Sitting at the travelagency attached to the more civilised hostel next to my supremely and deliciously uncivilised one. Have just booked 2 nights at the refugio in the most gloriously wonderful natural park in the world if all the hype is to be believed. Also an ice walk over Glacier Grey. Then back here and then... I´ve booked a bed on the cargo/cruise boat that goes up the coast through the fjords. Starting next Monday and arriving at Puerto Montt on Friday the 13th. If I survive all that then I´ll see about how to fill in my last 2 weeks. I´m going to have to pay about 50 million pesos or something for this fake cruise but it works out at 100 US$ a day for the boat including all meals, bed, films, lectures, glaciers, herds of wildebeest (oh no, wrong continent) wall-to-wall penguins(? actually I think rumours of penguins are probably exaggerated, I haven´t seen a single one up till now...). I would have probably been too mean to pay it if I hadn´t talked to the organised Scandinavian last night who pointed out that for a similar boat trip in Norway you´d pay about $100 an hour, let alone per day. Chatwin´s book ended with him waiting for a ferry from here (or was it Punta Arenas??) so I think it would be good to leave by boat.
Anyway, may be offline for a while as I´m leaving for the park tomorrow morning and won´t be back till late Thursday. Or maybe Friday... have just had an idea to spend another night in the park now that I know when the boat leaves. Off to consult the big map on the wall.
