds were so strong that they started pushing our ship towards another vessel in Port. It was a sister ship of Multanovskiy. As both crews were Russian, they realized what was happening and communicated to one another from deck to deck. Crew Members from both ships threw a line of inflatable buoys on the side of their ships to prevent any serious damage to either ship. Passengers from both ships were on the top deck watching all this frenetic activity! We finally managed to pull away and set sail on the Beagle Channel leaving Ushuaia behind.
We had a quick orientation by the expedition crew and this was followed by a full blown emergency exercise where we had to don life vests and get into the rather cramped emergency boats. They shut the port holes and a Russian crew member read out a butchered version of the safety procedures.
We had dinner at 8:30 PM and the Vegetarians on board had a decent vegetarian meal (READ: No Pasta or its derivatives!) I met the 2 other vegetarians on board (One a young Canadian and the other a old Australian). I went up to the outside deck after dinner to take some pictures. There was still a lot of light around but the wind was quite strong as well. Did not stay out for too long. I have decided not to take the Sea Sickness pills recommended for the crossing of the Drake Passage. There is a Ship doctor (an American from Louisville, Kentucky) and he has promised to be available 24x7 during the expedition. So will seek his help if needed later on.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
January 7-8, 2008 - Ushuaia, Argentina
January 7, 2008 - Ushuaia, Argentina
===========================
I overslept and just made it in time for breakfast before it closed at 10 AM. Croissants were the only option and I had a few.
The Train ride at 9 AM was ruled out and I decided to try for the 12:30 PM train. As the Mobile Phone was not accepting the PIN information for the 20 Peso card, I headed to a nearby movistar office. The girl out there could not help me and she directed me to a client service centre at the other end of town. Those folks were clueless and they directed me to a helpline. I passed on the helpline offer as it would all be in Spanish and I would be clueless. I wonder why these folks even get paid if all they do is direct traffic! I am sure that Cingular or T-Mobile folks in the US will be equally useless in helping foreigners deal with their GSM Phone issues.
I got back to my Hotel and I explained my problem to the hotel receptionist who spoke decent English. He spent over an hour trying to resolve this by using the hotel phone and calling the Movistar client line. It finally boiled down to this:
I cannot use the Phone Card Purchased in Ushuaia (Argentina) to add money to my Mobile Number (which is Chilean). There is a possibility that I may be able to do it on-line. And this is with the same Phone Company!
I headed to a nearby Internet cafe and tried to add money to my Phone Number. No luck. I had lunch soon afterward. I had wasted over 3 hours on the Phone issue all because I needed to be ´contacted´! Talk about self-importance :)
I headed to the visitor centre and obtained a very good map of town. Those folks also stamp your passport with the "End of the World" stamps and provide a certificate of your visit to Ushuaia as well. The lady at the counter must have regretted agreeing to issue me a certificate as she had to write in my full 32-character name as it appears on my passport.
I had missed the 12:30 PM train as I was obsessed with the Mobile Phone issues. I headed to a nearby internet cafe and waster yet another hour trying to upload pictures. Both Mozilla and IE had issues at the cafe. I gave up and headed to the waterfront. I tried to get a bus to take me to the train station for the 3:30 PM train. I was told it was too late for the 3:30 PM train as it was already 3 PM and the bus ride is 20 minutes. Oh well, manana then.
As I wanted to get my clothes laundered before I set out on my Antarctica Cruise, I headed to a laundry. The first Laundromat would not be able to deliver my clothes until 7 PM on Wednesday (when I will be well on my way to Antarctica). I headed to a Second Laundromat a bit further away and they agreed to deliver my clothes by 5 PM Tuesday.
After dropping my clothes, I headed to the Museo del Fin del Mundo. It is a small museum and had exhibits showing the origins of Ushuaia right from the times of the Indigenous peoples to the arrival of the Europeans. It is a small museum and takes about 45 minutes to see fully. Well presented.
The weather is the best I have experienced thus far. It is not at all hot despite this being the Argentinean Summer and there is no mad wind like Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas. The weather alternated a bit between a light drizzle and bright sun for an hour or so. I wandered around town trying to find the hotel I was booked to stay in Ushuaia (for 2 days) after my return from Antarctica. It was located far away from the centre and did not look too great. By staying here as opposed to stay at my current hotel (located in the centre of town), I would be saving US$20 per night. As my current hotel had availability for Jan 22-23, I booked with them for those 2 days and sent a cancellation note to the other hotel.
I headed to an Internet cafe to ensure that my memory cards are all copied to my external hard drives. All internet cafe here have USB 1.1 although the operators of these cafes think they have USB 2.0! I finished my backup processes around 11 PM.
Restaurants in Ushuaia are open late. I headed to a nearby restaurant and had a pumpkin Ravioli. Nothing great as I have been having this for over 5 weeks now!
I check out of my current hotel tomorrow morning. I plan to take the 9:30 AM train to the Tierra del Fuego National park.
January 8, 2008 - Ushuaia, Argentina
===========================
I had an early breakfast and checked out of my hotel. I left 2 of my bags in the hotel luggage locker. I went to the place where the shuttle service to the train station operated and found out that I was way too early today:) The first shuttle to the train station was at 8:30 AM. At 8:30 AM I was told that since I was the only person going to the train station it is not economical for them to run the shuttle and that they will wait until 9 AM to see if other folks show up to go to the train station. As it would be cutting it fine, I mumbled something about getting a "coffee" and started walking away - as I wanted to find a Taxi and get me to the train station ASAP.
After walking 50 metres or so, I heard quite a bit of hollering behind me. It turned out that 2 more passengers had showed up to go to the train station and all the drivers were hollering to get my attention - to say that we could leave for the train station right away! The price for the transfer to the station (and subsequent return back to the city centre) was 20 pesos. I will most probably miss the return pickup at 11:30 AM as I plan to do a bit of hiking in the park and will not be taking the immediate return train.
We reached the "Fin del Mundo" train station after 20 minutes. There were no first class train tickets available on the 9:30 AM train. I settled for a tourist class ticket for 70 pesos (US$23) and paid with my VISA card. The park entrance fees of 30 pesos (US$10) had to be paid in cash.
The train runs on a narrow gauge line and comprises of 6-8 small coaches. If the first class coaches are attached, I think the train will have 8 coaches. I had a window seat and sat on the left hand side as per the recommendation of my guide book. As there was no one seated in front of me, I removed the wooden table in between (and set it aside) so I could have more legroom. The train is pulled by a steam powered locomotive and was originally used to ferry prisoners to the park area so they could fell trees.
There is a stop at a place called Macarena Station for 15 minutes where one can walk to the top of Macarena falls and take pictures. The entire journey takes a bit less than an hour. There is a constant commentary in English, Spanish, French and German about the history of the train and the places we pass by. The slow chug-chug motion caused me to doze towards the end of the ride.
At the Nacional Parque Station, I asked the conductor for the timing of the next train. She told me that it would be at 1 PM and asked me to be at the Station 10 minutes earlier. Almost all folks on the train belonged to tour groups and they were picked up by buses at the Parque station and ferried away. A Japanese guy (Yasu) and I were the solo travellers. As he spoke English and also wanted to hike a bit before taking the 1 PM train back to "Fin del Mundo" station, we teamed up.
We set off on a short hike to a nearby lake. We reached the lake after 20 minutes. It was a good setting and I took a few pictures. We decided to return to the train station through a trail in the woods. The ground was quite wet and the trail did have some steep climbs. We both paused a few times to catch our breath. The trail hit a road heading back to the station and continued on. Yasu and I decided to take the road back to the station. We had sampled the trail and found it to be good!
Yasu used to be a patent engineer for Panasonic. He has quit his job and is travelling south America for 15-16 months. He speaks decent English and is 27. It has taken me an additional 16 years to do something similar:)
We got back to the Station and were waved to board a waiting train (even though it was not yet 1 PM). We sat in a different class this time where 6 people had their private entry and exit doors. I guess on the return no one bothers to check tickets or class seating. Fine by me. The train staff are all Uniformed and speak decent English. [Speaking English or being Bi-lingual may be a requirement to be part of the Train Staff].
I took some more pictures on the ride back and swapped E-mails with Yasu. Yasu was travelling to Antarctica as well (with a different company) and was planning to be in Rio for the Carnival. We may run into each other either at Antarctica or in Rio. We reached the fin del Mundo station. We decided to share a taxi and requested the station staff to call a taxi for us. The ride to the city centre cost 22 pesos (11 each - US$ 4 approx). Not bad.
I had lunch at a cafe and headed to an internet centre to copy my memory cards to my hard drive and synchronize my hard drives (ensuring that I have 2 copies of all my images at all times). As the copy speeds were slow - due to USB 1.1 - I wrote come post cards during the copying process! I headed to the post office to purchase postage for mailing the cards. The cost was 4 pesos per card. As I had 8 cards, it came to 32 pesos (US$ 11 approx) which I thought was a tad expensive.
I picked up my laundry and purchased an extra notebook and some pens as I was running out of paper and ink in writing these entries. I got back to the hotel and repacked my bag with the laundered clothes. As my Antarctica tour begins today, QUARK was to put me up in a hotel for tonight before I board the expedition ship tomorrow afternoon. I called the local QUARK agent and asked her if I could stay at my current hotel and whether Quark would pick up the tab. As the reservation had already been made at Los Nires Hotel, I would have to pay my way if I wanted to stay at my hotel for the night. I requested the hotel to call me a taxi to Los Nires Hotel. The hotel manager told me that Los Nires is a very nice hotel despite being located far away from the city centre. Good to know that QUARK is not being cheap and is putting us up for a night in good hotels.
I got to Los Nires Hotel and met the Quark representative there. I was given the keys to my room. I will be in a triple share room (at the hotel) and in a triple cabin (on board the expedition ship). I met Antti Vuorisalo, a Finn, and Mike Ayers, an Australian in my room. Antti was 15 years younger to me and Mike was 25 years older than me. I guess I bridge the gap rather well! Antti spoke good English and it seemed that he had been travelling for the past 3+ months and Antarctica would be his final trip before he headed back to Finland. Mike was starting a 3 Month trip and would travel across South America for 2+ months after returning to Antarctica. Good to know that I am going to be spending the next 14 days with like travellers.
Mike and I took a look at the hotel´s dinner menu and decided to take a taxi to the city centre. Despite the two taxi trips (to and from the city centre) and the dinner in the city, it turned out to be cheaper than eating at the hotel. Mike appeared to be quite an interesting and humorous gent. We returned to the hotel, repacked and went to bed.
It should be an interesting voyage.
===========================
I overslept and just made it in time for breakfast before it closed at 10 AM. Croissants were the only option and I had a few.
