...yet. we are a little confused, you see, we arrived here thinking that this part of very south america would be a 5 hour time difference from home. crazy to think that we are that far east when in my head the tip of south america seems like it is directly below oregon - never was that great at geography. anyway, i guess last year they did the daylight savings time spring forward in march and this year it will not be until april. as a result, all of the computers, cell phones, etc here say it is an hour earlier than it actually this.
this made for a bit of confusion when setting our alarm to wake for breakfast in the morning. we set it an hour early in anticipation of the time change, thinking we had mastered the system - and then our alarm didnt go off... or we didnt hear it. either way we woke up at 10:30 per my cell phone, so actually 11:30 here - guess we needed the sleep. fortunately the hostel staff is amazing and had left breakfast food out for us. toast with dulce de leche, cereal (something i missed so much in ecuador - here they must have had enough tourists ask about it that they started serving it), and pretty darn good coffee, not to mention crepes they brought out to us, even though we were an hour after breakfast had technically ended. this is vacay, i guess we should be able to eat breakfast at noon if we want :)
off to adventure! much to do in punta arenas and we only have today!
xo
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
small world
we settled in at the hostel, very adorable with great reviews and recommended by a friend. next, we set out to explore - first stop, the ocean! or more accurately the shores of the straight of magellan (which pete would like you to know is the gateway to the atlantic... but then he just informed me he made this up - sounds good though).
the clouds here are mindblowing and i get the sense today was not a particularly special cloud day - they are spectacular shades of grey and blue in every cloud variation i could name for you back in middle school when we learned such awesomely trivial facts (cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus, etc)...
we strolled the beaches at first searching for shells - i voiced curiosity about shell abundance as soon as we reached the water's edge, at which moment i found a perfectly lovely whole seashell. but after this there was not a shell to be found for the rest of our walk and we transitioned to hunting for sea glass, a particularly abundant beach garnish on this sadly, quite polluted, sandy shore. not long after we started our stroll we were joined by a pack of beach dogs. now, if i were a stray, i would definitely be a beach bum dog :) they were friendly and playful and each very beautiful with such personality, i barely resisted bringing them back to the hostel with us (and they walked by our side so obediently it could have been possible, but the two adorable hostel dogs here would likely not be too thrilled at the prospect of more competition for pats and scratches).
we walked through town and up a hill to reach an awesome viewpoint overlooking punta arenas. the rooftops are all so colorful, creating a rainbow mosaic leading up to the blue water horizon. at the overlook there were 3 tall posts with signs nailed up and down them pointing in the direction of random places around the world - the closest we noticed to home was texas, but there were tons of locations and signs, including a small arrow pointing left and labled simply god (which is apparently in hungary).
dinner was at a restaurant near our hostel recommended to us by our kind taxi driver, who i refreshed my limited spanish skills with on our 20 minute drive from the airport... we got seafood stews for dinner so loaded with every kind of sea creature you could imagine that i had to take half of mine to go! on the short walk home we remarked on a dog using a crosswalk and green walk signal to cross the street. he came over to say hi and sniffed my "doggie bag" - if you know me im sure you can guess what happened next. smart dog got a feast for dinner and i wasnt really going to eat those leftovers anyway ;)
ok, quick note on the reason i titled this blog small world.... when we arrived at our hostel there was a young girl working the front desk who excellent english to us. we were asking a few questions about how she ended up here and turns out she was born in switzerland but raised in tanzania. i told her i spent a summer in arusha a couple years ago and she said that is where she grew up! so i spoke some of my token swahili phrases (im cool like a banana in the fridge - what else would you want to learn in another language¿ ...hmm i can only find the upsidedown question mark on this keyboard, it will have to do)... anyway, so after that small world moment we are back at the hostel in the evening talking with the owner, mariscolś (i also apparently cannot figure out the apostrophy, just how to make it go over the next letter i type, oh well...), husband, sebastian, and he is talking about erratic rock (the hostel we will stay at in puerto natales), and how he really good friends with the owners (who are from salem, OR!!), and I say i know a girl who works there, trisha, and he says he was just on the phone with her and anyway, just a lot of small world stuff so far from home...
