Unfortunately that meant another early morning - but I seem to get used to it - let's see how long it lasts when I'm back.
At 6, before the sun has come up, we had to meet at the office. Luckily it was only a 10 minute walk from our Hostel.
There were already a couple tourists waiting. The only people on crazy enough to be up at this time of the day in this town.
After we paid in the office two luxuriously equipped Sprinters brought us north out of the city to a little pier.
While the sun was slowly rising above the water, soaking the strait into a golden veil we got on a boat, maybe 15 meters in length and seats for around 30 people.
Powered was the whole thing by three 200 HP out boarder engines.
We set sail (or petrol) into the Strait of Magellan. First stop, where we didn't get off but just watched form aboard was Isla Marte. The locals (and the reason we were not leaving the boat) were Sea Lions sunbathing on the shore.
From here we went on to Isla Magdalena where we would get off the boat and meet plenty of less dangerous and much cuter Pingüinos (apparently this is how you write them in Spanish).
Right at the pier there they were already welcoming us. Lovely little fellows, watching out for their young, while their partner goes out and gets the shopping (sorry fishing) done.
There were literally thousands (70000 pairs) of Magellan Penguins living on the island and it felt we saw at least half of them. They were everywhere.
Obviously we were restricted to walk along a certain path and had to stop if one of the penguins decided to cross it and try to interfere as least as possible with them.
We had a real good time there and became very trigger happy. You just can't stop taking pictures of them, each posing in another funny or cute way.
Although the sky was blue and barely any clouds visible our guide told is it was time to return to the boat as the captain feels the weather is changing.
For me there was not a hint of bad weather around but it was time to go... they were quite serious and pushy. This cut our 1 hour visit on the island short to only 45 minutes. But hey, we got to see plenty of penguins in this time and would have just filled up our memory cards even more.
Soon after we were out on the open water again the sea go rough... as predicted by our captain. It got pretty shoppy and it was nearly impossible to see through the windows from the splashes that continuously kept them soaked.
While some people on board of the boat we enjoyed some great tasting, strong instant coffee and home made cookies.
The trip was certainly not cheap but was well worth the money and even the getting up early. It really is a must do when you are in Punta Arenas.
Later, (a couple of days in some other place) we heard that the afternoon tour was cancelled due to weather conditions, so we were once more very lucky to have been part of the early tour - which again, we only got a spot on through email correspondence and some other short notice cancellation.
Back at the Hostel our room mates had left and we had the four bed room all to ourselves.
We followed up with some admin work and finally worked out the difficult procedures that kept me craving for internet connectivity over the last couple of days. - Good ... that was sorted.
It was just about lunch time now, so we got some food and went for a walk with the intention to find a couple of very southern geocaches.
The couple of caches in this town were spread in all sorts of directions and brought us to some great and unusual places. One of them being a really nice looking cafe, over looking the harbour, but unfortunately this was closed. We'll visit it next time we are around.
We also were guided to a fancy cemetery, which in itself is an attraction of this town. It seems only the rich and famous are buried here and each family has it's own little (or big) tomb.
When we got back to the hostel we realized that we didn't know where we would be staying in San Pedro as I had not gotten a confirmation email (because I didn't put it in right) when we booked it from the Hotel in Las Torres.
We tried to work out what Hostel it was but couldn't, so I sent an email to Hostelbookers (the website through which I booked it) and asked them if they know. I didn't expect an reply any time soon and tomorrow was our flight up there already.
Outside, the rain had started and it looked very rough, but we needed to get some food. The owner of the Hostel suggested Marmita's Restaurant, luckily not too far away. Apparently this place also has the best Pisco Sour in town.
We soon found the place and indeed it looked great. Colourful interior, not all chairs matching and just a bit funky. On the menu we found some unusual local fauna, such as Llamas and Hare (hare not being that unusual - but still, it's not a chicken).
After a Pisco Sour for desert we wanted to wave good buy to possibly the most southern place we'll ever be in the proper manner.
We ordered a cocktail - off menu. It was a cocktail that did not even exist, but that should change the way we drink.
Our requirements to the Bar man were following:
- It needs to include dark rum
- It should not be a Cuba libre
- make it a cool drink
A couple of minutes later, while we watched his every move, the amazing Bar man presented us with a "Mr Alfred"
This was just the first thing that came to his head when we asked him what it was called a little later. (After the owner of the restaurant who seemingly was called Alfred - Not Mr. Alfred, just Alfred).
Mr Alfred contains: Havana club, Baileys, Cacao liquor, Cream, crushed ice and possibly something else that we could not identify.
But it surly will be researched and recreated at home and will be the bar man's recommendation in every good cocktail bar from here to Tokyo.
Well... that was it, Patagonia - thanks for the great adventures you gave us.
Off to (you guessed it) another short night.
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