The Train ride at 9 AM was ruled out and I decided to try for the 12:30 PM train. As the Mobile Phone was not accepting the PIN information for the 20 Peso card, I headed to a nearby movistar office. The girl out there could not help me and she directed me to a client service centre at the other end of town. Those folks were clueless and they directed me to a helpline. I passed on the helpline offer as it would all be in Spanish and I would be clueless. I wonder why these folks even get paid if all they do is direct traffic! I am sure that Cingular or T-Mobile folks in the US will be equally useless in helping foreigners deal with their GSM Phone issues.
I got back to my Hotel and I explained my problem to the hotel receptionist who spoke decent English. He spent over an hour trying to resolve this by using the hotel phone and calling the Movistar client line. It finally boiled down to this:
I cannot use the Phone Card Purchased in Ushuaia (Argentina) to add money to my Mobile Number (which is Chilean). There is a possibility that I may be able to do it on-line. And this is with the same Phone Company!
I headed to a nearby Internet cafe and tried to add money to my Phone Number. No luck. I had lunch soon afterward. I had wasted over 3 hours on the Phone issue all because I needed to be ´contacted´! Talk about self-importance :)
I headed to the visitor centre and obtained a very good map of town. Those folks also stamp your passport with the "End of the World" stamps and provide a certificate of your visit to Ushuaia as well. The lady at the counter must have regretted agreeing to issue me a certificate as she had to write in my full 32-character name as it appears on my passport.
I had missed the 12:30 PM train as I was obsessed with the Mobile Phone issues. I headed to a nearby internet cafe and waster yet another hour trying to upload pictures. Both Mozilla and IE had issues at the cafe. I gave up and headed to the waterfront. I tried to get a bus to take me to the train station for the 3:30 PM train. I was told it was too late for the 3:30 PM train as it was already 3 PM and the bus ride is 20 minutes. Oh well, manana then.
As I wanted to get my clothes laundered before I set out on my Antarctica Cruise, I headed to a laundry. The first Laundromat would not be able to deliver my clothes until 7 PM on Wednesday (when I will be well on my way to Antarctica). I headed to a Second Laundromat a bit further away and they agreed to deliver my clothes by 5 PM Tuesday.
After dropping my clothes, I headed to the Museo del Fin del Mundo. It is a small museum and had exhibits showing the origins of Ushuaia right from the times of the Indigenous peoples to the arrival of the Europeans. It is a small museum and takes about 45 minutes to see fully. Well presented.
The weather is the best I have experienced thus far. It is not at all hot despite this being the Argentinean Summer and there is no mad wind like Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas. The weather alternated a bit between a light drizzle and bright sun for an hour or so. I wandered around town trying to find the hotel I was booked to stay in Ushuaia (for 2 days) after my return from Antarctica. It was located far away from the centre and did not look too great. By staying here as opposed to stay at my current hotel (located in the centre of town), I would be saving US$20 per night. As my current hotel had availability for Jan 22-23, I booked with them for those 2 days and sent a cancellation note to the other hotel.
I headed to an Internet cafe to ensure that my memory cards are all copied to my external hard drives. All internet cafe here have USB 1.1 although the operators of these cafes think they have USB 2.0! I finished my backup processes around 11 PM.
Restaurants in Ushuaia are open late. I headed to a nearby restaurant and had a pumpkin Ravioli. Nothing great as I have been having this for over 5 weeks now!
I check out of my current hotel tomorrow morning. I plan to take the 9:30 AM train to the Tierra del Fuego National park.
January 8, 2008 - Ushuaia, Argentina
===========================
I had an early breakfast and checked out of my hotel. I left 2 of my bags in the hotel luggage locker. I went to the place where the shuttle service to the train station operated and found out that I was way too early today:) The first shuttle to the train station was at 8:30 AM. At 8:30 AM I was told that since I was the only person going to the train station it is not economical for them to run the shuttle and that they will wait until 9 AM to see if other folks show up to go to the train station. As it would be cutting it fine, I mumbled something about getting a "coffee" and started walking away - as I wanted to find a Taxi and get me to the train station ASAP.
After walking 50 metres or so, I heard quite a bit of hollering behind me. It turned out that 2 more passengers had showed up to go to the train station and all the drivers were hollering to get my attention - to say that we could leave for the train station right away! The price for the transfer to the station (and subsequent return back to the city centre) was 20 pesos. I will most probably miss the return pickup at 11:30 AM as I plan to do a bit of hiking in the park and will not be taking the immediate return train.
We reached the "Fin del Mundo" train station after 20 minutes. There were no first class train tickets available on the 9:30 AM train. I settled for a tourist class ticket for 70 pesos (US$23) and paid with my VISA card. The park entrance fees of 30 pesos (US$10) had to be paid in cash.
The train runs on a narrow gauge line and comprises of 6-8 small coaches. If the first class coaches are attached, I think the train will have 8 coaches. I had a window seat and sat on the left hand side as per the recommendation of my guide book. As there was no one seated in front of me, I removed the wooden table in between (and set it aside) so I could have more legroom. The train is pulled by a steam powered locomotive and was originally used to ferry prisoners to the park area so they could fell trees.
There is a stop at a place called Macarena Station for 15 minutes where one can walk to the top of Macarena falls and take pictures. The entire journey takes a bit less than an hour. There is a constant commentary in English, Spanish, French and German about the history of the train and the places we pass by. The slow chug-chug motion caused me to doze towards the end of the ride.
At the Nacional Parque Station, I asked the conductor for the timing of the next train. She told me that it would be at 1 PM and asked me to be at the Station 10 minutes earlier. Almost all folks on the train belonged to tour groups and they were picked up by buses at the Parque station and ferried away. A Japanese guy (Yasu) and I were the solo travellers. As he spoke English and also wanted to hike a bit before taking the 1 PM train back to "Fin del Mundo" station, we teamed up.
We set off on a short hike to a nearby lake. We reached the lake after 20 minutes. It was a good setting and I took a few pictures. We decided to return to the train station through a trail in the woods. The ground was quite wet and the trail did have some steep climbs. We both paused a few times to catch our breath. The trail hit a road heading back to the station and continued on. Yasu and I decided to take the road back to the station. We had sampled the trail and found it to be good!
Yasu used to be a patent engineer for Panasonic. He has quit his job and is travelling south America for 15-16 months. He speaks decent English and is 27. It has taken me an additional 16 years to do something similar:)
We got back to the Station and were waved to board a waiting train (even though it was not yet 1 PM). We sat in a different class this time where 6 people had their private entry and exit doors. I guess on the return no one bothers to check tickets or class seating. Fine by me. The train staff are all Uniformed and speak decent English. [Speaking English or being Bi-lingual may be a requirement to be part of the Train Staff].
I took some more pictures on the ride back and swapped E-mails with Yasu. Yasu was travelling to Antarctica as well (with a different company) and was planning to be in Rio for the Carnival. We may run into each other either at Antarctica or in Rio. We reached the fin del Mundo station. We decided to share a taxi and requested the station staff to call a taxi for us. The ride to the city centre cost 22 pesos (11 each - US$ 4 approx). Not bad.
I had lunch at a cafe and headed to an internet centre to copy my memory cards to my hard drive and synchronize my hard drives (ensuring that I have 2 copies of all my images at all times). As the copy speeds were slow - due to USB 1.1 - I wrote come post cards during the copying process! I headed to the post office to purchase postage for mailing the cards. The cost was 4 pesos per card. As I had 8 cards, it came to 32 pesos (US$ 11 approx) which I thought was a tad expensive.
I picked up my laundry and purchased an extra notebook and some pens as I was running out of paper and ink in writing these entries. I got back to the hotel and repacked my bag with the laundered clothes. As my Antarctica tour begins today, QUARK was to put me up in a hotel for tonight before I board the expedition ship tomorrow afternoon. I called the local QUARK agent and asked her if I could stay at my current hotel and whether Quark would pick up the tab. As the reservation had already been made at Los Nires Hotel, I would have to pay my way if I wanted to stay at my hotel for the night. I requested the hotel to call me a taxi to Los Nires Hotel. The hotel manager told me that Los Nires is a very nice hotel despite being located far away from the city centre. Good to know that QUARK is not being cheap and is putting us up for a night in good hotels.
I got to Los Nires Hotel and met the Quark representative there. I was given the keys to my room. I will be in a triple share room (at the hotel) and in a triple cabin (on board the expedition ship). I met Antti Vuorisalo, a Finn, and Mike Ayers, an Australian in my room. Antti was 15 years younger to me and Mike was 25 years older than me. I guess I bridge the gap rather well! Antti spoke good English and it seemed that he had been travelling for the past 3+ months and Antarctica would be his final trip before he headed back to Finland. Mike was starting a 3 Month trip and would travel across South America for 2+ months after returning to Antarctica. Good to know that I am going to be spending the next 14 days with like travellers.
Mike and I took a look at the hotel´s dinner menu and decided to take a taxi to the city centre. Despite the two taxi trips (to and from the city centre) and the dinner in the city, it turned out to be cheaper than eating at the hotel. Mike appeared to be quite an interesting and humorous gent. We returned to the hotel, repacked and went to bed.
It should be an interesting voyage.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
January 6, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina
January 6, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina
===========================================
I had a decent breakfast today. The coffee was a bit weird smelling as though someone has mixed coffee with some chocolate powder. The biggest advantage of this place is its proximity to the bus station. All I had to do is wheel my bag for 30 metres and I was in the Bus station. As I have mentioned before, there is no central Bus station and buses depart from their company offices. The hotel is a nice place with all rooms opening to a central courtyard like room, but has quite poor soundproofing. So while there is no traffic noise, even the tiniest of noises from the hallway can come into each of the rooms loud and clear! Unless you can tolerate noise, this is not a good place to stay.
The bus to Ushuaia was fully booked and departed at 9 AM sharp. It was filled with a large Dutch contingent, few Germans, a lone Chilean and an Indian!
After we crossed the city of Punta Arenas, I started reading Bruce Chatwin. I completed 2 chapters before I dozed. I skipped the ham sandwich provided by the bus company. The dull grey skies and the equally boring landscape were not providing much by way of entertainment. I dozed again.
After 2 1/2 hours since leaving Punta Arenas, we stopped for a ferry crossing. We were crossing the Straits of Magellan. Quite exciting. The bus and the passengers were to board the ferry and cross the Magellan straits before continuing our drive to Ushuaia from the other side. I bought some chocolate, chips and water at an overpriced coffee shop near the crossing. I received a Phone call from a friend while crossing the Magellan Straits. I mentioned how cool it was for both of us - my friend calling someone on the straits of Magellan and me receiving a call on the straits of Magellan! I took a few pictures during the crossing which took 20 minutes. Upon boarding the bus on the other side, we were provided entertainment in the form of the movie ´National Treasure´!
The road was a good concrete road and the landscape was magnificently desolate. The sun was out and we passed dried grazing pastures and saw few sheep. Our smooth ride was not to last forever! 15 minutes later we veered onto a dirt road. Although there were grey clouds, the landscape was still magnificent as we encountered rolling green hills filled with very woolly sheep. Despite being a dirt road it was a beautiful winding road that weaved through this fantastic landscape. I listened to the Irish group PLANXTY on my IPOD. Good stuff.
