Latina America

A few hours late, we set off from the harbour of Puerto Natales. I was lucky enough to get a cabin with only six people and private bathroom where I had only paid to be in a cabin with 18 or 22 people. Although the cabin was small, three bunks above each other and only four cupboards to put our rucksacks in, it was not bad. My five cabin mates were: Jasik from Poland, Andy and Alex from the UK, Walter from the US and Travis from Australia, they were good fun and just like a lot of people from the boat, I would meet them all the time afterwards. Seen the price of the trip, I did not find the food very good, it was definetly enough though. Prices for drinks and snacks at the bar were crazy, 1500 pesos for a beer (almost 3 euros) and 5000 pesos for a bottle of wine. Luckily, I had taken a bottle of rum, peanuts and a lot of fruits, so I did not have to buy anything on board.
The first day passed quite quickly, as we only sailed off around 6 pm or so. At night, we had the possibility to watch 'Los Diarios de Motocycleta' which I enjoyed even more than the first time I watched it, as I could recognise a lot of places and well, the travelling feeling was familiar, too. After the film, we were chatting with some French girls in our cabin, drinking some rum and all of Walter's red wine. It was well after two when we got to bed, so next day's wake up call at seven am was quite hard.
As the boat sailed through some breathtaking landscapes, we were sitting on the deck, watching, reading, taking a siesta etc. The second day, we passed by a glacier and went very close to it, it was beautiful and very blue. At night, a Chilean film was shown, Machuca. It was the second time I saw it and it is quite okay. Late in the afternoon, we had reached the open sea and the boat was rocking a bit but I did not see any seasick people at all, I suspect a lot of them had taken pills. After the film, I went straight to bed to catch up some sleep.
On the third day, we had the chance to get to land at Puerto Eden.

The only problem was that I had forgotten to buy my ticket to do so the night before and there was no possible way I could still go, I asked about every single person in the crew, there was nothing to do about it. Though luck, so I spent an hour on an almost empty ship, which had its charms though. At night, there was a bingo night in the bar! No cruise without a bingo night of course, so I was in the first row, trying my luck. I was never lucky, but my cabin mate Walter won about every time: one line, two lines, three lines, etc. After the bingo, the couches were put aside and it was time for some dancing.
The fourth day, we arrived in Puerto Natales just after lunch and for me, it had been enough, it was good to be on land again.

Puerto Natales is nothing special in itself but is is quiet and has some good restaurants and pubs, very touristic though. If you are going to Puerto Natales, you should pay a visit to Hotel Remota. Walk in and ask the personnel if you can take a look, they will let you and it is well worth it, take a look at the top floor as well, it is unbelievable. Puerto Natales, above all, is the ideal jumping point for the gorgeous Parque Nacional Torres del Paine! More about that next entry.