Spent an idyllic morning on a bench in the sun in the harbour reading Darwin's ' Voyage of the Beagle' in preparatation for my own voyage up the coast. I was hoping to see the Navimag boat sail into the harbour and be one of the first on board to get my first choice of beds in whatever hellhole they put the steerage passengers in. However morning turned into afternoon and my tangerines and water had run out and there was still no sign of a boat bigger than a fishing vessel so I was thinking of going across to the loading offices and asking what time it was expected when a young guy who was hanging about came and asked me if I was waiting for the boat.
When I said yes he told me that it was delayed and boarding wouldn't be till the next day. We had a whole conversation (in English) about whether he was going to get a ticket and if it would be possible to get a lift with one of the truck drivers and how he didn't have much money left because he'd been to the Antarctic in February on a last minute 50% discount trip. I was just about to go and sort out my extra night's accommodation in the town when I asked him where he came from originally as I couldn't place his accent. Eindhoven... so we switched to Dutch and had a whole different conversation. I left him contemplating which of the gathering truck drivers he could best approach and I went off to get the official word on the boat departure time.
Was told the boat won't arrive till early (2.30) tomorrow morning and that passenger boarding is tomorrow between 9.00 and 13.00, leaving Puerto Natales at 16.30. I asked if there was any compensation as I now have to pay for an extra night in town when I should have been on the boat. He just laughed at first saying that's not how Navimag works but then he thought about it and said he could upgrade my ticket from A to C class if I liked. Well, yes please! I've no idea what this means in real terms but it sounds like an improvement anyway. It's end of season so the boat isn't full so that's the reason he has extra cabins to be generous with.
Actually I don't mind having an extra night in town. I was thinking that I'd forgotten to buy a Black Sheep t-shirt (printed by the people who publish Patagonia's Travel Magazine - and I had a lot of useful tips from their free talk the day before I went to the glacier in the national park). And it might be good to take some fruit on the boat if the food on board is anything like on the buses. (Adequate but definitely lacking in fresh fruit.)
When I said yes he told me that it was delayed and boarding wouldn't be till the next day. We had a whole conversation (in English) about whether he was going to get a ticket and if it would be possible to get a lift with one of the truck drivers and how he didn't have much money left because he'd been to the Antarctic in February on a last minute 50% discount trip. I was just about to go and sort out my extra night's accommodation in the town when I asked him where he came from originally as I couldn't place his accent. Eindhoven... so we switched to Dutch and had a whole different conversation. I left him contemplating which of the gathering truck drivers he could best approach and I went off to get the official word on the boat departure time.
Was told the boat won't arrive till early (2.30) tomorrow morning and that passenger boarding is tomorrow between 9.00 and 13.00, leaving Puerto Natales at 16.30. I asked if there was any compensation as I now have to pay for an extra night in town when I should have been on the boat. He just laughed at first saying that's not how Navimag works but then he thought about it and said he could upgrade my ticket from A to C class if I liked. Well, yes please! I've no idea what this means in real terms but it sounds like an improvement anyway. It's end of season so the boat isn't full so that's the reason he has extra cabins to be generous with.
Actually I don't mind having an extra night in town. I was thinking that I'd forgotten to buy a Black Sheep t-shirt (printed by the people who publish Patagonia's Travel Magazine - and I had a lot of useful tips from their free talk the day before I went to the glacier in the national park). And it might be good to take some fruit on the boat if the food on board is anything like on the buses. (Adequate but definitely lacking in fresh fruit.)