We stopped for Lunch at a place called La Frontera on the Chilean town of San Sebastian. These folks could not even make a simple toast with butter for me! I had an Orange juice for lunch! From here it was about 30 minutes to the Argentine town of Saint Sebastian. Immigration Checks on both sides were a breeze. The Chileans did not even check us on their computers!
We had done about 7 hours so far and had 4 more hours of driving ahead of us. The clock had advanced an hour due to the Argentinean daylight savings time. It was 4:45 PM now and we may not reach Ushuaia until 9 PM. Hopefully I would be able to have dinner upon arrival and plan for a trip or two for tomorrow. We started back on a paved road again.
We reached Rio Grande an hour after leaving San Sebastian. We had an inexplicable 20-minute delay here. The weather had gone back to being dull and grey and I dozed off. I woke up around 8 PM and realized that we had passed the small town of TOLHUIN. We drove past Lago FAGNANO and the magnificent PASEO GARIBALDI (Garibaldi Pass - that takes us down the mountains). Black mountains all around with snow capped peaks. 30-minutes after crossing Paseo Garibaldi we reached a signs that said ¨Fin del Mundo", "Bienvenido Ushuaia".
Ushuaia is a fairly decent sized town. Punta Arenas is still much bigger. My Hotel (Cesar Hostel) was 2 blocks from the bus stop. As the sidewalk was good, I rolled my duffel bag and reached the hotel. I requested a quiet room and got one in the back of the hotel.
I had run out of money on my mobile Phone. I purchased some credit for ARP 20 ($7). It was still bright. I walked around the waterfront (2 blocks from my hotel). There is no mad wind here (a la Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas) and the temperature is as moderate as El Calafate. I had dinner at an Italian restaurant by the waterfront. It was so so. I wrote my diary and went to bed.
===========================================
I had a decent breakfast today. The coffee was a bit weird smelling as though someone has mixed coffee with some chocolate powder. The biggest advantage of this place is its proximity to the bus station. All I had to do is wheel my bag for 30 metres and I was in the Bus station. As I have mentioned before, there is no central Bus station and buses depart from their company offices. The hotel is a nice place with all rooms opening to a central courtyard like room, but has quite poor soundproofing. So while there is no traffic noise, even the tiniest of noises from the hallway can come into each of the rooms loud and clear! Unless you can tolerate noise, this is not a good place to stay.
The bus to Ushuaia was fully booked and departed at 9 AM sharp. It was filled with a large Dutch contingent, few Germans, a lone Chilean and an Indian!
After we crossed the city of Punta Arenas, I started reading Bruce Chatwin. I completed 2 chapters before I dozed. I skipped the ham sandwich provided by the bus company. The dull grey skies and the equally boring landscape were not providing much by way of entertainment. I dozed again.
After 2 1/2 hours since leaving Punta Arenas, we stopped for a ferry crossing. We were crossing the Straits of Magellan. Quite exciting. The bus and the passengers were to board the ferry and cross the Magellan straits before continuing our drive to Ushuaia from the other side. I bought some chocolate, chips and water at an overpriced coffee shop near the crossing. I received a Phone call from a friend while crossing the Magellan Straits. I mentioned how cool it was for both of us - my friend calling someone on the straits of Magellan and me receiving a call on the straits of Magellan! I took a few pictures during the crossing which took 20 minutes. Upon boarding the bus on the other side, we were provided entertainment in the form of the movie ´National Treasure´!
The road was a good concrete road and the landscape was magnificently desolate. The sun was out and we passed dried grazing pastures and saw few sheep. Our smooth ride was not to last forever! 15 minutes later we veered onto a dirt road. Although there were grey clouds, the landscape was still magnificent as we encountered rolling green hills filled with very woolly sheep. Despite being a dirt road it was a beautiful winding road that weaved through this fantastic landscape. I listened to the Irish group PLANXTY on my IPOD. Good stuff.
We stopped for Lunch at a place called La Frontera on the Chilean town of San Sebastian. These folks could not even make a simple toast with butter for me! I had an Orange juice for lunch! From here it was about 30 minutes to the Argentine town of Saint Sebastian. Immigration Checks on both sides were a breeze. The Chileans did not even check us on their computers!
We had done about 7 hours so far and had 4 more hours of driving ahead of us. The clock had advanced an hour due to the Argentinean daylight savings time. It was 4:45 PM now and we may not reach Ushuaia until 9 PM. Hopefully I would be able to have dinner upon arrival and plan for a trip or two for tomorrow. We started back on a paved road again.
We reached Rio Grande an hour after leaving San Sebastian. We had an inexplicable 20-minute delay here. The weather had gone back to being dull and grey and I dozed off. I woke up around 8 PM and realized that we had passed the small town of TOLHUIN. We drove past Lago FAGNANO and the magnificent PASEO GARIBALDI (Garibaldi Pass - that takes us down the mountains). Black mountains all around with snow capped peaks. 30-minutes after crossing Paseo Garibaldi we reached a signs that said ¨Fin del Mundo", "Bienvenido Ushuaia".
Ushuaia is a fairly decent sized town. Punta Arenas is still much bigger. My Hotel (Cesar Hostel) was 2 blocks from the bus stop. As the sidewalk was good, I rolled my duffel bag and reached the hotel. I requested a quiet room and got one in the back of the hotel.
I had run out of money on my mobile Phone. I purchased some credit for ARP 20 ($7). It was still bright. I walked around the waterfront (2 blocks from my hotel). There is no mad wind here (a la Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas) and the temperature is as moderate as El Calafate. I had dinner at an Italian restaurant by the waterfront. It was so so. I wrote my diary and went to bed.
January 5, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile
January 5, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile
============================
Woke up my 8:30 and discovered a bit later that the shower was not working. The breakfast was OK. At breakfast I came across a German couple travelling with their college going son. They had travelled across the length of Chile in a rental car and had racked up 20,000 Kilometres (approx. 12500 miles) in 6 weeks. The husband loved driving and wanted to keep on driving. Too bad the Chilean land does not extend much beyond Puntas Arenas! The lady was an artist and gave me a brochure of her gallery in Germany along with her e-mail address. Will get in touch with many of these folks once my own travels are complete.
I told Patricia about the non-functioning shower and headed to the Bus station to confirm my bus ticket to Ushuaia. Patricia has indeed made a reservation in my name (Window Seat) and I paid up for it - CLP 24000 (US$48 approx). I headed to the town square and took some pictures there. I loitered about for a bit longer in the town square as the museums do not open until 10:30 AM.
The first museum I visited was Braun Menendez. It was a good museum. The museum folks did not have any issues with my using a tripod to take pictures. I next visited Palacio Sara Braun. Braun Menendez is still a better museum. I visited a local store and purchased some pens as all this writing were depleting the inks in my single use pens!
I had lunch at at coffee shop outside of town centre. I had a decent toast and juice - when in doubt about the food stick with the basics! I headed back to the hotel for a short rest and found out that the shower had been fixed. I headed back to the town square and inquired about taxis to Forestal Magellanes and Cerro Mirador. I finally settled on a radio taxi that would take me to the Mirador for CLP 5000 (each way). Sounded good and we set off.
Reached camp Andino in about 20 minutes. I visited the office there and paid CLP 1000 (US$2) to hike up the hill. The ski lift was costing CLP 20000 (US$ 40) for 4 persons. As I was by myself, I decided to hike up the path to the viewpoint (Mirador). After following the decently marked path for about 200 metres or so, I came to a dirt road that was possibly used by emergency and rescue vehicles to go to the top. As the road was much wider (3-4 metres across) than the path, I decided to walk up the road to the top. Despite the road, the climb was really steep and I ran out of breath numerous times. I finally reached the top and had some good views over Puntas Arenas.
As always the weather was changing from fair to foul in seconds and I experienced a hail storm while at the top and had to take shelter under a concrete overhang. The winds were N-A-S-T-Y. One has to experience it to believe it. I spent more time in the shelters at the top and less time Photographing! I decided to take the same way back down and ran into some heavy showers as I neared the bottom of the hill. I took shelter under some trees. I finally got back to base and requested a taxi to be called. While waiting for the Taxi, I noticed that a nice rainbow had appeared due to the frequent changes in weather.
The taxi driver spoke decent English. We chatted about real estate prices in Puntas Arenas. He offered to drive me to the new developments around town at no extra charge. Decent condominiums. Might be a good thing to own a place here. It would be even cooler for you to know someone (ME) who owns a place in Puntas Arenas :) Then again, mentioning Puntas Arenas to a New Yorker might elicit the question: "Is that next to Port Jefferson?" Just as a NU JAISEY native might ask whether "it is next to Parsippany?". The driver had just celebrated his 30th anniversary of arriving in Puntas Arenas (from Northern Chile) the day before (Jan 4). I can´t recall the date of my first visit to the US to commemorate my 15th or 20th anniversary of being in the US! Of course, I have very successfully completed my FIRST FULL MONTH in South America today!
I got myself dropped at the Port of Puntas Arenas and paid off the driver. Wandered around the port taking pictures. Just about every store in Puntas Arenas had 'Liquidacion' notices galore. Must be the post-Christmas sale going on. I shopped around for souvenirs and found a decent Alpaca sweater and scarves. I spent some time at an Internet cafe and ensured that my blogs were up to date. I also managed to upload about 35 pictures.
I had dinner at a place called O-Sole-Mio. It was away from the city centre and was not filled with the rabble. While the Spinach Gnocchi was good, the sauce tasted more like tomato ketchup than a good tomato sauce. I had a good Santa Emiliana Cabernet Sauvignon with 13% alcohol that had no nose, was light bodied with a short finish. Interesting but I could certainly do better!
I followed it up with an Helado con Alamendras.
On getting back to the Hotel, I paid up the hotel bill for 2 nights (CLP 25000 - US$50 per night) and chatted a bit with Patricia. She is a Buenos Aires native who had spent 2 years in Ushuaia prior to living the last 4 years in Puntas Arenas. Wrote my diary, packed up and went to bed. I did notice that the Playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars was being broadcast live on the Spanish ESPN channel. I was too sleepy to stay up and watch it.
I am headed to the end of the world tomorrow.
============================
Woke up my 8:30 and discovered a bit later that the shower was not working. The breakfast was OK. At breakfast I came across a German couple travelling with their college going son. They had travelled across the length of Chile in a rental car and had racked up 20,000 Kilometres (approx. 12500 miles) in 6 weeks. The husband loved driving and wanted to keep on driving. Too bad the Chilean land does not extend much beyond Puntas Arenas! The lady was an artist and gave me a brochure of her gallery in Germany along with her e-mail address. Will get in touch with many of these folks once my own travels are complete.
