Chile Fjords-Patagonia Day 14
Chile Fjords-Patagonia
OAT Day 14 - Thursday, December 13, 2007 - Disembark Ship - Arrive Puerto Natales - Overland to Punta Arenas - Fly to Santiago
This morning we sailed back to Puerto Natales and docked at the main pier by 7:00. The sun was bright with a few scattered clouds but it was still breezy and cold.
We had to have our luggage out at 8:00 so we finished packing and then went to the dining room for our final meal on the Skorpios. We have all laughed about the generous portions of food on this trip. Some even suggested that we change the name of OAT to EAT!
While the sailors were unloading our bags, I took a few photos of the regal black necked swans gliding in the bay. At 8:30 we disembarked our ship and got on our bus. Our destination was Punta Arenas, and the Straights of Magellan.
On the 90 minute trip we saw a gray fox, another flock of rhea, and a flock of Chilean Flamingos. This was a first time sighting for us. Our driver, Alberto stopped so we could get out and get a distant look at these huge birds.
We had a “technical” stop at a very small village. It is very sparsely populated in this part of the world so there are not many places to stop. We did not have a scheduled lunch today so some people ordered sandwiches. The little store was so small it took an hour to serve everyone and have time to use the restrooms.
While we were waiting we walked around the few streets, took photos, and then saw a fenced area behind the café. The family had found a wounded Andean Condor chick 25 years ago and raised it. Seeing this giant scavenger close up was incredible!
We drove directly to the airport where we checked our luggage and then got our boarding passes. There were 30 minutes to get a sandwich and I was also able to find a cyber café in this small airport. I had time to write a letter to our son Eduardo and then to post the journal of first two days on the Skorpios.
María Elena and Alberto finished with the check-in procedures and we got back on the bus. We drove 30 minutes to the privately owned Magellanic Penguin Colony at Otway Sound.
On the way María Elena gave us more information about the penguins we would see and also the other 18 species of penguins found in the Southern Hemisphere. Amazingly, penguin fossils of over 40 million years have been found!
We had a beautiful day at the preserve; it was 60 degrees, very little wind, and 54% humidity. The sun was strong and the penguins were basking in the warmth. They waddled along their paths to the sea, unafraid of us or our cameras.
We were back on the bus at 3:45 and drove right back to the airport. Our timing was excellent; we walked right in, cleared security and then went right to the gate where at 4:30 we boarded the LAN flight to Santiago.
The flight to Santiago was approximately 3 hours, and we took time to type today’s journal and to relax and read. We arrived in Santiago at 8:10 in the evening. After checking into our hotel and then went for a walk to stretch our legs and get a bite to eat the Kika Restaurant.
We had two tasty hot dogs with guacamole, tomatoes, sauerkraut, and other fixings. We also ordered a small side of French fries and it was so large we shared them with Verne and Paula.
We walked home enjoying the cool evening seeing all the people of Santiago enjoying the evening. I got an internet card and we checked our mail and posted two more journals.
Long day - time to go to bed.
Accommodations: Hotel TorreMayor - - - Meal: B
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These CDs are compilations of slide presentations of each day (pictures of the events during the day) accompanied by music reflective of the nation and day.
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