We boarded the ferry Evangelista at 9 pm Tuesday October 29. The ferry’s primarily purpose is to carry trucks and cargo through the Chilean Fjords 700 miles. We took the ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Mont. the ferry also carries passengers. There were twenty eight passengers total. Seven young backpackers, four older couples like us, ten truck drivers and a woman with two boys who got off half way through the journey in Port Eden. Bxov

Accommodations and food were very basic but it was a fun trip.

Navimag the ferry company describes the journey as “for people who are not looking for luxuries, but rather an authentic journey for slow travelers and backpackers who want to enjoy the romanticism of traveling in a vessel from the 70’s”. That is a good description of the experience. Yoga classes were offered and we had a couple of lectures about what we were seeing.

There was a movie night.

A classical guitar concert

A class on the culture and drinking of maté.

The scenery was spectacular.

We saw a shipwreck from the sixties.

And stopped briefly at the only settlement an the route, Port Eden. Port Eden has a population of about 170 and no road access.

This morning Saturday November 2 we arrived in Puerto Montt.

On Tuesday we checked in mid afternoon for the ferry we were taking north. We couldn’t actually board until 9 pm so we walked back through town to our hotel.

We visited the excellent Puerto Natales historical museum. They had both English and Spanish explanations of the displays. The displays were about all the people who lived in the area from the earliest to the present.

We stopped in at a yarn store.

We hung out and ate dinner at our hotel before boarding the ferry that we would be on for the next four nights.

This morning we walked to the bus station in Punto Arenas and got on a bus for a three hour bus ride north to Puerto Natales.

The trip was very interesting. The terrain was flat, desolate and wind blown. We saw lots of sheep and guanacos. We also saw Rheas the Rhea is a large flightless South American. bird. We didn’t get any pictures from the bus but there is a picture of one on the wall of our hotel room.

We are staying at a lovely hotel in Puerto Natales overlooking the water, the Weskar Patagonian Lodge. After checking in we walked along the water into the town. We were going to visit the historical museum but it was closed.

We ate dinner at our hotel and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.