I told Patricia about the non-functioning shower and headed to the Bus station to confirm my bus ticket to Ushuaia. Patricia has indeed made a reservation in my name (Window Seat) and I paid up for it - CLP 24000 (US$48 approx). I headed to the town square and took some pictures there. I loitered about for a bit longer in the town square as the museums do not open until 10:30 AM.
The first museum I visited was Braun Menendez. It was a good museum. The museum folks did not have any issues with my using a tripod to take pictures. I next visited Palacio Sara Braun. Braun Menendez is still a better museum. I visited a local store and purchased some pens as all this writing were depleting the inks in my single use pens!
I had lunch at at coffee shop outside of town centre. I had a decent toast and juice - when in doubt about the food stick with the basics! I headed back to the hotel for a short rest and found out that the shower had been fixed. I headed back to the town square and inquired about taxis to Forestal Magellanes and Cerro Mirador. I finally settled on a radio taxi that would take me to the Mirador for CLP 5000 (each way). Sounded good and we set off.
Reached camp Andino in about 20 minutes. I visited the office there and paid CLP 1000 (US$2) to hike up the hill. The ski lift was costing CLP 20000 (US$ 40) for 4 persons. As I was by myself, I decided to hike up the path to the viewpoint (Mirador). After following the decently marked path for about 200 metres or so, I came to a dirt road that was possibly used by emergency and rescue vehicles to go to the top. As the road was much wider (3-4 metres across) than the path, I decided to walk up the road to the top. Despite the road, the climb was really steep and I ran out of breath numerous times. I finally reached the top and had some good views over Puntas Arenas.
As always the weather was changing from fair to foul in seconds and I experienced a hail storm while at the top and had to take shelter under a concrete overhang. The winds were N-A-S-T-Y. One has to experience it to believe it. I spent more time in the shelters at the top and less time Photographing! I decided to take the same way back down and ran into some heavy showers as I neared the bottom of the hill. I took shelter under some trees. I finally got back to base and requested a taxi to be called. While waiting for the Taxi, I noticed that a nice rainbow had appeared due to the frequent changes in weather.
The taxi driver spoke decent English. We chatted about real estate prices in Puntas Arenas. He offered to drive me to the new developments around town at no extra charge. Decent condominiums. Might be a good thing to own a place here. It would be even cooler for you to know someone (ME) who owns a place in Puntas Arenas :) Then again, mentioning Puntas Arenas to a New Yorker might elicit the question: "Is that next to Port Jefferson?" Just as a NU JAISEY native might ask whether "it is next to Parsippany?". The driver had just celebrated his 30th anniversary of arriving in Puntas Arenas (from Northern Chile) the day before (Jan 4). I can´t recall the date of my first visit to the US to commemorate my 15th or 20th anniversary of being in the US! Of course, I have very successfully completed my FIRST FULL MONTH in South America today!
I got myself dropped at the Port of Puntas Arenas and paid off the driver. Wandered around the port taking pictures. Just about every store in Puntas Arenas had 'Liquidacion' notices galore. Must be the post-Christmas sale going on. I shopped around for souvenirs and found a decent Alpaca sweater and scarves. I spent some time at an Internet cafe and ensured that my blogs were up to date. I also managed to upload about 35 pictures.
I had dinner at a place called O-Sole-Mio. It was away from the city centre and was not filled with the rabble. While the Spinach Gnocchi was good, the sauce tasted more like tomato ketchup than a good tomato sauce. I had a good Santa Emiliana Cabernet Sauvignon with 13% alcohol that had no nose, was light bodied with a short finish. Interesting but I could certainly do better!
I followed it up with an Helado con Alamendras.
On getting back to the Hotel, I paid up the hotel bill for 2 nights (CLP 25000 - US$50 per night) and chatted a bit with Patricia. She is a Buenos Aires native who had spent 2 years in Ushuaia prior to living the last 4 years in Puntas Arenas. Wrote my diary, packed up and went to bed. I did notice that the Playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars was being broadcast live on the Spanish ESPN channel. I was too sleepy to stay up and watch it.
I am headed to the end of the world tomorrow.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
January 3-4, 2008 - Puerto Natales & Punta Arenas, Chile
January 3, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
===========================
I woke up much later than usual and was the sole occupant at the breakfast table. As today was a free day, I decided to visit the tourist office to explore the options. The tourist office is less than 100 metres from the hotel.
For all the noises caused by the Idiotic guests at night, I must say that Hostal Francis Drake is situated in an excellent spot. One can have a view of the snow capped mountains and the Esperanza Gulf while having breakfast. I would perhaps rank it as the next hotel to Liberatador in Trelew. Libertador is a terrific value for money but in terms of a room with a view, Francis Drake is much better than Libertador.
The folks at the tourist office were extremely helpful. They provided me with a much nicer map (a photocopy of which was given to me by Christophe upon arrival at Hostal Francis Drake) and pointed out some viewpoints of Puerto Natales and some high-speed internet cafes. We shall see about their Internet speeds!
There was a heavy wind blowing. I had difficulty walking straight through the city to the viewpoint (hereafter referred to as Mirador) at Santiago Buenas. I reached it after about 15 minutes. This is located a bit away from the centre and the touring masses were nowhere to be seen around here. This is an excellent mirador. It was high enough where one could see the entire city of Puerto Natales along with the Esperance Gulf and the distant snow capped mountains.
I headed back to the city and located a radio taxi office (all taxies in these places are radio taxis) to explore my options of visiting Cerro Dorotea - apparently a hill which supposedly provides excellent views of the surrounding mountains. Cerro dorotea is located about 8 kilometres (5 Miles) from the city centre hence my decision to take a cab. The weather was fantastic as well with the sun out in full and it would definitely be worth it to go up the hill and take some pictures.
The taxi was to cost me CLP 3500 (US$ 7) each way. They told me that I could call the taxi company once I am done with taking pictures and they would despatch another taxi to pick me up from Cerro Dorotea and ferry me back to the City centre. The singular advantage of having an UNLOCKED GSM Phone!
The ride to Cerro Dorotea took about 15 minutes. I was surprised to find the driver stopping at what looked like a farm house. Behind the farm house, the mountain loomed. It appeared to be a difficult climb. The lady of the farm assured me that is it quite easy and that lots and lots of people do it. I paid the taxi and sent it off. I was asked to fill out some mandatory information (Name, Citizenship, Passport No, Hotel I was staying in etc.). I also had to pay a fee of CLP 3000 (US$ 6) for the pleasure of walking through the farm and climbing Cerro Dorotea. Being a Chilean, the lady started with some rapid fire instructions. I had to say ("Habla mas lento - Speak SLOWLY) multiple times before I could comprehend what she said. Follow the red posts and you will reach the top and follow them back down and you will be back at the farm. Don’t try climbing up (or down) through the path on the left hand side of the mountain or you will fall down! Seemed easy enough:)
I trudged through the farm opening and shutting some wooden gates as I went past different fences which I presume were to keep different animals in their respective grazing areas. On reaching the base of the hill, I walked about a 100 metres onward. I came to what appeared to be a sheer wall! Well, the incline was not 90 degree (closer to 60), but it may as well have been 90! I am the type who prefers gradients of 20-30 degrees maximum! I stood there weighing the options on whether to attempt this or act sensible. In the end, despite myself(!) sensibility won.
I decided to abandon my attempt and trudged back to the farm. I was mad at the fat lady was conning me into believing that it was a piece of cake. I was equally mad at my guide book that made it appear as if I could either saunter up the hill or have a chauffeur driven rolls Royce take me up there to admire the view! Need to write to those idiots to put some difficulty levels (as they do in national parks) whenever they talk about hiking something that is NOT flat ground.
As I reached the farm, the fat lady appeared headed somewhere with 2 men. When I told her that it was too difficult, she said something about people doing it from all over the world (with her rapid fire speech, all I could decipher was "Todos al Mundo" - and I assumed the rest). She initially thought that my shoes were the issue. I tried explaining to her, the "Well researched and Purchased - Made in Vietnam, Thank You)" shoes were not the issue but the climb itself. I gave up and decided to walk back to town.
The wind decided to increase its velocity by another 50 mph (it seemed that way anyways). I figured the 5 mile walk might take me about 2 hours roughly as it was all on paved road with very little gradients. After about 200 metres of walking, I heard a car honk. I turned around to see a man waving at me to get into his van. As I got into the van, I realized it was the fat lady and her husband who were apparently headed into the city to party with my 3000 pesos :) I gratefully accepted the free ride. During the ride I explained yet again to both of them that given the steep incline of cerro dorotea, most climbers must be professionals rather than city walkers like myself who have little appetite to wear a ´crown of thorns´! While her husband readily agreed with me, she accepted my explanation somewhat reluctantly.
They dropped me off at the centre of Puerto Natales and I thanked them once again. I headed to the "fast" Internet cafe and found it to be slow as usual. I copied the pictures taken in the last 2 days from my memory card to my portable hard drive and decided to quit after an hour as the place was too noisy as well. While I do not mind music that is played in some places, I completely abhor the idiots who talk loudly in internet cafes especially those folks who use SKYPE or some similar services to ask about their dogs back home or tell them about their latest greatest ´discovery´! While talking to friends and family is certainly admirable, it ought to be done without disturbing ME!
I walked out and stumbled upon another internet cafe that was not only charging lesser per hour but was hardly occupied. The reason was not hard to fathom. It was 2 streets removed from the centre! I blogged for 4.5 hours and was up-to-date on my blogs. The internet speed here was not good enough to upload pictures although I did attempt it.
It was close to 5 PM and I headed to a local super Mercado. I bought some cookies for the bus ride tomorrow. I went back to Hostal Francis drake for a bit of rest. I met Christophe who inquired about my tours in Puerto Natales. He was quite upset at the weather. Apparently it has never been this bad for so many consecutive days in the summer. While there is always the wind, the temperature was apparently never so low for so many days. He was seriously considering flying to Santiago (which was experiencing 35 degree centigrade weather) for a few days an return to Puerto Natales when the temperatures had climbed a bit.
I was wearing 3 layers and I felt cold. The wind was "violently" strong. Those who talk about Chicago being windy should come here for 2-3 days and they will shut up forever about Chicago being windy! Compared to Puerto Natales, Chicago has Zephyrs :) And this is during the SUMMER here.
I tried souvenir shopping and found nothing interesting. Maybe I am losing interest in souvenirs and shopping. I don´t think that is such a bad thing. I went to "El Living" for dinner again and had a nice Carrot and Coriander soup with Walnut, vegetarian sandwich. Soup was really good. Sandwich was tolerable.
I headed back to the hotel, wrote my diary, packed up and hit the sack. I still have until 1 PM tomorrow before I take the bus to Punta Arenas.
January 4, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
===========================
I woke up even later and headed to breakfast by 9:15 AM. While at breakfast, I requested that my bill be prepared (for my 3 night stay here). I checked out of my room, left 2 of my bags in the lounge area and paid the bill (CLP 85500 - US$ 171 @ US$ 57 per night). As I had misplaced my map of the area, I headed to the Sernatur (Chilean tourism) office again to obtain a map.
