Arriving at Explora

Sunday Dec 20

We were up and out early, picked up by George (“as in Bush”), our guide, who took us to see the penguins at Seno Otway. Allegedly there are 10,000 penguins here, although we only saw several hundred. The penguins are very amusing. They mate for life, and take turns caring for the young. The mate responsible for food that week trudges back and forth down the penguin highway to the sea, where they load up with fish, and return to regurgitate it for the young. The other mate stays by the nest. Then they switch. We saw them fishing in the sea, waddling along the highway, and in the nest with their young. They always return to the same nest year after year, and we even saw one poor fella (or gal) whose nest was under the boardwalk built for tourists. This did not deter him (or her) from returning, and caring for the newborn under the tromping of Adidas and Nikes above.

Then we went on to Explora, in the Torre del Paines (“pah-EEN-es”) national park. It was quite a ride – about four hours through pampas (plains), tundra, and finally, green hills abutting stark, rocky mountains. We saw several indigenous creatures … an ostrich-like animal (but smaller), and the guanaco, a llama-like animal (but smaller).

We arrived at the Salto Chico Hotel, run by Explora, which is absolutely spectacular. It looks like a ship from the outside, and not very impressive, but inside is a very tasteful décor, modern, light, and deluxe. It is decorated with a local blond wood, and has a full side of picture windows looking out onto the massive mountains across the lake. Although the weather was stormy and drizzling during the ride, by the time we arrived it had blown over, and we had a glorious view with full sun.

They work hard to give you full service here. The pool area, for example – which includes two outdoor hot tubs, has self-service champagne! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before. In fact, all beverages including wine and spirits are included in the price, which is nice since you don’t find yourself signing bills every other minute.

We were briefed as a small group tonight by the guides, and given all our choices for tomorrow. We selected a “moderate” hike, although it is five hours of walking, because we get to see a glacier and icebergs up close. There were several harder hikes that I’m not sure I’m up for, and lots of half day hikes, all of which sounded fabulous.

Indeed, as you can tell, there is at least some internet available in the hotel. There were internet cafes even in Puerto Natales, the small town in between here and Punta Arenas. You may not be able to get Starbucks around the world, but you can get on the web!

-- Donna

PS from Lenny: Don’t get too excited, Donna – the internet access firewall won’t allow us to upload our photos to this blog, or to download our email. But I’m going to have a talk with the IT guy tomorrow….