Having gotten a semi-clean bill of health (and by “semi-clean” I mean that my bronchitis is almost gone, but the muscles I pulled under my left ribs? Not so much…) I have left Punta Arenas for nearby Puerto Natales. About 250km north of Punta Arenas along the sheep and ñandú lined Ruta 9, Puerto Natales is a squat, basic town at the edge of the Last Hope Sound in Chile´s Ultima Esperanza province. True to its evocative name, the snowy bus ride out of the Magellanes province was replete with bleak, flat landscapes and a hell of a lot of shrubbery. Momentary bursts of sun revealed the Balmaceda mountain in the distance and, according to the map, Torres del Paine directly behind it.
After hoisting her birthday to April 11th, the pseudo-birthday girl declared today “International Chocolate and Coffee Day” (like I´m complaining?) and mapped out a winding route of gluttony through Puerto Natales´ cafes and confiterias. We ate our way through today and plan on venturing into Argentina tomorrow when we bus it up to El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier. I was so frustrated that we were mired in one spot after a mere 2 days on our trip (I know, my lungs´ fault) and I am glad that I am feeling better and that we are on the move again.
We had a great last day in Punta Arenas, having met 3 Canadian (yay!) engineers (double yay!)** at our hostal who joined us for dinner with Natasha, the woman from our prior hostal. We dined at Lomitz, a cheap greasy spoon with melt-in-your mouth hamburgers and churrascos topped with goopy cheese and Chilean avocados (sidebar: Chileans stubbornly rename certain vegetables. Avocados are aguacate elsewhere in South America, but they are called “palta” in Chile. Corn is not maiz, it is “choclo”, mushrooms are not seta, they are “callampa” and beans are not frijol, they are “poroto”. And though tourist-ridden towns such as Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales are bound to have heard the standard spanish veggie names before, people here will look at you as though you just grew a second head if you reference them.). Though eager to take off, a long dinner with new friends was a good way to end the week in Punta Arenas.
A quick Blog-y item: those of you who signed up for Feedburner email updates might want to check your spam folders. Though Google now owns both Blogger AND Feedburner, it hasn´t figured out how to prevent Feedburner blog updates from ending up in Gmail spam folders. Click on the “not spam” button and you should be good to go.
That´s it! El Calafate tomorrow and hopefully up to Bariloche thereafter.
- Jodi
** NADIA: one of the engineers works for Hatch Toronto. You´ll be hearing from him soon…his name is Sam.
I am a former lawyer from Montreal currently eating my way around the world, one country at a time. Marshmallow enthusiast, volcano climber and cave spelunker - and also a geek. Traveling since April 1, 2008. See the 
Jodi, so good to hear that you are feeling better. Juile had a chance to check her email while we were on an island in Fiji and we were a little worried. But good to hear that you are back on track. About El Calafate and Perito Moreno, it is actually cheaper to rent a car with another couple and drive to the park before the gate opens at 7pm. You will save entrance fee and the bus is steep at 60 pesos per person. I think the car is around 200 per day…divided by 4 is better.
I meant the park opens at 7am! Sunrise over the glacier. Also, the boat tour is a waste of money.
Yes, definitely glad to hear you are feeling better! Enjoy the glacier, but bundle up!
In Bariloche, be sure to eat lots of chocolate. We went to Abuela Goye, and Mamuschka is supposed to be excellent as well. Try the raspberry-filled alfajores dipped in white chocolate. Muy rico!