As my Phone card had run out of money, I headed next to the MOVISTAR office to recharge my card. I was 10 minutes early! I wandered around for 15 minutes before heading to the Movistar office again. It looked like the store had been vandalized the previous night. A display window was broken and a couple of rocks were lying near the entrance of the office. I guess this must be news for the next 7 days here (apart from the weather, of course).
I chatted with a Sales rep at the office (in broken Spanish and sign language) explaining that any new card I buy must add money to my existing telephone number rather than generate a new number. He assured me that it was possible. The office, however, did not sell prepaid cards. They directed me to a kiosk close by. I purchased a card for CLP 3500 (US$ 7) and headed back to the movistar office. I ensured that the sales rep. walked me through the process of adding money to my existing Phone number. It seemed to work. Thanked the sales rep and left.
I headed to (yet another) supposedly high speed (256 Kbps is considered high speed here) internet cafe. Needless to say it was far from it. While at the cafe, I received a call from a friend in the US. We chatted for about 20 mins. (There was no one in the room when I received the call and I did not disrupt anyone´s reverie!) I obtained some confirmation printouts for my stay in Ushuaia (Argentina). I had also received an e-mail from the Carnival Organizers in RIO who wanted to know the address where my tickets need to be delivered. The e-mail message was on time as they had promised. I provided my Hotel address in Rio. Hopefully the actual delivery will be prompt as well :)
As it was close to noon, I paid up my bill at the internet cafe and started heading back to the hotel. En-route I called India and spoke to parents and reached the hotel around 12:15 PM. I requested for a cab and one arrived presently. The ride to the bus station took about 5 minutes and cost me CLP 1000. Many different companies run long distance bus operations in these places. While they all depart (and arrive) at Central bus stations such as Puerto Madryn and EL Calafate (Argentina), the buses in Puerto Natales arrive and depart from the bus company´s offices. As I had taken a different bus company to arrive into Puerto Natales and would be taking a different company to go to Punta Arenas, I arrived and departed from different street locations within Puerto Natales.
I ensure that my ticket was all good and it was. While waiting to board the bus, I chatted with a young German exchange student who was spending an year in Buenos Aires. Despite being here for almost a year, her Spanish was no better than mine as she hung out mostly with other German exchange students and International students at the college in Buenos Aires. She was travelling in Patagonia for 3 weeks.
We boarded the bus around 12:45 PM and the bus departed at 1 PM sharp. That is the good thing about buses here. They always depart on time.
As this was a 3:30 journey and the scenery was not great, I open "In Patagonia" and started reading the preface - written by Nicholas Shakespeare. I felt asleep after 10 pages. I don´t think it had anything to do with the writing. I just needed the sleep, I think.
January 4, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile
===========================
On reaching Punta Arenas, people were dropped off at different locations starting with the Airport. We were finally dropped at the company offices. The German student and I bid adieu with the comment that we may see each other again ("Hasta Luego" - Till next time). I waited outside the bus station for less than 2 minutes before a taxi stopped by. The hotel was less than 5 minutes away and cost me CLP 600. The taxi driver wrote down his cell phone number on a card, in the event I wanted to use his services for touring the city or places outside the city of Punta Arenas.
Patricia Picco greeted me at the reception and after filling out the required information was shown to my room. The Hostal Art Nouveau appeared to be converted from a old colonial style house. The room was nice with twin beds and the bathroom (for the first time in this tour of mine) had glass doors rather than shower curtains around the bathtub. The tub of course could not fir anyone more than 3 feet! I left my bags in the room and was worked on what I wanted to do next. It was hardy 5 PM and the sun was out. I received a call from another friend in the US and we chatted for 20 mins.
Patricia told me that she was successful in getting me a window seat on the bus to Ushuaia. Being a 10-12 hour ride on Sunday, I wanted a window seat in case there was something to see and I did not read or sleep!
I headed to the Sernatur office and obtained information on what I could do this evening and the different tour options for tomorrow. I headed to a tour agency as well and obtained some additional information on pricing.
I headed to an Internet cafe and finally found some decent speed to upload about 20 pictures. I am talking 1 MBPS speed here. I had a Milkshake while the uploads were taking place. After spending an hour at the cafe, I headed to see some of the sights in Punta Arenas. It used to be a flourishing port city on the straights on Magellan before the Panama Canal opened and ships stopped calling here.
I visited a couple of Miradors and took some pictures. As I had read about the torn Ozone layer above Punta Arenas, I had a nice big floppy hat and a pair of oversized sun glasses that fitted over my regular glasses. I had terrific views of the straits of Magellan. My early geography lessons finally come true:)
I headed to a place called "Santino" that was recommended by my guide book for an early dinner. While the pasta and service was good, the biggest drawback was the ALL smoking area. Despite the food, I would not go there again.
As I walked out after dinner, I noticed that most shops and even some restaurants had started to down their shutters. It was not even 9 PM. This is by far the biggest town I have seen outside of Santiago. There are lots of grapes grown here although wine production is still done in the wine regions close to Santiago. Punta Arenas is famous for King Crab and fishing is still a big industry here.
I might do some more walks around the city tomorrow morning. Not sure about the afternoon. My room had heaters in operations as did my bathroom. I travelled to south America to escape the heaters in North Eastern US and I have to experience heaters here again:)
Maybe I should have planned separate trip to the summer places like Santiago, Easter Island, Atacama, Brazil and planned a separate trip to the colder places like the Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia as well as Antarctica!
When I returned to the hotel, Patricia and a friend of hers were talking in the lobby. They continued talking well into the night. I could not sleep and I did not want to be rude and tell them to shut up. After the talking, I think Patricia started to re-arrange the furniture for tomorrow morning´s breakfast. I could not take it much longer. I went out and told her to pipe down as I could not fall asleep. For added insurance, I turned to my trusted ear plus again.
Hope this does not happen again tomorrow night.
===========================
I woke up much later than usual and was the sole occupant at the breakfast table. As today was a free day, I decided to visit the tourist office to explore the options. The tourist office is less than 100 metres from the hotel.
For all the noises caused by the Idiotic guests at night, I must say that Hostal Francis Drake is situated in an excellent spot. One can have a view of the snow capped mountains and the Esperanza Gulf while having breakfast. I would perhaps rank it as the next hotel to Liberatador in Trelew. Libertador is a terrific value for money but in terms of a room with a view, Francis Drake is much better than Libertador.
The folks at the tourist office were extremely helpful. They provided me with a much nicer map (a photocopy of which was given to me by Christophe upon arrival at Hostal Francis Drake) and pointed out some viewpoints of Puerto Natales and some high-speed internet cafes. We shall see about their Internet speeds!
There was a heavy wind blowing. I had difficulty walking straight through the city to the viewpoint (hereafter referred to as Mirador) at Santiago Buenas. I reached it after about 15 minutes. This is located a bit away from the centre and the touring masses were nowhere to be seen around here. This is an excellent mirador. It was high enough where one could see the entire city of Puerto Natales along with the Esperance Gulf and the distant snow capped mountains.
I headed back to the city and located a radio taxi office (all taxies in these places are radio taxis) to explore my options of visiting Cerro Dorotea - apparently a hill which supposedly provides excellent views of the surrounding mountains. Cerro dorotea is located about 8 kilometres (5 Miles) from the city centre hence my decision to take a cab. The weather was fantastic as well with the sun out in full and it would definitely be worth it to go up the hill and take some pictures.
The taxi was to cost me CLP 3500 (US$ 7) each way. They told me that I could call the taxi company once I am done with taking pictures and they would despatch another taxi to pick me up from Cerro Dorotea and ferry me back to the City centre. The singular advantage of having an UNLOCKED GSM Phone!
The ride to Cerro Dorotea took about 15 minutes. I was surprised to find the driver stopping at what looked like a farm house. Behind the farm house, the mountain loomed. It appeared to be a difficult climb. The lady of the farm assured me that is it quite easy and that lots and lots of people do it. I paid the taxi and sent it off. I was asked to fill out some mandatory information (Name, Citizenship, Passport No, Hotel I was staying in etc.). I also had to pay a fee of CLP 3000 (US$ 6) for the pleasure of walking through the farm and climbing Cerro Dorotea. Being a Chilean, the lady started with some rapid fire instructions. I had to say ("Habla mas lento - Speak SLOWLY) multiple times before I could comprehend what she said. Follow the red posts and you will reach the top and follow them back down and you will be back at the farm. Don’t try climbing up (or down) through the path on the left hand side of the mountain or you will fall down! Seemed easy enough:)
I trudged through the farm opening and shutting some wooden gates as I went past different fences which I presume were to keep different animals in their respective grazing areas. On reaching the base of the hill, I walked about a 100 metres onward. I came to what appeared to be a sheer wall! Well, the incline was not 90 degree (closer to 60), but it may as well have been 90! I am the type who prefers gradients of 20-30 degrees maximum! I stood there weighing the options on whether to attempt this or act sensible. In the end, despite myself(!) sensibility won.
I decided to abandon my attempt and trudged back to the farm. I was mad at the fat lady was conning me into believing that it was a piece of cake. I was equally mad at my guide book that made it appear as if I could either saunter up the hill or have a chauffeur driven rolls Royce take me up there to admire the view! Need to write to those idiots to put some difficulty levels (as they do in national parks) whenever they talk about hiking something that is NOT flat ground.
As I reached the farm, the fat lady appeared headed somewhere with 2 men. When I told her that it was too difficult, she said something about people doing it from all over the world (with her rapid fire speech, all I could decipher was "Todos al Mundo" - and I assumed the rest). She initially thought that my shoes were the issue. I tried explaining to her, the "Well researched and Purchased - Made in Vietnam, Thank You)" shoes were not the issue but the climb itself. I gave up and decided to walk back to town.
The wind decided to increase its velocity by another 50 mph (it seemed that way anyways). I figured the 5 mile walk might take me about 2 hours roughly as it was all on paved road with very little gradients. After about 200 metres of walking, I heard a car honk. I turned around to see a man waving at me to get into his van. As I got into the van, I realized it was the fat lady and her husband who were apparently headed into the city to party with my 3000 pesos :) I gratefully accepted the free ride. During the ride I explained yet again to both of them that given the steep incline of cerro dorotea, most climbers must be professionals rather than city walkers like myself who have little appetite to wear a ´crown of thorns´! While her husband readily agreed with me, she accepted my explanation somewhat reluctantly.
They dropped me off at the centre of Puerto Natales and I thanked them once again. I headed to the "fast" Internet cafe and found it to be slow as usual. I copied the pictures taken in the last 2 days from my memory card to my portable hard drive and decided to quit after an hour as the place was too noisy as well. While I do not mind music that is played in some places, I completely abhor the idiots who talk loudly in internet cafes especially those folks who use SKYPE or some similar services to ask about their dogs back home or tell them about their latest greatest ´discovery´! While talking to friends and family is certainly admirable, it ought to be done without disturbing ME!
