2/22

The past few days have been full of travel and new info so I will try and catch everyone up.

2/20. On Friday Ben and caught a flight out of Sanitago down south to Patagonia. We landed in Punta Arenas which is a small town just off the west coast of the Strait of Megellan. We got into Punta Arenas later in the day so after we got to our hostel, called Fin Del Mundo (the end of the world), we explored the streets a little and got a fantastic dinner at a local retaurant.

2/21. The next day we walked around some more and checked out the market in the town square. Punta Arenas is pretty small and their entire economy is based around tourism, so basically we were surrounded by other tourists doing the exact same thing as us. In ther afternoon we booked a horseback riding tour of the coast of the Strait. As it turns out, we were the only ones on our tour so we had the entire beach to ourselves the whole time. Over the course of our three or so hours on the horses we did not see a single other person. The views were breathtaking and we got to walk right up to a colony of penguins and watch them from just a few feet away. It was extremely cool and it was amazing to feel so close to the animals in their natural habitat. It´s hard to explain just how beautiful the coast is, it´s almost like a mix of the beaches of Cape Cod, the plains of the North Dakota, the mountains of the Rockies, and the plateaus of the Southwest. It was unlike anything I have ever seen and it far exceeded my expectations. After the tour, our guide took us to his house and had us join him for dinner. We were fortunate enough to be at his house right as the were finishing up grilling fresh goat that they had slaughtered that day. It was delicious and a great chance to try a truly South American dish.

2/22. This morning we took a 9 a.m. bus to Porto Natales which is where I am writting this from currently. Basically we are just killing a day while we wait to catch another bus tomorrow morning. We are about to meet up with some friends in the south of Argentina and do some hiking for a few days. Porto Natales is a staging town for other expeditions and trips in the area so we have seen a ton of other travelers, and even ran into a girl wearing a Michigan sweatshirt (Go Blue!). It is actually gorgeous here and the town is built around a huge lake that sits at teh base of a number of surrounding mountains. We are taking it easy and enjoying our last day in Chile.

It may be a few more days before I have a chance to get to a computer so do not be surprised if I do not post for a little while. I hope everyone is doing well and I miss all of you.

Harry