Hola amigos! I´ll post pics for this blog as soon as I can. This computer doesn´t seem to have a USB socket for my card reader, but it´s an entry that really needs illustrating.
As I said in my last blog, the last four days have been spent on a cruise in Patagonia - southern Chile and Peru.
It´s for a travel piece and the promoters call it a tour to the end of the world. When you arrive in Punta Arenas it really feels that way. It´s so different from Santiago and the typical image of South America - colder for a start - sparse, bare and desolate, with skeletal trees, stray dogs lying on the side of the road (more from boredom than disease or hunger, I think), and people congregated in shabby cafes drinking beer during the daytime.
I didn´t know what to expect from a cruise on such a doorstep, but it has been incredible. Often you have to pinch yourself to realise you are actually standing on Cape Horn, one of the southern most outposts in the world, or sailing through Glacier Valler, which has 16 glaciers. We saw elephant seals - fantastically big ugly beasts - and comical little penguins.
At first I was a little concerned that most of the other guests were retired Americans but I found willing drinking partners in a fellow travel writer and PR rep who were in my age bracket and like me happy to take advantage of the free bar. Johnny Walker and I have become close friends these last few days!
The airline from Ushuia messed up my flights so I missed my connection in Buenos Aires. But they have been very good, putting me up in a swanky hotel, and I have an early flight back to Santiago tomorrow. I have a blocked right ear from the flight and the world is a little muffled, but it would be churlish in the extreme to complain. Life is good!
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