Puerto Natales

I left Punta Arenas this morning for Puerto Natales, a three hour bus ride to the north. When they first arrived, the Europeans named this area "the land of giants." I think I'll call it "the land of rainbows." I saw four today, and one of them was the only perfect rainbow I've ever seen - you could see both ends touching the ground.

The penguin colony yesterday was great, but it was so cold. There was a stiff breeze (40-50mph with heavier gusts) blowing off the water the entire time. I would not like to be a penguin! It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the colony from Punta Arenas, and most of that drive was down a gravel road cutting through some of the most desolate landscape I've ever seen. Imagine rolling land with no trees; just a light brown-green covering of grass and very low shrubs here and there. Trees couldn't grow there if they wanted to; the wind's far too strong for them to take root. Way off in the background (probably 50+ miles away) you could see the shapes of mountains. Every now and then I'd see a ñandú, which is, in addition to being possibly the most fun word to say in Spanish I've encountered yet, a small rhea-like bird that eats the grass.

At the penguin colony we had to get out of the van and walk down a boardwalk. There were two watchtowers spread about, and by the water there was a lean-to constructed so that you could watch the birds on the beach through slits in the wood without them seeing you. They were Magallanic penguins, and very small. The babies were born months ago, so mostly they were just standing around trying to get out of the wind. Some were molting, so there were tiny feathers flying around in the wind. I had never seen a penguin before, except in a zoo, so it was an exciting experience.

I have booked a day tour to go to Torres del Paine National Park tomorrow, which is supposed to be the best national park in South America. There is a hiking circuit there that lasts 6 days, but as I don't have the equipment nor the time I will have to skip out on that. Maybe some other time...apparently it's the only serious way to see the park, but I suppose seeing it for one day is better than none at all.

Rumours have been flying around ever since I was in Santiago that the ferry I am scheduled to take on Friday out of here has been cancelled. Some people said they heard there was an accident. I never got an e-mail from the company, so I went down to the office this afternoon to make sure everything was still okay. Let me just say that I feel lucky. Something happened with the regular boat, and a smaller boat has had to take its place. The problem is, the smaller boat has to run two routes, so half of the voyages on the route I'm on have been cancelled. Mine was not. Since the boat can't hold as many passengers, some have been forced to cancel their trips. I wasn't weeded out in that group. A bonus is that I get a cabin on this boat as opposed to the dungeon berths I would have had on the other ferry, all for the same price. So I feel very lucky indeed!