I walked out and stumbled upon another internet cafe that was not only charging lesser per hour but was hardly occupied. The reason was not hard to fathom. It was 2 streets removed from the centre! I blogged for 4.5 hours and was up-to-date on my blogs. The internet speed here was not good enough to upload pictures although I did attempt it.
It was close to 5 PM and I headed to a local super Mercado. I bought some cookies for the bus ride tomorrow. I went back to Hostal Francis drake for a bit of rest. I met Christophe who inquired about my tours in Puerto Natales. He was quite upset at the weather. Apparently it has never been this bad for so many consecutive days in the summer. While there is always the wind, the temperature was apparently never so low for so many days. He was seriously considering flying to Santiago (which was experiencing 35 degree centigrade weather) for a few days an return to Puerto Natales when the temperatures had climbed a bit.
I was wearing 3 layers and I felt cold. The wind was "violently" strong. Those who talk about Chicago being windy should come here for 2-3 days and they will shut up forever about Chicago being windy! Compared to Puerto Natales, Chicago has Zephyrs :) And this is during the SUMMER here.
I tried souvenir shopping and found nothing interesting. Maybe I am losing interest in souvenirs and shopping. I don´t think that is such a bad thing. I went to "El Living" for dinner again and had a nice Carrot and Coriander soup with Walnut, vegetarian sandwich. Soup was really good. Sandwich was tolerable.
I headed back to the hotel, wrote my diary, packed up and hit the sack. I still have until 1 PM tomorrow before I take the bus to Punta Arenas.
January 4, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
===========================
I woke up even later and headed to breakfast by 9:15 AM. While at breakfast, I requested that my bill be prepared (for my 3 night stay here). I checked out of my room, left 2 of my bags in the lounge area and paid the bill (CLP 85500 - US$ 171 @ US$ 57 per night). As I had misplaced my map of the area, I headed to the Sernatur (Chilean tourism) office again to obtain a map.
As my Phone card had run out of money, I headed next to the MOVISTAR office to recharge my card. I was 10 minutes early! I wandered around for 15 minutes before heading to the Movistar office again. It looked like the store had been vandalized the previous night. A display window was broken and a couple of rocks were lying near the entrance of the office. I guess this must be news for the next 7 days here (apart from the weather, of course).
I chatted with a Sales rep at the office (in broken Spanish and sign language) explaining that any new card I buy must add money to my existing telephone number rather than generate a new number. He assured me that it was possible. The office, however, did not sell prepaid cards. They directed me to a kiosk close by. I purchased a card for CLP 3500 (US$ 7) and headed back to the movistar office. I ensured that the sales rep. walked me through the process of adding money to my existing Phone number. It seemed to work. Thanked the sales rep and left.
I headed to (yet another) supposedly high speed (256 Kbps is considered high speed here) internet cafe. Needless to say it was far from it. While at the cafe, I received a call from a friend in the US. We chatted for about 20 mins. (There was no one in the room when I received the call and I did not disrupt anyone´s reverie!) I obtained some confirmation printouts for my stay in Ushuaia (Argentina). I had also received an e-mail from the Carnival Organizers in RIO who wanted to know the address where my tickets need to be delivered. The e-mail message was on time as they had promised. I provided my Hotel address in Rio. Hopefully the actual delivery will be prompt as well :)
As it was close to noon, I paid up my bill at the internet cafe and started heading back to the hotel. En-route I called India and spoke to parents and reached the hotel around 12:15 PM. I requested for a cab and one arrived presently. The ride to the bus station took about 5 minutes and cost me CLP 1000. Many different companies run long distance bus operations in these places. While they all depart (and arrive) at Central bus stations such as Puerto Madryn and EL Calafate (Argentina), the buses in Puerto Natales arrive and depart from the bus company´s offices. As I had taken a different bus company to arrive into Puerto Natales and would be taking a different company to go to Punta Arenas, I arrived and departed from different street locations within Puerto Natales.
I ensure that my ticket was all good and it was. While waiting to board the bus, I chatted with a young German exchange student who was spending an year in Buenos Aires. Despite being here for almost a year, her Spanish was no better than mine as she hung out mostly with other German exchange students and International students at the college in Buenos Aires. She was travelling in Patagonia for 3 weeks.
We boarded the bus around 12:45 PM and the bus departed at 1 PM sharp. That is the good thing about buses here. They always depart on time.
As this was a 3:30 journey and the scenery was not great, I open "In Patagonia" and started reading the preface - written by Nicholas Shakespeare. I felt asleep after 10 pages. I don´t think it had anything to do with the writing. I just needed the sleep, I think.
January 4, 2008 - Punta Arenas, Chile
===========================
On reaching Punta Arenas, people were dropped off at different locations starting with the Airport. We were finally dropped at the company offices. The German student and I bid adieu with the comment that we may see each other again ("Hasta Luego" - Till next time). I waited outside the bus station for less than 2 minutes before a taxi stopped by. The hotel was less than 5 minutes away and cost me CLP 600. The taxi driver wrote down his cell phone number on a card, in the event I wanted to use his services for touring the city or places outside the city of Punta Arenas.
Patricia Picco greeted me at the reception and after filling out the required information was shown to my room. The Hostal Art Nouveau appeared to be converted from a old colonial style house. The room was nice with twin beds and the bathroom (for the first time in this tour of mine) had glass doors rather than shower curtains around the bathtub. The tub of course could not fir anyone more than 3 feet! I left my bags in the room and was worked on what I wanted to do next. It was hardy 5 PM and the sun was out. I received a call from another friend in the US and we chatted for 20 mins.
Patricia told me that she was successful in getting me a window seat on the bus to Ushuaia. Being a 10-12 hour ride on Sunday, I wanted a window seat in case there was something to see and I did not read or sleep!
I headed to the Sernatur office and obtained information on what I could do this evening and the different tour options for tomorrow. I headed to a tour agency as well and obtained some additional information on pricing.
I headed to an Internet cafe and finally found some decent speed to upload about 20 pictures. I am talking 1 MBPS speed here. I had a Milkshake while the uploads were taking place. After spending an hour at the cafe, I headed to see some of the sights in Punta Arenas. It used to be a flourishing port city on the straights on Magellan before the Panama Canal opened and ships stopped calling here.
I visited a couple of Miradors and took some pictures. As I had read about the torn Ozone layer above Punta Arenas, I had a nice big floppy hat and a pair of oversized sun glasses that fitted over my regular glasses. I had terrific views of the straits of Magellan. My early geography lessons finally come true:)
I headed to a place called "Santino" that was recommended by my guide book for an early dinner. While the pasta and service was good, the biggest drawback was the ALL smoking area. Despite the food, I would not go there again.
As I walked out after dinner, I noticed that most shops and even some restaurants had started to down their shutters. It was not even 9 PM. This is by far the biggest town I have seen outside of Santiago. There are lots of grapes grown here although wine production is still done in the wine regions close to Santiago. Punta Arenas is famous for King Crab and fishing is still a big industry here.
I might do some more walks around the city tomorrow morning. Not sure about the afternoon. My room had heaters in operations as did my bathroom. I travelled to south America to escape the heaters in North Eastern US and I have to experience heaters here again:)
Maybe I should have planned separate trip to the summer places like Santiago, Easter Island, Atacama, Brazil and planned a separate trip to the colder places like the Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia as well as Antarctica!
When I returned to the hotel, Patricia and a friend of hers were talking in the lobby. They continued talking well into the night. I could not sleep and I did not want to be rude and tell them to shut up. After the talking, I think Patricia started to re-arrange the furniture for tomorrow morning´s breakfast. I could not take it much longer. I went out and told her to pipe down as I could not fall asleep. For added insurance, I turned to my trusted ear plus again.
Hope this does not happen again tomorrow night.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
January 1-2, 2008 - El Calafate, Argentina & Puerto Natales, Chile
January 1, 2008 - El Calafate, Argentina
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The New Year revellers did not keep me awake last night. There were a few firecrackers burst around midnight and then there were no noises to be heard. That is the nice thing about Hosteria Sir Thomas as it a bit away from the centre.
I was the first at the breakfast table. I requested the mail to call a taxi for me around 7:45 AM. I had to be at the Bus station by 8 AM even though the bus would depart to Puerto Natales only at 8:30 AM.
After finishing breakfast, I took all my bags and knocked at Nestor´s office to hand in my keys. He took the keys and after a cursory greeting pointed me to a car waiting in the driveway. His adieu felt rather cold. Turns out that he was driving me in his car to the bus station. Apparently he had a very good celebration last night and was still groggy. Upon reaching the bus station, we bid a proper adieu and I went to the platform where the bus was to depart for Puerto Natales.
Around 8:05, two buses pulled up and parked in adjacent platforms. On going to the driver of the first bus, I was told to board the second (!) as that was the one headed to Puerto Natales. Seats are numbered on these buses and I had a window seat. After 10 minutes or so, a youngish (compared to me!) blonde prepared to seat herself next to me. Buses here have a 2x2 seat formation with an aisle down the middle and a bathroom at the end of the bus. Blondie spoke English and it turns out that the lassie was from Scotland.
The bus departed at 8:30 and we started talking. She had trained to be a doctor and had practised for a bit before becoming a medical advisor for Glaxo Smithkline beecham. The landscape was nothing great and despite her obvious need for sleep (she had partied well into the morning of January 1) we continued talking for over 2 hours on our different travel experiences, our current travel plans as well as our philosophies ranging from vegetarianism to universal health care. She used to be a vegetarian until 21, but then decided to become a carnivore once again. We had similar opinions on most of these subjects. She had a very good perspective on life where she was not too concerned about career / power or Money but was more interested in living a good balanced life.
We travelled on the famous RUTA 40 (sort of like a route 66 in the US) for most of the way to Puerto Natales. We crossed the Argentine border at Rio Turbio. There were no issues here and no departure tax was required. They just stamp an exit stamp on your passport.
We crossed into Chile at a place called Dorotea a few kilometres down the road. Chilean customs required us to open ALL our bags and they did a Physical inspection of every bag. Chile has strict laws on importing Vegetable / animal products into the country. Folks had to throw away bananas, apples, oranges etc. Thank god, all I had was some cookies and a bottle of water! The Chilean border crossing took around 40 minutes for a bus filled with as many passengers. Come to think of it, that´s not bad!
It was quite cool seeing your passport stamped with the date of the first day of a new year.
January 1, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
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Puerto Natales is less than 15 minutes from the border crossing at Dorotea. The bus dropped us at their offices in Puerto Natales. Being January 1 shops were shuttered and there were no taxis near the bus offices.
