Valdivia and Navimag

PRE-AMBLE/RAMBLE

We know, we know – we’ve been pretty slack with our blogging! But in our defense we have been in places of the earth where – gasp – they do not have the intar worldy webnet; plus we’ve also mastered the art of manana, manana. But to make amends we have decided that this will be declared the official Chelle and Ben blog catch up week. We’ve been bunkered up in our hostel with fingers on the keyboard furiously working, and we’ve got 4 blogs to upload: Valdivia and Navimag; Torres Del Paine Part 1 and 2; El Calafate, Route 40 and El Chalten. To save you being blog-bombed we are going to publish one blog per day in the next 4 days! So take a sickie or tell the boss it’s a national holiday, and hopefully enjoy the reading! First, onto Valdivia …

Valdivia
February 1 – February 3 (3 days)

After leaving Pucon, we stopped off for a short stay in the river city of Valdivia on our way down to catch the Navimag Ferry. The bible of travel (The Lonely Planet!) describes Valdivia as one of Chile’s “most attractive and enjoyable cities” and it really did live up to this description.

During our 3 days in Valdivia we enjoyed:

• A river cruise under a perfect blue summer’s sky. We thought it was perfectly reasonable to ask for a nice glass of chilled wine to enjoy as we cruised along, only to be disappointed to find out it was a coffee only bar!

Beautiful Valdivia

Cruising the Valdivian river on a beautiful summer's day

• Riverside life. It was lovely walking by the river, where young lovers stroll hand in hand and ice-cream peddlers push their carts up and down feeding the tourist masses their holiday ice-creams.

• Watching the famous Sea Lions of Valdivia bask in the sun. Amazingly it turns out that Ben can speak Sea Lionese- see the photo of Ben connecting with Bob the Sea Lion. Sea-Lions can be seen relaxing all up and down the river banks in Valdivia, as well as on special pontoons built for them.

Sea-lions hanging out

Ben communicating with Bob the Sea Lion!

Bob soaking up some rays!

• Our first “Couch Surfing” experience. ‘Couch surfing’ (http://www.couchsurfing.com) is a way of connecting with locals who show you around their town, and let you crash on their couch for a few nights or if you are lucky in a spare bedroom. We met Rod and Jenny through couch surfing. They picked us up at our hostel and took us out for dinner to the Kuntsman Brewery (not a German beer as the name suggests, but a locally brewed Chilean beer).They insisted that we all share a 3litre tube-thing (not it’s official name!) of beer with our meal, and being the courteous guests that we are we couldn’t possibly decline! What we really should have declined though was the beer ice-cream desert. Beer is really not meant to be enjoyed in flavours of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice-cream. Our stomachs churn at the memory! The next night we stayed at their place, and in return for their lovely hospitality we cooked them up a big vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie. Not wanting to appear immodest in any way, but we could have won Master Chef with our effort! Delicious!

Rod and Ben enjoying the final Shepherd's pie masterpiece!

Trying beer ice-cream

At the Kuntsman Brewery with Rod and Jenny in Valdivia

Check it out!!

Cooking up a storm at Rod and Jenny's

Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas
February 3 - February 4 (2 days)

Not much to say about these two towns, except Puerto Montt is a bit of a hole, and we are sure that Puerto Varas is a lovely town however we only got to spend 1 day here and it was miserable weather. Moving on quickly to the good stuff.....Navimag!

The Navimag Experience
February 5 - 8 (4 days)

Our Navimag experience was everything we hoped it would be, and we can’t thank our friends and family who contributed towards this as our engagement present enough! It has been a real highlight of our trip so far, not only because of the beautiful scenery, the fun experience of being on a cargo-passenger ship, and the opportunity to relax and enjoy lots of card games, but also because of the wonderful new friends we met who became our little Navimag Family.

DAY 1:
• Check in and departure. A smooth, easy, well-organised check in and departure (except that we were late as always!)

About to board and super excited!

Thumbs up, we're ready for departure!

View of the navimag as we approach on our return from Puerto Eden

• Our BB cabin. We stayed in the BB cabin which is a 4 person berth with a window and shared bathroom. The bathroom was shared with all the other BB cabins as well as C class, so really the only difference between the BB cabin and C class was that we had a door we could close for privacy and the C class berths were in a fluorescent lit hallway with only a curtain that they could pull across their bunk for privacy. Still, our friends who were staying in the C class berths had no complaints, because we really spent no time at all in the berths except to sleep.

Our tiny 'BB' berth!

• Tour of the ship. The Navimag is a cargo-passenger ship, so we waited while all the cargo was loaded and finalised. The basic layout of the ship is the lower level is full of cargo and cars, the next level contains the berths, the middle level has the cafeteria and mess hall for movie nights and the informative talks they provide during the day, and the upper level has the lounge and bar area, with a big open deck at the front and back of the ship.

The Navimag Ferry

The Navimag Ferry front view

• First afternoon and night. By the time we had jumped up and down on the deck with excitement, unpacked, toured the boat, attended an introductory talk and watched seedy Puerto Montt disappear, it was dinner time. Meals were served in a high-school styled cafeteria, and the passengers were split into 2 groups who ate at different times so that we could all get a seat and table. Despite having low expectations of the food, we were pleasantly surprised to find the vegetarian food well prepared and tasty. As the trip went on, people commented that they wished they had ordered vegetarian meals as the standard meals tended to lack fresh vegetables. We opened up our bottle of wine that we had brought on board with us, and enjoyed the meal followed by a Chilean movie.

Our first meal on board the ships high-school like cafeteria!

Eating in with Panchita.

