Quirly*

I confess, I vicariously discovered Patagonia only a few years ago, thanks to musical duo Lemon Jelly. Even more recently I learned exactly how big the area is, extending far beyond the world-famous national parks at the southern tip of the continent and up into Chile’s ninth region. Last month I furthered my personal experience with the area, as Jason’s friend Brandon joined us for a road-sea-air-foot-horseback sampler tour of Patagonia.

After the briefest of introductions to Santiago, we took TurBus down to Puerto Montt, seedy gate to the beauties of the south. The three of us were most likely asleep when our Patagonian vacation began, sometime around 5am as our bus neared Temuco. Once in Puerto Montt, we contributed our own US$30 to the area’s billion dollar salmon industry with lunch at Angelmó before we started the ferry portion of our trip.

The Navimag Ferry is an excellent way to see more than 900 miles of almost-untouched coastline and experience the Chilean fjords. The route so enjoyed by cheapskate tourists today was created by necessity in 1978, when a row between dictators Pinochet (Ch) and Videla (Arg.) closed borders, stranding Chileans living in Tierra del Fuego. The passage is slow and beautiful, with nothing other than scheduled mealtimes and your own entertainment to distract from the scenery.

Having skipped over all of the expensive cruise lines, we did splurge a bit on our ferry accommodations, opting for a private bathroom and only one stranger in our room (Andre, from Italy, age 55+/-, enjoys physical therapy, tango and Italian lovesongs) aboard the Evangelista. The cramped cabin would be a problem during a rougher voyage, but we spent all of our non-sleeping time circuiting slowly from lounge (cards/books) to deck (scenery/i-pod) to cafeteria (bananas/food/lectures/movies).

Passage usually includes a brief stop on Isla Wellington to visit Puerto Edén, home to the few (10) remaining members of the Alacaluf/Kaweskar people among others. Navimag has an obligation to stop at the otherwise isolated port during every passage, in case residents need/want to reach the mainland. However, the accidental death of a British actress during previous passage and the resultant delays meant the Pto. Edén excursion was cut from our itinerary; town residents took boats out to our ferry, but no passengers disembarked.

During the four days, we saw several species of birds, dolphins, a glacier, quirly water, forests, waterfalls, and several channels, passes and gulfs. The latter includes what became known as Golfo de Penas (sorrows) when non-Spanish speaking explorers couldn’t reproduce the gulf’s original name, Peña.

On the final day, we tromped down steep ladder and broad dock into the town of Puerto Natales, looking for food, an internet connection, and our pre-reserved hostal. The food we found at one of Chile’s best pizza restaurants, La Mesita, where strangers bump elbows at one of two large picnic-style tables while consuming their gourmet pizzas and micro-brewed beers. The hostal was a bit out of the way, but it was clean and attractive, the owner was very friendly (and her granddaughter adorable!) and at US$15 a person with private room, shower, and breakfast included, it felt like an excellent deal. We really will have a hard time re-adjusting to US hotel prices…

*Merriam-Webster online doesn’t recognize this word, but it was used often on our Navimag voyage to describe rough waters, and may be my new favorite.