and speaking of, it is time for bed but i just have to remark that we are 7456 miles from portland and im feeling right at home in this sweet, tiny hostel...
the clouds here are mindblowing and i get the sense today was not a particularly special cloud day - they are spectacular shades of grey and blue in every cloud variation i could name for you back in middle school when we learned such awesomely trivial facts (cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus, etc)...
we strolled the beaches at first searching for shells - i voiced curiosity about shell abundance as soon as we reached the water's edge, at which moment i found a perfectly lovely whole seashell. but after this there was not a shell to be found for the rest of our walk and we transitioned to hunting for sea glass, a particularly abundant beach garnish on this sadly, quite polluted, sandy shore. not long after we started our stroll we were joined by a pack of beach dogs. now, if i were a stray, i would definitely be a beach bum dog :) they were friendly and playful and each very beautiful with such personality, i barely resisted bringing them back to the hostel with us (and they walked by our side so obediently it could have been possible, but the two adorable hostel dogs here would likely not be too thrilled at the prospect of more competition for pats and scratches).
we walked through town and up a hill to reach an awesome viewpoint overlooking punta arenas. the rooftops are all so colorful, creating a rainbow mosaic leading up to the blue water horizon. at the overlook there were 3 tall posts with signs nailed up and down them pointing in the direction of random places around the world - the closest we noticed to home was texas, but there were tons of locations and signs, including a small arrow pointing left and labled simply god (which is apparently in hungary).
dinner was at a restaurant near our hostel recommended to us by our kind taxi driver, who i refreshed my limited spanish skills with on our 20 minute drive from the airport... we got seafood stews for dinner so loaded with every kind of sea creature you could imagine that i had to take half of mine to go! on the short walk home we remarked on a dog using a crosswalk and green walk signal to cross the street. he came over to say hi and sniffed my "doggie bag" - if you know me im sure you can guess what happened next. smart dog got a feast for dinner and i wasnt really going to eat those leftovers anyway ;)
ok, quick note on the reason i titled this blog small world.... when we arrived at our hostel there was a young girl working the front desk who excellent english to us. we were asking a few questions about how she ended up here and turns out she was born in switzerland but raised in tanzania. i told her i spent a summer in arusha a couple years ago and she said that is where she grew up! so i spoke some of my token swahili phrases (im cool like a banana in the fridge - what else would you want to learn in another language¿ ...hmm i can only find the upsidedown question mark on this keyboard, it will have to do)... anyway, so after that small world moment we are back at the hostel in the evening talking with the owner, mariscolś (i also apparently cannot figure out the apostrophy, just how to make it go over the next letter i type, oh well...), husband, sebastian, and he is talking about erratic rock (the hostel we will stay at in puerto natales), and how he really good friends with the owners (who are from salem, OR!!), and I say i know a girl who works there, trisha, and he says he was just on the phone with her and anyway, just a lot of small world stuff so far from home...
and speaking of, it is time for bed but i just have to remark that we are 7456 miles from portland and im feeling right at home in this sweet, tiny hostel...
punta arenas
27 hours later we are safe and sound in our hostel, hospedaje magellanes, in punta arenas. made it through all security and customs checks along the way unscathed and only hurting a little from the $160 per person fee to enter chile. out to explore punta arenas now, just wanted everyone to know we made it safe with all of our gear and importantly, every last piece of food (in particular, the chocolate we brought along)... already the spanish i learned in ecuador is coming in very handy! will write more soon!
hasta luego!
linds & pete
hasta luego!
