In Patagonia

We were picked up early from our hotel to catch the 08.53 plane from Santiago to Puerto Natales in the south of Chile; a three and a half hour flight down this long, narrow country. We were seated separately because we hadn’t booked seats until yesterday, but it turned out that the two seats beside James were both free. James asked the flight attendant to fetch me which she duly did. It meant that I got lovely extra leg room and an empty seat between us. I did have to forfeit my window seat which might have had a view of the Andes but the nice American couple beside me were delighted to gain the window seat and spare seat in the row, so it was win-win. 

We were taken by car to our hotel in Puerto Natales, a little town with a frontier feel; mostly Nordic style wooden houses, a small town square, and a big harbour. It’s set on a fjord with mountains all around it, and I was delighted that the temperature was pleasantly cool compared to Santiago. The Milodon is the local prehistoric beast, remains of which were found nearby and a large statue of which greets visitors to the town. We went for a walk to the fjord and along to the fishing harbour. We were delighted to see a variety of birds as we strolled along; a small bird of prey called the Chimango Caracara, black-necked swans, branta goose, southern lapwing) There were lots of restaurants and cafés, and after a good walk around the town we ate in an excellent fish restaurant called Bote (boat) where James enjoyed the local speciality of King Crab and for dessert I tried a mousse made with Calafate berries, Patagonia's version of a blueberry. It’s small and tart and contains more seeds than a blueberry; I loved it. Another walk to the fjord ensued to watch the sun set.