Hi everyone! So we have arrived safe and sound in Chile!
The journey began on Monday with 3 flights totalling a 24 hour travel time. Needless to day we were pretty tired when we got here. Sleeping on the plane didn´t really happen. But the nice surprise was how posh the LAN airlines planes are. We totally lucked out and got the row with the most footroom and mini TVs that came right out of our arm rests with so many movies to choose from! So that definitely eased the pain of not being able to doze off. Score!
We flew into Punta Arenas in southern Chile yesterday, and were met at the airport by a super nice guy from our b&b. He drove us about 10 minutes to our place just outside of town, and we passed some old military tanks and stuff like that, and he explained it was from the war with Argentina. There are still land mines here in some regions! Then we arrived to an amazing spot, a few log cabin type buildings nestled in the Chilean woods. We immediately dropped our bags at our cabin, had a glass of wine and sat down by a wood stove fire, ahhhhhh! Then we had a nap. A looooong nap!
We woke up and it was dinner time, so our hosts made a BBQ of steak and sausages that was truly to die for. We ate with two women from Maui who had been traveling for over a year already through all of South America (so jealous!) and they gave us tons of tips and even knew exactly where to see the penguins so I was all ears. We will definitely be visiting them in Maui sometime soon, I hope!
After dinner we walked around the grounds some more and noticed a sauna nestled in a clearing in the woods. After dinner activity, DONE! We took an outdoor shower surrounded by only the wind whistling in the trees, and then went in to the hot sauna to relax in the heat. Amazing. Perfect ending to our crazy day(s) of traveling.
I think we will make time to stay there a few more days before we fly out. Log cabins get me every time.
Today we bussed to Puerto Natales, a bit north of Punta Arenas. This is the gateway town for our hike to Torres del Paine. We spent the day walking around the town, and I got to do a bit of birding! Saw tons of Magellanic Cormorants, Black-necked swans and Chilean Swallows, and lots of other super cool birds I don´t know yet. Need to get a Patagonia bird book ASAP.
It`s such a small world... We went to a talk at our hostel about planning for our hike, and ran into a girl I knew in Newfoundland! Couldn´t believe my eyes when I saw her across the room! She`s here with her boyfriend who I knew in NL as well doing the exact same hike as Ryan and I, just one day apart. Weird or what?!
For anyone who was supposed to be getting our spot updates, apparently it doesn´t work down here. So we`ll try to email to let you know how it´s going.
Love ya all and miss you all!
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