Day 2:

• Early morning wake up. We know we have adjusted to South American time when 8am is considered a very early morning! An announcement over the loud speaker that breakfast had started woke us at 8am. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, cereal and fudge brownies (a nice break from white bread with jam, and sliced cheese!)

• Weather and scenery; It was wet, windy and cold out on deck (typical Patagonian weather unfortunately), so we spent short bursts outside watching the low clouds slowly lift to reveal the river hugging mountains. Occasionally through the mist we could see a waterfall plunging down a mountain into the river below. The snow capped mountains would reveal themselves briefly as the clouds parted, and it was all quite mystical as the scenery unveiled itself through the fog.

Out on deck enjoying the view

All aboard the navimag viewing deck

1,2,3 smile!

Gusty winds

• Playing cards and chilling out. As the day went on we retired to the lounge area, where Ben played cards with our great new friends Terry and Don, and I sunk into one of the big comfy lounges and read and wrote in my journal.

When it wasn't cards, it was writing in the journal or reading.

Card games kept us entertained for most of the trip!

• Choppy seas and a stormy sunset. At about 4pm we moved out of the sheltered channel and into the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean. We spent some time on deck watching the waves crash, and trying to keep our balance as the boat rolled from side to side. Ben and I decided to take sea-sick tablets as a precaution, and they pretty much knocked us out for the rest of the evening and night. We emerged briefly for dinner, although Ben couldn’t stomach the creamy pasta and was quickly back in bed. You really had to hold onto the railings as you walked around the ship, and sleeping in bed that night was an experience as we rolled softly with the waves. We found out the next morning that we had had a very calm journey, so I can’t imagine how bad it must actually get in rougher seas!

Entering rough seas as we pass through the Pacific Ocean

Having fun as the waves crash

A stormy sunset over the Pacific Ocean

Day 3:

• Sleep in and no breakfast. The sea-sick pills really knocked us out and we slept through the call to breakfast. Not a bad decision as it was white bread with sliced ham and cheese.

• Excursion to the tiny town of Puerto Eden. We opted to take the excursion out to visit Puerto Eden, even though the weather was cold and wet. We all had to wear a sexy, bright orange life vest and were piled like sardines into little life boats that putted us into the wind-swept port town. It was a fun little excursion though, and we enjoyed the walk through their national park up to a small hill top for a view of the place, and then along the riverside where colourful local fishing boats docked.

Waiting on deck to board into the little life boats for Puerto Eden

Everyone had to wear bright orange life jackets for the Puerto Eden excursion

Puerto Eden's very own 'Titanic'!

Puerto Eden

• Asshole (the card game!). We got back to the ship and took up a position with our new friends (the Navimag gang!) at one of the card tables in the lounge area. We had a great time playing “Asshole” which is a dangerous card game for the looser, who becomes the “asshole” and has to do what is ordered of them by the winner, or “president”. In my frequent role as asshole I did 10 push ups, swum like Ian Thorpe on the floor, and performed a belly dancing routine, all to the amusement, or perhaps bewilderment, of the other guests in the lounge area. Ben didn’t escape the asshole experience either though- he had to perform an American cheerleader routine, and do an impression of a Gay Hairdresser selling a new product!

A serious game of asshole!

More cards!

• Viewing the world’s 3rd largest temperate glacier. At about 5pm we came to the beautiful glacier. It was spectacular getting right up close to it, and seeing the different colourful layers. The bottom was a deep blue (the old ice), the middle section was opaque, and the top section was white (all the new ice). There were floating ice-bergs in front of the glacier, which moved quickly with the current. It was so unbelievably cold and windy out on deck, and our hands felt numb through our gloves and moving our lips to talk was difficult! But being that close to such a beautiful glacier was awe-inspiring, and we persisted through the bleak weather. It was easy to imagine how early explorers thought they were coming towards the end of the world when they sailed this far south.

Approaching the glacier

Chunks of floating ice

The glacier

So, so bitterly cold on deck viewing the glacier!

Woohoo!

• Glacier ice for the whisky. As we were watching the glacier, a little boat set off from our ship and went right up to the glacier, where the men on board chiselled off a large chunk of glacier ice. They brought the ice back onboard the ship and took it to the bar, where it was broken into smaller chunks. There was a surge at the bar as people ordered a whisky served on Glacier ice. Ben was in heaven!

Bringing the glacier ice to the bar- he was a popular man!

Chucks of glacier ice for the bar!

Ben enjoying glacier ice in his whisky!

• Party night. There was a real festive mood on board the boat for our final night. We enjoyed playing more cards until dinner. Later in the night there was a BINGO game, which we all took part in, although without any luck! After BINGO the lounge area turned into a big dance floor, and we alternated between boogying away to western retro tunes, and then attempting to dance to Latino rhythms, without much luck I have to say!

Hanging out with Terry and Don

B-I-N-G-O night!

Day 4:

• Sunshine. The sun finally came out for our last day, allowing us to cruise into Puerto Natales under a summer sky surrounded by snow capped mountains.

Finally, a bit of sunshine!

Ben and I on the final day

Passing snow capped mountains

The morning sky

Passing through narrow channels

Never an opportunity for a pick up and spin to be missed!

• The Captain’s Cabin. The captain allowed the passengers to spend time up in his cabin, which was a great way to enjoy the view while being sheltered from the persistent Patagonian winds.

Hanging out with the captain!

• Puerto Natales. After a fun 3 nights and 4 days we pulled into the lovely town of Puerto Natales. Although it was sad saying goodbye to the Navimag experience, we knew that we had made some lifelong friendships and celebrated with a Navimag Gang dinner in town that night.

The Navimag gang out to dinner in Puerto Natales