Having left Pucon and all the activities we got on a bus , about 6 hrs, to get us down to Puerto Montt to catch the Navimag ferry that takes you all the way down to Puerto Natales in Southern Chile in the Patagonia region. We didn´t really know what to expect from the Navimag ferry having heard some rumours about bingo nights and other questionable entertainment. However the Navimag passed all expectations..for those people wishing to travel slow this 3 day ferry ride is pretty cool and turned out to be a lot of fun.
We were the last ones to check in and last onto the boat as well and having only booked the cheapest tickets we were expecting to be put in a corridor for the 3 days with no window in the bottom of the ferry somewhere. However, we got lucky...the manager of the ferry saw us and another girl who was sharing near us and because the ferry was very empty we were able to upgrade for free to a cabin for just the 2 of us with a window...luxury! Our new friend Eva, a German girl, who spoke really good spanish became our new partner in crime for this trip. There wasn´t much to do on the boat bar talk to everyone, walk around the decks and eat. Eating became a big part of our day and we got fed really well. We were practically in a carb coma after every meal! And for some reason we were hungery every meal despite not doing a lot in between.
But the scenery was amazing...passing through narrow passageways, snow capped mountains, birds and the odd water puff from a whale we had lots to see. we also made friends with other people on the boat including some local Chilean army men who were taking some 10 horses down to Puerto Arenas for a competition. After some bonding over photos we got to go down to the lower deck, which we weren´t meant to do and go and see the horses! We got to feed them and take pictures. However their English wasn´´t good and our spanish, apart from Eva was rubbish so sign language was the only means of communication!
day 2 we got to get off the boat and see a small village of 250 people which is located in the middle of all these islands called Puerto Eden...we had to wear the oldest looking lifejackets, it was questionable whether they would actually keep you afloat or not.. but it was good to get off the boat and go for a walk around and it made you appreciate living in England!!
However the highlight of the ferry ride had to be the disco we had at the end...i know , who would have thought it! we were meant to have a bingo night but Percy our guide had told us that there were no prizes...but instead there was a disco. Imagine a lounge area on a ferry with most people sitting down enjoying their evening and a few select people, me, tash, eva, another german guy called stephan and the army men all dancing the night away! it was great fun.. they introduced us to pisca cola which is the local drink plus coke cola...actually quite nice...we also got taught how to dance and every idea i had about latin american men dancing was pretty spot on..they have magic hips! it was hilarious to them that we couldn´t dance and we found it hilarious that we were even trying!
Anyway, after all that we disembarked...we were the last ones off because we were chatting for so long we didn´t realise that we could get off! We stayed with our friends Eva and Stephan who were preparing to do the W trek in Torres del Paine and Tash and I booked our bus out to El Calafate in Argentina.
Getting to El Calafate involved a border crossing which I didn´t really think about..i had my passport i was all fine...however, when we got to the border control to get out of Chile disaster struck! i had lost an all important piece of paper that turned out to be my visa for Chile which i needed to get out of CHile!!!!! well that were lots of umm and ahhhing - i held up the queue! i started to worry...tash thought she had lost her piece of paper too but then found it! such drama...anyway, turns out you can just fill in another piece of paper and pretend that you never lost it at all so no fuss there...had to then check into argentina and get our stamp and we were on our way again. arriving into El Calafate around lunchtime to get into our adorable hostel called Keu Ken...it has the most beautiful views across the lake and its from here that we are going to go and see Perito Moreno glacier....and other adventures!
hopefully going to add the photos in later...all for now. J xxx
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| Navimag ferry! |
We were the last ones to check in and last onto the boat as well and having only booked the cheapest tickets we were expecting to be put in a corridor for the 3 days with no window in the bottom of the ferry somewhere. However, we got lucky...the manager of the ferry saw us and another girl who was sharing near us and because the ferry was very empty we were able to upgrade for free to a cabin for just the 2 of us with a window...luxury! Our new friend Eva, a German girl, who spoke really good spanish became our new partner in crime for this trip. There wasn´t much to do on the boat bar talk to everyone, walk around the decks and eat. Eating became a big part of our day and we got fed really well. We were practically in a carb coma after every meal! And for some reason we were hungery every meal despite not doing a lot in between.
But the scenery was amazing...passing through narrow passageways, snow capped mountains, birds and the odd water puff from a whale we had lots to see. we also made friends with other people on the boat including some local Chilean army men who were taking some 10 horses down to Puerto Arenas for a competition. After some bonding over photos we got to go down to the lower deck, which we weren´t meant to do and go and see the horses! We got to feed them and take pictures. However their English wasn´´t good and our spanish, apart from Eva was rubbish so sign language was the only means of communication!
 |
| Cold ferry ride |
day 2 we got to get off the boat and see a small village of 250 people which is located in the middle of all these islands called Puerto Eden...we had to wear the oldest looking lifejackets, it was questionable whether they would actually keep you afloat or not.. but it was good to get off the boat and go for a walk around and it made you appreciate living in England!!
However the highlight of the ferry ride had to be the disco we had at the end...i know , who would have thought it! we were meant to have a bingo night but Percy our guide had told us that there were no prizes...but instead there was a disco. Imagine a lounge area on a ferry with most people sitting down enjoying their evening and a few select people, me, tash, eva, another german guy called stephan and the army men all dancing the night away! it was great fun.. they introduced us to pisca cola which is the local drink plus coke cola...actually quite nice...we also got taught how to dance and every idea i had about latin american men dancing was pretty spot on..they have magic hips! it was hilarious to them that we couldn´t dance and we found it hilarious that we were even trying!
 |
| Our new friend Eva |
Anyway, after all that we disembarked...we were the last ones off because we were chatting for so long we didn´t realise that we could get off! We stayed with our friends Eva and Stephan who were preparing to do the W trek in Torres del Paine and Tash and I booked our bus out to El Calafate in Argentina.
Getting to El Calafate involved a border crossing which I didn´t really think about..i had my passport i was all fine...however, when we got to the border control to get out of Chile disaster struck! i had lost an all important piece of paper that turned out to be my visa for Chile which i needed to get out of CHile!!!!! well that were lots of umm and ahhhing - i held up the queue! i started to worry...tash thought she had lost her piece of paper too but then found it! such drama...anyway, turns out you can just fill in another piece of paper and pretend that you never lost it at all so no fuss there...had to then check into argentina and get our stamp and we were on our way again. arriving into El Calafate around lunchtime to get into our adorable hostel called Keu Ken...it has the most beautiful views across the lake and its from here that we are going to go and see Perito Moreno glacier....and other adventures!
hopefully going to add the photos in later...all for now. J xxx
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