I obtained directions to my hotel from a local an started walking towards it. While I initially tried to carry my duffel as a backpack, I gave up after 200 metres. As the sidewalk was decent, I decided to use the wheels of the backpack and drag it along to the hotel. After a couple of missteps, I finally found my Hotel (Francis Drake). Despite it being after 1 PM (Chile is 1-hour behind Argentina), the room was not ready! The owner (Christophe) gave some excuse about some late night revellers checking out late and the maid not having had time to get the room ready for me.
I left two bags in the hotel and went out for lunch. I found a Libro cafe (Bookstore with a cafe) and had a sandwich and a mate. The way I ordered must have given them the notion of me as an expert Mate preparer as I was provided a Mate cup with Mate leaves and a large kettle of hot water! So I poured hot water into my mate cup and started sipping it. Most VILE drink I have ever tasted. Bitter to the core! Nevertheless, I maintained a stiff upper lip and continued to sip it while I ate my sandwich. As the sandwich progressed I started adding a lot of sugar to the mate cup to make it tolerable :)
I went to a nearby bank and withdrew some money. Turns out that all Banks charge a Standard fee of US$ 5 per withdrawal (irrespective of amount). In addition they also levy a small surcharge depending on the amount withdrawn. About $1.00 for every $100 withdrawn. Despite paying $106 for every $100 you get on hand, this still works out better than exchanging travellers checks in these remote places. Being January 1, most places were closed and ATM was my only recourse to Chilean money.
I went to a local bus company and also booked myself on a bus to Puntas Arenas on January 4. The cost was CLP 5000 (US$ 10) and the journey would take 3 hours. I asked for and was given a Window seat.
I got back to the hotel around 3:15 PM. The room was ready and Christophe promised me a great room that would be very quiet. The room was indeed nice with 2 beds. The bathroom was small of course. I was being charged $57 per night for this - breakfast included. I tried using the free internet at the hotel and gave up as it was too slow even to check my e-mail. I left the hotel at 5 PM. I walked to the Esperanza gulf and tried to take a few pictures. It was quite windy with the occasional drizzle.
It was a dull grey day and being New Year´s not a lot was open. I hope tomorrow is better weather wise. I went to an Internet cafe and blogged for a few hours. Now I was just 2 days behind on my blog. I will try and find a high speed cafe tomorrow and try to upload some pictures.
I went to a place called "El Living" (run by an Englishman) for dinner. The cafe served only vegetarian food although curry of any kind is absent from the menu. One of the healthy vegetarian cafes that spring up around the world, giving a bad name to vegetarianism! As is always the case in Chile, a meagre meal cost me $13 (CLP 6500).
I got back to the hotel and booked myself on a trip to see the Torres del Paine National park tomorrow. I spent time writing my diary while watching Scorsese´s "Departed" - a really bad remake of the very good Hong Kong movie - Infernal Affairs.
There were too many guests here who were creating a racket. I could hear everything as the walls were quite thin. I need to wear my earplugs again. Damn!
January 2, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
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My pickup to the Torres del paine national park was to be at 7:30 AM. When I looked at my watch as I woke up, it showed 7 AM! I started getting ready in a hurry. When I came by to put away my alarm clock, it showed a time of 6 AM. While my alarm clock had 24 time zones and was set correctly to the Chilean time zone, I left my watch set to the Argentinean time zone (an hour ahead of Chile) as I would be travelling to Argentina in 4 days time!
I heaved a big sign of relief when I realized I had plenty of time. Showered and had a decent breakfast. Being a French run hotel, they served cheese and pate at breakfast! I stuck with butter and Jam. The places was filled with French speaking guests. I am not sure if we Indians would flock to Indian run hotels the way the Europeans or Americans flock to places run by their countrymen (or women). We will definitely flock to Indian run restaurants in a foreign country.
The tour pickup finally arrived at 7:45 or so and we set out. It was a decent sized mini bus and the seats reclined well. There were around 15 people in a 30-seater bus and I single handedly brought down the average age by 10! The guide spoke decent English (relatively speaking) as he was a native Chilean who had spent a number of years working in the US.
A brief mention about the weather in Puerto Natales:
When I woke up at 6 AM, it was raining badly. By the time I sat at the breakfast table (7 AM), the sun was shining brightly although there was a heavy drizzle as well. By the time we left at 8 AM, the sun was out in force and there was not a drop of rain. I have heard of places experiencing 4-Seasons in a single day, but Puerto Natales appears to experiences 4-Seasons several times a day!
Despite the Sunshine, there was a very thick cloud cover. Our first stop of the day was a cave where a Milodon sloth was discovered a few years ago. The cave is located about 30 minutes from Puerto Natales. Due to the inclement weather yesterday, many of the small mountains (1500 metres - 500 feet in height) had a dusting of snow.
We passed the airport en-route to the cave and it looked quite picturesque set as it was amidst 2 snow capped mountain ranges. It would have been even more picturesque if there were no clouds but just blue sky! Oh well.
The cave where the sloth was found is an enormous one. While the actual specimen is in a museum, a replica is at the entrance to the cave. After spending around 20 minutes here, we headed to the Torres del Paine National park [Torres del Paine - Towers of Paine , with Paine being pronounced PIE-NAY].
Puerto Natales is a jumping off point for the touring masses who want to visit and hike this park. Most come here to do treks that range from a few hours to a few days. Our group had opted for a day tour of the park so we could sleep in nice beds in our hotels later tonight.
En-route we stopped at a place called CERRO Castillo for coffee and a bathroom break. The guide told us that Chilean Lamb has been adjudged the best eco-friendly lamb grown. As a result the demand for Chilean lamb had skyrocketed. A hectare of land (2.5 acres approx) can support 2 sheep or a cow. Most cows farmed here are Herefords. Years ago, the Chilean government apparently gave away free land to people including the patagonias.
The demand for Chilean lamb has resulted in a shortage of grass growing land and the government is now requesting more people to grow grass on their land and thus support more lambs. Many of the lands in these areas are still in Private lands. Even the maps indicate that. Sometime one wishes, the Chilean govt. should make an attempt like the Argentines in 1935 and just take over lands that are close to a national park.
We stopped at a viewpoint hoping to get our first glimpse of the Torres del Paine. It was not to be as the "Torres" were obscured by the clouds. As we continued to the main entrance of the park, we started seeing numerous Guanacos usually in groups of 10 or so. [By days end, we would have seen over 100 Guanacos] We even saw a fox eating a freshly killed Guanaco.
VICUNA is a protected species and it is hard to find products made from its wool (which is supposedly the finest) in Chile. Guanacos, on the other hand, are plenty and folks apparently eat them as well. We stopped at Laguna Amarga which had turned Salty and was drying up slowly. We also observed quite a few condors hovering above. These condors apparently scare small sheep into taking a tumble down the steep mountainsides before having them for lunch!
We reached the park entrance a little after Laguna Amarga and I had to pay an entrance fee of CLP 15000 (US$ 30). We continued into the park. After driving a few kilometres, we saw the famous "Cuernos del Paine" (Horns of the Paine). As we could not see the supposedly majestic "Torres" we tried taking as many pictures as we could of the "Cuernos".
The park has numerous lakes resulting from glacier melt and almost all of them are turquoise green in colour due to the high mineral content in these waters.
We saw a nice waterfall. Although our plans called for a hike to the waterfall, due to the inclement weather (it had started raining again) we decided not to take a hike and headed to a local restaurant (within the park) for Lunch. My vegetarian options were limited to white rice, some noodles and boiled potatoes. While the rice and noodles were bland, my tongue sought and savoured every particle of Chili that was lightly sprinkled on the boiled potatoes. I should perhaps write a book on my adventures as a strict vegetarian.
We saw some CAIQUEN (a form of Geese) close to our restaurant. These birds are so monogamous, that when one of them dies, the other half of the couple apparently dies soon thereafter as well! Took pictures of the couple and their brood (numbering about half a dozen).
The next stop was Lago Grey which was formed from the melt water of the Grey Glacier. As it looked like it might rain when we reached this place, I took my Poncho with me. The lake was not that impressive, but the paine Grande mountain range in the background provided a magnificent setting. There were a few small icebergs (or ice floes) on Lago grey but none were even remotely interesting as the ones I observed during my visit to the Upsala glacier near El Calafate, Argentina.
Even the Chileans will admit that if you have seen the Glaciers near El Calafate, there is little point in spending money to see the Glaciers at the Torres del Paine national park.
I inexplicable lost my Poncho! The arm that was holding the Poncho (as it was not raining) did not have it anymore! I traced my route all the way back to the Bus and still did not find it. I was quite mad at myself. I lost my cap and ripped my first poncho at Perito Moreno and now I lose my replacement Poncho at another Glacier.
I dozed on the way back to Puerto Natales which we reached a little after 7 PM. I headed to a local tour agency to explore tour options for tomorrow. As I had already seen the Torres del Paine park and the Glaciers in El Calafate, the only available option was an 8-hour hike in the park. I am not an avid hiker and did not fancy an 8-hour walk by myself.
I will probably get my blog up to date and take a siesta tomorrow!
I had dinner at an African restaurant that consisted of a Vegetable soup and rice with turmeric, cumin, almonds, raisins and spices. I topped it off with Vanilla Ice Cream. As always it was a $14 dinner (CLP 7000).
I got back to the hotel, wrote my diary and watched some TV. CNN anchors were frothing at their mouths as the IOWA causes are scheduled for tomorrow. You would think that with all this attention and coverage being given, someone was going to announce a cure for cancer tomorrow!
I have a free day tomorrow. Might perhaps do some Souvenir shopping or write some postcards.
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The New Year revellers did not keep me awake last night. There were a few firecrackers burst around midnight and then there were no noises to be heard. That is the nice thing about Hosteria Sir Thomas as it a bit away from the centre.
I was the first at the breakfast table. I requested the mail to call a taxi for me around 7:45 AM. I had to be at the Bus station by 8 AM even though the bus would depart to Puerto Natales only at 8:30 AM.
After finishing breakfast, I took all my bags and knocked at Nestor´s office to hand in my keys. He took the keys and after a cursory greeting pointed me to a car waiting in the driveway. His adieu felt rather cold. Turns out that he was driving me in his car to the bus station. Apparently he had a very good celebration last night and was still groggy. Upon reaching the bus station, we bid a proper adieu and I went to the platform where the bus was to depart for Puerto Natales.
Around 8:05, two buses pulled up and parked in adjacent platforms. On going to the driver of the first bus, I was told to board the second (!) as that was the one headed to Puerto Natales. Seats are numbered on these buses and I had a window seat. After 10 minutes or so, a youngish (compared to me!) blonde prepared to seat herself next to me. Buses here have a 2x2 seat formation with an aisle down the middle and a bathroom at the end of the bus. Blondie spoke English and it turns out that the lassie was from Scotland.
