Last day in Puerto Natales

Monday 25th January

Sea front at Puerto Natales:
Derelict Pier

Lazy day. Breakfast followed by going to the offices of Bus Sur to get a ticket for the bus to El Calafate tomorrow. Managed to get a seat on the bus leaving at 1430 which is far more civilised than the 0700 departure offered by the other two companies I tried yesterday. Then had a walk around the town stopping off for a visit to the local museum right next door to the hotel. Although small, it was very well laid out with excellent information in both Spanish and English, well the English was excellent; can't make a judgement on the Spanish version. Approx. half the museum was devoted to the Indigenous people of the region who, like those further south, had been driven to extinction by a combination of loss of land, loss of animals to hunt, conflict with settlers,  disease and alcohol. The last man of one group died in 2008. The other half of the museum was devoted to the settlers, of mixed European origin, German, English, Romanian etc. I was quite surprised at the extent of the English influence. In Tierra del Fuego, Croatians had been a very influential group. 

Black Necked Swans in the Sea

Black Necked Swan with "Ugly Ducklings"

Unexpected connections: Cleethorpes

Unexpected connections: Stourbridge

Chile is the only country I have visited which  takes tsunamis seriously; in Valparaiso, Punta Arenas and here in Puerto Natales there are signs posting evacuation routes all along the coast and signs further inland showing safe areas, more than 30 m above sea level.

Booked hotel in El Calafate, and a tour to Perito Moreno glacier since I will probably arrive too late in El Calafate to do it face to face. It’s all so easy with an internet connection!

In the evening had early dinner at the "Afrigonia" restaurant nearby which gets a good write up in Wiki travel. The food was excellent but not noticeably African and came to about 21 000 for main course, glass of Carmenere wine and coffee, so not cheap. So far I am not having much success finding good, cheap food.