Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 4 can be found here.
Zoleo (satellite messages) sent while at EcoCamp Patagonia can be found here.
We managed another sleep-in today, with the adults rousing at 8:15 am and the kids waking soon after. Remota’s buffet breakfast is included in our fare, and they have a lovely spread:
I had some toast and scrambled eggs – which were the lovely, deep-yellow colour of farm-fresh eggs – as well as some pineapple, yoghurt, and strong dark coffee with hot milk. Combined with the view, it made for a splendid breakfast.
Back to the room, where we proceeded to pack up as much as we could… including our freshly pressed laundry! Thrilled they were able to get to it so quickly, and they really did a tremendous job with getting everything clean and fresh. Thanks again to Chile Concept, VIP Journeys and Deanne Leach, our travel agent, for getting this all sorted.
Off to the lobby to get a bit more homework and admin done. We need to submit our brokerage statements to Royal Caribbean so that we can get our shareholder benefit. Turns out you can do this with statements that are up to 90 days old – something to keep in mind for our next cruise, so we’re not scrambling again.
We worked until close to 11 am, at which point it was time to head back to the room to finish packing prior to our 11:30 am shuttle.
There was a brief moment of confusion when EcoCamp Patagonia also called to offer us a shuttle, and we had to decline due to Chile Concept having already made arrangements – but if there’s one kind of hassle with which I’m prepared to put up, it’s hassle due to having too many shuttles.
Then time to bring our bags down, settle the bill, and wait for our shuttle to arrive – which it did, promptly at 11:30 am.
And we were bid a fine farewell by Remota
It was perhaps a 5 minute drive to the EcoCamp Patagonia offices. Eyes went wide at the size of our luggage, but the bags soon disappeared to be loaded onto the shuttle van. EcoCamp offered a free lunch at a nearby Indian restaurant for those interested, but we elected to find something a bit lighter instead.
We wandered for a bit – not all restaurants listed as open actually were – but eventually ended up at a lovely creperie:
My son and I had mozzarella and chicken crepes and my daughter a salami crepe, while my wife had the cheese and salami pressed sandwich. The crepes were great, but the sandwich stole the show.
Then it was time to head off in search of an electronics store, where we hoped to acquire a FitBit / Garmin style device. No luck, though. Ah, well – it gave us an excuse to explore Puerto Natales, which is fine town with plenty of interesting shops and restaurants:
We then stopped at a chocolaterie to pick up a cappuccino and some hot chocolates:
Then went for a walk by the waterfront, where we admired their skate park:
Some lovely sculpture:
The “lovers of wind” – what a beautiful name!
The natural surroundings:
And a playground!
It was then time to head back to the EcoCamp offices to fill out waivers and get ready to head out.
Our guide Gonzalo came by to confirm tomorrow’s excursion – which for us would be a trip to the local estancia for horseback riding:
With horses bearing such names as “Bum Breaker” and “Tourist Assassin”, he was confident that we would enjoy our ride tomorrow. (He jests… we think.)
We then piled into the van for the two hour-ish drive to EcoCamp Patagonia, pausing briefly to stop at a bank machine and to take a picture of the mylodon – a prehistoric giant sloth – the official creature of Puerto Natales.
Photo Credit: TripAdvisor – we stayed in the van!
The drive was remarkably scenic:
We saw quite a bit of wildlife:
A guanaco with a rhea (Patagonian ostrich)
And some absolutely stunning views of Torres del Paine:
As we grew closer, the ‘towers’ grew larger on the horizon:
Our guide cautioned us that – depending on the weather – this might be the last time we spotted the towers, and so we should enjoy the view while we had it.
We then finished up the drive to EcoCamp Patagonia. There were a huge host of vehicles at the foothills to the Torres del Paine, and it reinforced the value of staying at one of the very few accommodations within the park itself.
Off to the Welcome Dome, where we were given the key to our Loft Dome Suite and given a box for our future boxed lunches – which we would fill up at breakfast. Though not tomorrow, as our estancia trip includes a barbeque.
We then went to settle ourselves in our new accommodations, grateful to have the chance to unpack for six full nights.
Though floor space is limited, we soon figured out a system that would allow us to minimize our luggage footprint while giving everyone the clothes they need for the next few days.
One of the guides explained some more esoteric elements – like the organic refuse bin and the wood stove – though we expect we’ll mostly be using the gas heater located in the bathroom. The composting toilet seems much more regular-toilet-like than the facilities in Morocco, so we’ll count ourselves lucky on that regard. If we all managed to figure out how to use brass buckets of water to flush I’m confident we can work a foot pedal.
It was then time to head to the Community Domes to enjoy our welcome drink, and get ready for tonight’s briefing (and enjoy a pair of amouse bouche, including some delicious tuna tataki and a spiced tomato puree).
The community domes are beautifully decorated in an eclectic fashion, as though all those kids who once stayed in hostels finally grew up:
We then went off for dinner. We all had the tomato soup:
And lamb shanks:
Then white chocolate mousse for everyone but myself:
While I had an apple sphere:
All very tasty, washed down with some Chilean wine – included with our accommodations, as are the welcome drinks. They have a wide range of other beverages available upon request – prices can be high (hello, US$9 lemonade) but the US$18 double pisco sours are close to Santiago Sheraton pricing.
Gonzalo then came by to double-check everything is in order for tomorrow – which it is! So it was time to return to our dome and call it a night.
But not before one last, beautiful shot of the Torres at dusk:
Continue reading Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 6 – Torres del Paine.