Travelling on to Puerto Natales …nearly running out of fuel and wild camping near the Magellan straights . As always Ceri’s comments have the real story.
One thought on “Travelling on to Puerto Natales …nearly running out of fuel and wild camping near the Magellan straights . As always Ceri’s comments have the real story.”
29th January – Neil’s naked laundry
Day 43
Today turned out to be laundry day as Neil returned from his early morning shave almost naked. The camping facilities were so good and the water so hot that he stripped down and washed all his clothes from yesterday’s dusty hike. He returned hiding his modesty with a tiny towel.
Fully dressed, I followed his example. We draped our clothes over trees and they dried as the wind blasted the moisture out of them.
We were sooooo lucky with the yesterday’s weather for our walk having no wind or rain. Today the wind has returned with a vengeance and the rain followed. Earlier a long low rainbow reached across the valley bathed in the early morning sun, but disappeared leaving the mountains hiding behind dense dark clouds.
We drove away with the interior of the van resembling a Chinese laundry airing our jumpers and heavy socks.
Through driving rain, we weaved our way along muddy roads around the perimeter of the lake and found a very pretty hotel tucked into a tiny island. As we walked across long old wooden bridge,we could see the freezing water through gaps in the rotting wood. But safely across we enjoyed great wifi and a delicious lunchtime glass of beer.
Our beautiful Torres del Paine park was painted grey with rain, so we returned to our previous picturesque free camp area where once again we’re the only vehicle.
After another home cooked supper, Neil read about William Greenwood’s Patagonian exploits. Throughout the night the wind rocked our campervan and howled through the mountains. We were safe and warm.
30th Jan – Puerto Natales
Day 44
We set off again in rain but it stopped as soon as we drove away from the mountains. Once again we were driving in desert scrubland towards Puerto Natales. We’d found a popular campsite there and were very much looking forward to HOT SHOWERS!!
On the way we past the Mylodon’s cave. It was a huge deep cave which had given shelter to many prehistoric animals and tribesmen thousands of years ago. It had been excavated and was found to be full of enough artefacts to keep archeologists and anthropologists happy for years. The now extinct Mylodon was like a harmless vegetarian bear which roamed these plains in large numbers with the dinosaurs. Climate change and being hunted by humans probably caused their extinction thousands of years ago.
Puerto Natales is a pretty fishing and trading port on the Magellan straights. It was used largely to transport meat from the extensive sheep and cattle estancias in the area. Now it has adapted itself to cater for the many mountaineers and trekkers who use it as a base before setting off into Torres del Paine. It’s quaint corrugated iron houses and shops are painted in vivid colours with pretty restaurants along many streets.
We found our campsite rather odd. A former mountain guide Carlos had converted his back garden into a campsite for tents and the spot for a campervan was his drive! But he was so friendly and enthusiastic and his renowned shower block was as clean and modern as expected and the welcome shower was piping hot.
Once freshened up, organised and clean, we wandered through the town of Puerto Natales. We visited a fascinating museum where we learnt about the lives of early pioneers, and the local Indians and their culture. It explained the whole story of how the Indians lived, how they used the Guanacos (llamas) for furs, food, implements etc, and also the stories of the pioneer settlers who came from Europe.
We read of the brave and resourceful women in the 1800s who came out from England in search of their husbands who had run off. Most never found these irresponsible men so built their own homes using the tin flattened from huge paints tins and whatever spare materials they could scavenge. Many of these homes are still standing and some even occupied.
We started the evening in a homely restaurant by enjoying a delicious cocktail called a Pisco sour which Neil remembered enjoying 40 years ago. It was rather potent and so delicious, we had two!
The restaurant next door was a typical Chilean restaurant and had looked very warm and inviting with a lamb being roasted over a big open fire in the corner of the room. I chose the restaurant’s recommended meal which turned out to be a rather large plateful of meat. That’s all! It was the most delicious lamb I’ve ever tasted, but to have no veggies? Neil’s smoked salmon and salad was far more sensible and delicious and I did feel rather naughty. But after enjoying a bottle of smooth Malbec, all was well!! May I’ll eat just veggies for the next few days.
We returned to our campervan in Carlos’s drive and slept quite well. But whilst functional and friendly, but we’d been spoilt by camping in such lovely open spaces that we decided to move on.
31st Jan – Magellan Straights
Day 45
It was a pretty long drive along the Magellan Straights to get to Tierra del Fuego. When we got to the place where the map indicated at petrol station, it didn’t exist!
It looked like we were going to run out of petrol again, which was a bit frustrating as this was oil country. We’d followed miles and miles of oil pipelines, passing nodding donkeys and containers being pumped full of oil.
Eventually we found a tanker parked outside a cafe, so Neil went in and found the driver having his coffee break. Such a nice man. He came out to look at our fuel gauge and assured us, that with our 10L spare tank, we’d make it to the next petrol station. Fortunately he was right. Phew! That’s the second time we used our petrol container.
Night was drawing in, so after many hours of driving along the windy Magellan straights, we found a tiny track leading away from the road to the coast. It was a perfect spot to wild camp, unseen from the road and far enough away not to hear the thunder of oil tankers driving by.
There was a curious little beach shack on this pebbled stretch of beach, made from corrugated iron, drift wood and other debris washed up on the beach. But there was a solar panel on its roof and signs of electrical equipment inside so it was obviously someone’s beach shack, but no one was home fortunately.
By now, I’d become pretty competent and even happy at cooking and washing up completely inside the van away from wind and rain. We enjoyed our G&T sitting in the front seats watching the seabirds battling against the force of the wind as the sun dipped towards the purple horizon. Despite the constant wind battering the sides of our van, again we slept like babies.