The bus departed at 8:30 and we started talking. She had trained to be a doctor and had practised for a bit before becoming a medical advisor for Glaxo Smithkline beecham. The landscape was nothing great and despite her obvious need for sleep (she had partied well into the morning of January 1) we continued talking for over 2 hours on our different travel experiences, our current travel plans as well as our philosophies ranging from vegetarianism to universal health care. She used to be a vegetarian until 21, but then decided to become a carnivore once again. We had similar opinions on most of these subjects. She had a very good perspective on life where she was not too concerned about career / power or Money but was more interested in living a good balanced life.
We travelled on the famous RUTA 40 (sort of like a route 66 in the US) for most of the way to Puerto Natales. We crossed the Argentine border at Rio Turbio. There were no issues here and no departure tax was required. They just stamp an exit stamp on your passport.
We crossed into Chile at a place called Dorotea a few kilometres down the road. Chilean customs required us to open ALL our bags and they did a Physical inspection of every bag. Chile has strict laws on importing Vegetable / animal products into the country. Folks had to throw away bananas, apples, oranges etc. Thank god, all I had was some cookies and a bottle of water! The Chilean border crossing took around 40 minutes for a bus filled with as many passengers. Come to think of it, that´s not bad!
It was quite cool seeing your passport stamped with the date of the first day of a new year.
January 1, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
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Puerto Natales is less than 15 minutes from the border crossing at Dorotea. The bus dropped us at their offices in Puerto Natales. Being January 1 shops were shuttered and there were no taxis near the bus offices.
I obtained directions to my hotel from a local an started walking towards it. While I initially tried to carry my duffel as a backpack, I gave up after 200 metres. As the sidewalk was decent, I decided to use the wheels of the backpack and drag it along to the hotel. After a couple of missteps, I finally found my Hotel (Francis Drake). Despite it being after 1 PM (Chile is 1-hour behind Argentina), the room was not ready! The owner (Christophe) gave some excuse about some late night revellers checking out late and the maid not having had time to get the room ready for me.
I left two bags in the hotel and went out for lunch. I found a Libro cafe (Bookstore with a cafe) and had a sandwich and a mate. The way I ordered must have given them the notion of me as an expert Mate preparer as I was provided a Mate cup with Mate leaves and a large kettle of hot water! So I poured hot water into my mate cup and started sipping it. Most VILE drink I have ever tasted. Bitter to the core! Nevertheless, I maintained a stiff upper lip and continued to sip it while I ate my sandwich. As the sandwich progressed I started adding a lot of sugar to the mate cup to make it tolerable :)
I went to a nearby bank and withdrew some money. Turns out that all Banks charge a Standard fee of US$ 5 per withdrawal (irrespective of amount). In addition they also levy a small surcharge depending on the amount withdrawn. About $1.00 for every $100 withdrawn. Despite paying $106 for every $100 you get on hand, this still works out better than exchanging travellers checks in these remote places. Being January 1, most places were closed and ATM was my only recourse to Chilean money.
I went to a local bus company and also booked myself on a bus to Puntas Arenas on January 4. The cost was CLP 5000 (US$ 10) and the journey would take 3 hours. I asked for and was given a Window seat.
I got back to the hotel around 3:15 PM. The room was ready and Christophe promised me a great room that would be very quiet. The room was indeed nice with 2 beds. The bathroom was small of course. I was being charged $57 per night for this - breakfast included. I tried using the free internet at the hotel and gave up as it was too slow even to check my e-mail. I left the hotel at 5 PM. I walked to the Esperanza gulf and tried to take a few pictures. It was quite windy with the occasional drizzle.
It was a dull grey day and being New Year´s not a lot was open. I hope tomorrow is better weather wise. I went to an Internet cafe and blogged for a few hours. Now I was just 2 days behind on my blog. I will try and find a high speed cafe tomorrow and try to upload some pictures.
I went to a place called "El Living" (run by an Englishman) for dinner. The cafe served only vegetarian food although curry of any kind is absent from the menu. One of the healthy vegetarian cafes that spring up around the world, giving a bad name to vegetarianism! As is always the case in Chile, a meagre meal cost me $13 (CLP 6500).
I got back to the hotel and booked myself on a trip to see the Torres del Paine National park tomorrow. I spent time writing my diary while watching Scorsese´s "Departed" - a really bad remake of the very good Hong Kong movie - Infernal Affairs.
There were too many guests here who were creating a racket. I could hear everything as the walls were quite thin. I need to wear my earplugs again. Damn!
January 2, 2008 - Puerto Natales, Chile
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My pickup to the Torres del paine national park was to be at 7:30 AM. When I looked at my watch as I woke up, it showed 7 AM! I started getting ready in a hurry. When I came by to put away my alarm clock, it showed a time of 6 AM. While my alarm clock had 24 time zones and was set correctly to the Chilean time zone, I left my watch set to the Argentinean time zone (an hour ahead of Chile) as I would be travelling to Argentina in 4 days time!
I heaved a big sign of relief when I realized I had plenty of time. Showered and had a decent breakfast. Being a French run hotel, they served cheese and pate at breakfast! I stuck with butter and Jam. The places was filled with French speaking guests. I am not sure if we Indians would flock to Indian run hotels the way the Europeans or Americans flock to places run by their countrymen (or women). We will definitely flock to Indian run restaurants in a foreign country.
The tour pickup finally arrived at 7:45 or so and we set out. It was a decent sized mini bus and the seats reclined well. There were around 15 people in a 30-seater bus and I single handedly brought down the average age by 10! The guide spoke decent English (relatively speaking) as he was a native Chilean who had spent a number of years working in the US.
A brief mention about the weather in Puerto Natales:
When I woke up at 6 AM, it was raining badly. By the time I sat at the breakfast table (7 AM), the sun was shining brightly although there was a heavy drizzle as well. By the time we left at 8 AM, the sun was out in force and there was not a drop of rain. I have heard of places experiencing 4-Seasons in a single day, but Puerto Natales appears to experiences 4-Seasons several times a day!
Despite the Sunshine, there was a very thick cloud cover. Our first stop of the day was a cave where a Milodon sloth was discovered a few years ago. The cave is located about 30 minutes from Puerto Natales. Due to the inclement weather yesterday, many of the small mountains (1500 metres - 500 feet in height) had a dusting of snow.
We passed the airport en-route to the cave and it looked quite picturesque set as it was amidst 2 snow capped mountain ranges. It would have been even more picturesque if there were no clouds but just blue sky! Oh well.
The cave where the sloth was found is an enormous one. While the actual specimen is in a museum, a replica is at the entrance to the cave. After spending around 20 minutes here, we headed to the Torres del Paine National park [Torres del Paine - Towers of Paine , with Paine being pronounced PIE-NAY].
Puerto Natales is a jumping off point for the touring masses who want to visit and hike this park. Most come here to do treks that range from a few hours to a few days. Our group had opted for a day tour of the park so we could sleep in nice beds in our hotels later tonight.
En-route we stopped at a place called CERRO Castillo for coffee and a bathroom break. The guide told us that Chilean Lamb has been adjudged the best eco-friendly lamb grown. As a result the demand for Chilean lamb had skyrocketed. A hectare of land (2.5 acres approx) can support 2 sheep or a cow. Most cows farmed here are Herefords. Years ago, the Chilean government apparently gave away free land to people including the patagonias.
The demand for Chilean lamb has resulted in a shortage of grass growing land and the government is now requesting more people to grow grass on their land and thus support more lambs. Many of the lands in these areas are still in Private lands. Even the maps indicate that. Sometime one wishes, the Chilean govt. should make an attempt like the Argentines in 1935 and just take over lands that are close to a national park.
We stopped at a viewpoint hoping to get our first glimpse of the Torres del Paine. It was not to be as the "Torres" were obscured by the clouds. As we continued to the main entrance of the park, we started seeing numerous Guanacos usually in groups of 10 or so. [By days end, we would have seen over 100 Guanacos] We even saw a fox eating a freshly killed Guanaco.
VICUNA is a protected species and it is hard to find products made from its wool (which is supposedly the finest) in Chile. Guanacos, on the other hand, are plenty and folks apparently eat them as well. We stopped at Laguna Amarga which had turned Salty and was drying up slowly. We also observed quite a few condors hovering above. These condors apparently scare small sheep into taking a tumble down the steep mountainsides before having them for lunch!
We reached the park entrance a little after Laguna Amarga and I had to pay an entrance fee of CLP 15000 (US$ 30). We continued into the park. After driving a few kilometres, we saw the famous "Cuernos del Paine" (Horns of the Paine). As we could not see the supposedly majestic "Torres" we tried taking as many pictures as we could of the "Cuernos".
The park has numerous lakes resulting from glacier melt and almost all of them are turquoise green in colour due to the high mineral content in these waters.
We saw a nice waterfall. Although our plans called for a hike to the waterfall, due to the inclement weather (it had started raining again) we decided not to take a hike and headed to a local restaurant (within the park) for Lunch. My vegetarian options were limited to white rice, some noodles and boiled potatoes. While the rice and noodles were bland, my tongue sought and savoured every particle of Chili that was lightly sprinkled on the boiled potatoes. I should perhaps write a book on my adventures as a strict vegetarian.
We saw some CAIQUEN (a form of Geese) close to our restaurant. These birds are so monogamous, that when one of them dies, the other half of the couple apparently dies soon thereafter as well! Took pictures of the couple and their brood (numbering about half a dozen).
The next stop was Lago Grey which was formed from the melt water of the Grey Glacier. As it looked like it might rain when we reached this place, I took my Poncho with me. The lake was not that impressive, but the paine Grande mountain range in the background provided a magnificent setting. There were a few small icebergs (or ice floes) on Lago grey but none were even remotely interesting as the ones I observed during my visit to the Upsala glacier near El Calafate, Argentina.
Even the Chileans will admit that if you have seen the Glaciers near El Calafate, there is little point in spending money to see the Glaciers at the Torres del Paine national park.
I inexplicable lost my Poncho! The arm that was holding the Poncho (as it was not raining) did not have it anymore! I traced my route all the way back to the Bus and still did not find it. I was quite mad at myself. I lost my cap and ripped my first poncho at Perito Moreno and now I lose my replacement Poncho at another Glacier.
I dozed on the way back to Puerto Natales which we reached a little after 7 PM. I headed to a local tour agency to explore tour options for tomorrow. As I had already seen the Torres del Paine park and the Glaciers in El Calafate, the only available option was an 8-hour hike in the park. I am not an avid hiker and did not fancy an 8-hour walk by myself.
I will probably get my blog up to date and take a siesta tomorrow!
I had dinner at an African restaurant that consisted of a Vegetable soup and rice with turmeric, cumin, almonds, raisins and spices. I topped it off with Vanilla Ice Cream. As always it was a $14 dinner (CLP 7000).
I got back to the hotel, wrote my diary and watched some TV. CNN anchors were frothing at their mouths as the IOWA causes are scheduled for tomorrow. You would think that with all this attention and coverage being given, someone was going to announce a cure for cancer tomorrow!
I have a free day tomorrow. Might perhaps do some Souvenir shopping or write some postcards.
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