linds & pete
Sunday, March 17, 2013
boredom
pete and i are traveling with arguably the maximum baggage anyone is ever allowed to carry onto a flight... we got the classic "if you can fit your bags into that metal frame you can take them on the plane" line before boarding for our first flight began - cute. our backpacking packs clearly exceed regulation carry-on size. we attempted to 'curbside' check them, which was offered free of charge, but because we are headed to santiago we were told not to check the packs. returning to board the plane we snuck through original cranky metal frame man (i think only because he thought we had actually checked the bags and were just carrying them down to leave them before entering the plane - the second he let us through we disappeared so fast there wasnt time for him to notice our lack of baggage tags on the packs - so sneaky!!), and with some effort stuffed our bags into the overhead compartement. what a relief. we have so much critical gear in these bags (our tent, sleeping bags, stove, water purifier, etc.), i'd rather not part with them.
in lax we began our training for our upcoming treks - we seriously walked a couple of miles in search of the international terminal (did you know there are 100s of gates at this massive airport?! we are at gate 123). this meant leaving the domestic airport and hiking outside in the dense LA smog until we had to go through security (yes, again, lucky us), to finally reach our destination gate.
now here's a blaring difference between pdx airport and lax airport. pete has our tent in his pack, which security in portland didn't think twice about - the metal poles bundled together are obviously not a weapon, (the "obviously" condition is, of course, that you must see tents regularly to recognize the metal poles as harmless camping gear). in lax i was there when pete's bag flashed across the x-ray machine and the reaction was so concerned that i actually interjected that it was a tent for fear that they might bring in the bomb squad if i didnt say something. despite our explanation they had to take out the tent (which would not have happened if pete had not explained how to open his pack - apparently backpacking packs are a rarity here too), unfold it completely, and rescan everything - makes you feel real safe in the airport, dont it? ;)
we stopped for our last u.s. meal - a tuna sandwich - $10.56 (are you kidding me?!), before our flight down to santiago then on to punta arenas. wish us luck in customs, we hear they can be tough down there and im just hoping they arent hungry because we have a lot of delicious looking food with us :)
in lax we began our training for our upcoming treks - we seriously walked a couple of miles in search of the international terminal (did you know there are 100s of gates at this massive airport?! we are at gate 123). this meant leaving the domestic airport and hiking outside in the dense LA smog until we had to go through security (yes, again, lucky us), to finally reach our destination gate.
now here's a blaring difference between pdx airport and lax airport. pete has our tent in his pack, which security in portland didn't think twice about - the metal poles bundled together are obviously not a weapon, (the "obviously" condition is, of course, that you must see tents regularly to recognize the metal poles as harmless camping gear). in lax i was there when pete's bag flashed across the x-ray machine and the reaction was so concerned that i actually interjected that it was a tent for fear that they might bring in the bomb squad if i didnt say something. despite our explanation they had to take out the tent (which would not have happened if pete had not explained how to open his pack - apparently backpacking packs are a rarity here too), unfold it completely, and rescan everything - makes you feel real safe in the airport, dont it? ;)
we stopped for our last u.s. meal - a tuna sandwich - $10.56 (are you kidding me?!), before our flight down to santiago then on to punta arenas. wish us luck in customs, we hear they can be tough down there and im just hoping they arent hungry because we have a lot of delicious looking food with us :)
travel
if you read ecuador's blog you know how i feel about the travel part of travel (reference portlandiatoecuador.blogspot.com)... lets just say i wish i could apparate (sp? some harry potter fan out there can correct me).
pete and i just boarded our first flight in a series of many hours of flights and we wont get to punta arenas until tomorrow... bah! i'm gonna sleep until then.
pressure by a few faithful friends is what lead to the creation of this blog, and all i will say is that blog updates will come in waves between weeks away trekking so be warned...and do not think we have disappeared if i dont post for a week.
gotta turn this thing off now but i will update a little more during our first layover...
bon voyage!!
pete and i just boarded our first flight in a series of many hours of flights and we wont get to punta arenas until tomorrow... bah! i'm gonna sleep until then.
pressure by a few faithful friends is what lead to the creation of this blog, and all i will say is that blog updates will come in waves between weeks away trekking so be warned...and do not think we have disappeared if i dont post for a week.
gotta turn this thing off now but i will update a little more during our first layover...
bon voyage!!
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