On the 5th January we took our rental car and drove as far south as we could. We got as far as 100 km south of Punta Arenas, just after Punta San Juan. Unusually good weather allowed us to enjoy beautiful sceneries (photos when we’re back).
In the afternoon we went to the Zona Franca of Punta Arenas, a huge duty free portal area where we got our last needed equipment for the planned campings in Torres del Paine (more about it in a few days…).
The next day started with a lot of stress to get the ferry to Porvenir in Tierra del Fuego. Although we had regularly booked it, we had to stand in line for an hour for the tickets and we managed to get on the ferry as the last car only thanks to Teresa complaining with virtually any ferry employee she could find 🙂
Anyhow, we made it to Porvenir and we were greeted there in a very nice B&B, Yendegaia. The young man responsible there, Vicente, is doing a great job in making us feel at home, even doing our laundry and hanging it up for us!
The city is born as a police station during the gold rush more than one century ago and evolved in a surprising way. We don’t quite understand what people are doing here to gain their lives, given that tourists come here only about two months a year. Some houses are really beautifully coloured:
In the afternoon we decided to go to the small colony of King Pinguins, the only one known to exist outside of Antarctica. It was an adventurous drive with more than 100 km of gravel road.
The small colonies could be seen from relatively far, but we could take some nice pictures anyway (patience…). Dinner in the B&B which is also a quite good restaurant: we had Robalo (Patagonial blennie) and Pejerrey (Silverside fish), two local fishes.
Today was a more relaxed day, with a drive to the lakes just north of Porvenir, unsuccessful tries to photograph jumping lamas, a visit to the local museum, and some planning for the next steps of our journey.
It’ll be a while before we can write again, tomorrow we’re headed for Torres del Paine. Ciao!