South America 
29th January – Neil’s naked laundry
Day 43
Today turned out to be laundry day as Neil returned from his early morning shave almost naked. The camping facilities were so good and the water so hot that he stripped down and washed all his clothes from yesterday’s dusty hike. He returned hiding his modesty with a tiny towel.
Fully dressed, I followed his example. We draped our clothes over trees and they dried as the wind blasted the moisture out of them.
We were sooooo lucky with the yesterday’s weather for our walk having no wind or rain. Today the wind has returned with a vengeance and the rain followed. Earlier a long low rainbow reached across the valley bathed in the early morning sun, but disappeared leaving the mountains hiding behind dense dark clouds.
We drove away with the interior of the van resembling a Chinese laundry airing our jumpers and heavy socks.
Through driving rain, we weaved our way along muddy roads around the perimeter of the lake and found a very pretty hotel tucked into a tiny island. As we walked across long old wooden bridge,we could see the freezing water through gaps in the rotting wood. But safely across we enjoyed great wifi and a delicious lunchtime glass of beer.
Our beautiful Torres del Paine park was painted grey with rain, so we returned to our previous picturesque free camp area where once again we’re the only vehicle.
After another home cooked supper, Neil read about William Greenwood’s Patagonian exploits. Throughout the night the wind rocked our campervan and howled through the mountains. We were safe and warm.
30th Jan – Puerto Natales
Day 44
We set off again in rain but it stopped as soon as we drove away from the mountains. Once again we were driving in desert scrubland towards Puerto Natales. We’d found a popular campsite there and were very much looking forward to HOT SHOWERS!!
On the way we past the Mylodon’s cave. It was a huge deep cave which had given shelter to many prehistoric animals and tribesmen thousands of years ago. It had been excavated and was found to be full of enough artefacts to keep archeologists and anthropologists happy for years. The now extinct Mylodon was like a harmless vegetarian bear which roamed these plains in large numbers with the dinosaurs. Climate change and being hunted by humans probably caused their extinction thousands of years ago.
Puerto Natales is a pretty fishing and trading port on the Magellan straights. It was used largely to transport meat from the extensive sheep and cattle estancias in the area. Now it has adapted itself to cater for the many mountaineers and trekkers who use it as a base before setting off into Torres del Paine. It’s quaint corrugated iron houses and shops are painted in vivid colours with pretty restaurants along many streets.
We found our campsite rather odd. A former mountain guide Carlos had converted his back garden into a campsite for tents and the spot for a campervan was his drive! But he was so friendly and enthusiastic and his renowned shower block was as clean and modern as expected and the welcome shower was piping hot.
Once freshened up, organised and clean, we wandered through the town of Puerto Natales. We visited a fascinating museum where we learnt about the lives of early pioneers, and the local Indians and their culture. It explained the whole story of how the Indians lived, how they used the Guanacos (llamas) for furs, food, implements etc, and also the stories of the pioneer settlers who came from Europe.
We read of the brave and resourceful women in the 1800s who came out from England in search of their husbands who had run off. Most never found these irresponsible men so built their own homes using the tin flattened from huge paints tins and whatever spare materials they could scavenge. Many of these homes are still standing and some even occupied.
We started the evening in a homely restaurant by enjoying a delicious cocktail called a Pisco sour which Neil remembered enjoying 40 years ago. It was rather potent and so delicious, we had two!
The restaurant next door was a typical Chilean restaurant and had looked very warm and inviting with a lamb being roasted over a big open fire in the corner of the room. I chose the restaurant’s recommended meal which turned out to be a rather large plateful of meat. That’s all! It was the most delicious lamb I’ve ever tasted, but to have no veggies? Neil’s smoked salmon and salad was far more sensible and delicious and I did feel rather naughty. But after enjoying a bottle of smooth Malbec, all was well!! May I’ll eat just veggies for the next few days.
We returned to our campervan in Carlos’s drive and slept quite well. But whilst functional and friendly, but we’d been spoilt by camping in such lovely open spaces that we decided to move on.
31st Jan – Magellan Straights
Day 45
It was a pretty long drive along the Magellan Straights to get to Tierra del Fuego. When we got to the place where the map indicated at petrol station, it didn’t exist!
It looked like we were going to run out of petrol again, which was a bit frustrating as this was oil country. We’d followed miles and miles of oil pipelines, passing nodding donkeys and containers being pumped full of oil.
Eventually we found a tanker parked outside a cafe, so Neil went in and found the driver having his coffee break. Such a nice man. He came out to look at our fuel gauge and assured us, that with our 10L spare tank, we’d make it to the next petrol station. Fortunately he was right. Phew! That’s the second time we used our petrol container.
Night was drawing in, so after many hours of driving along the windy Magellan straights, we found a tiny track leading away from the road to the coast. It was a perfect spot to wild camp, unseen from the road and far enough away not to hear the thunder of oil tankers driving by.
There was a curious little beach shack on this pebbled stretch of beach, made from corrugated iron, drift wood and other debris washed up on the beach. But there was a solar panel on its roof and signs of electrical equipment inside so it was obviously someone’s beach shack, but no one was home fortunately.
By now, I’d become pretty competent and even happy at cooking and washing up completely inside the van away from wind and rain. We enjoyed our G&T sitting in the front seats watching the seabirds battling against the force of the wind as the sun dipped towards the purple horizon. Despite the constant wind battering the sides of our van, again we slept like babies.
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