Puerto Bories and Two Nights of Rest
After Torres del Paine we spent 2 nights in Puerto Natales doing almost nothing — resting, eating, existing in general :) … But guess what? There is a harbour called Puerto Bories, the exact same name as William's. We had to go there to visit the old factory transformed into a beautiful hotel, restaurant, and bar. William didn't get a free drink, but that's fine. It was a nice short visit and we enjoyed it!
Back at the camping, for the first time since starting our world trip, we met two lovely people from Portugal. As you may know, we love that country and its people. Our last night in Puerto Natales was peaceful.
Punta Arenas, a Failed Ferry, and Plan B Hitchhiking
We took a bus to Punta Arenas — an easy three-hour drive. We found a nice tiny place to pitch the tent in the city centre. We walked around (Bories Street, etc.) and met two UK girls again that we had crossed paths with during the Torres del Paine trek. Shared a good coffee and cake. It's always nice to meet people you already know.
We had five days to reach Ushuaia and were weighing different options. Next morning, with a French couple from the camping, we took a taxi to catch the ferry to Porvenir. However — there was no ferry that Wednesday morning. Ahhhhh! So we started hitchhiking instead of waiting all day in Punta Arenas. It was the first hitchhike ever for the French couple, and they did great!
A nice guy called Raúl took us first as far as the intersection (Natales or Ushuaia). Not cold, but with the strong Patagonian wind it was freezing! Then Roberto, a sheep farmer in the region, took us for several hours. He spoke English, which made conversation much easier — our Spanish is far from perfect, even if we made a lot of progress! We learnt so much about the sheep business.
To Tierra del Fuego and the King Penguins
We took a short ferry and arrived in Tierra del Fuego — it is not part of the continent. Roberto invited us for lunch at a very local place. Excellent meal. He dropped us 45 km from the Parque Pingüino Rey with very few cars on the road... :( But a big truck stopped and took us 30 km! We started walking but 15 km with all our gear would have taken five hours. How lucky: a Canadian couple travelling for a year and a half took us all the way to the park! 😊 A full day of great encounters on the roads of Patagonia.
And how lucky are we? In the park we met the lovely French couple Guillaume and Laurline — the same couple we had traveled with on the Carretera Austral a few weeks earlier. After admiring those funny king penguins, we continued with them. We crossed the border into Argentina quite smoothly and camped in Río Grande.
Ushuaia — the End of the World
Around noon we arrived in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. The landscape had started to become really interesting one hour before reaching the city.
Ushuaia is quite big. Not as big as Punta Arenas, but still. We spent three nights before our flight to Buenos Aires. We walked around the city — honestly, it is not very charming. We much preferred Puerto Natales. After a few tries, we found a nice guesthouse for a reasonable price. We hadn't slept in a real bed for a long time, but somehow our tent mattress had become more comfortable!
With Guillaume and Laurline, we went hiking to the famous Laguna Esmeralda — a nice walk through forest up to a stunning lagoon. Without big backpacks, we felt incredibly light 😉
Buenos Aires, Je Suis Raclette, and Flying Home
We could have done more around Ushuaia, but by now we were feeling the exhaustion of the end of a world trip. We enjoyed the guesthouse, watched series, ate good meals. Then a taxi to the airport.
We spent one night in Buenos Aires city centre — a good plan to walk around and feel the atmosphere of this big city. And of course, we spotted "Je Suis Raclette" on the street. If we weren't flying home in two days, OF COURSE we could have eaten there ;-)
Today, we took an Uber to our hotel near the airport. Tomorrow will be the last day of this incredible world trip. Let's go back to Europe!
November 19–26, 2018