Day 14 - Strait to Santiago

One of the big accomplishments of the conversation the previous evening had been to arrange transportation to the airport. José Miguel, being connected in the Punta Arenas tourism world, scheduled a cab for us at noon the next day.

Knowing that that airport transportation was under control, we slept in a bit the next morning. We got up, showered, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, with CNN International playing on the TV in the background -- just one example of the numerous little steps our hosts had taken to make us feel comfortable and welcome.

So we strolled east one block, and then down the Avenida Cristobal Colón toward the fabled treacherous waters of the Strait of Magellan. Anyone with a passing interest in history could tell you that the water and land near Punta Arenas is notorious. Quick direct translations of a few nearby sites will give you the same idea: Land of the fire (Tierra del Fuego), Port Famine (Puerto Hambre), Sound of Last Hope (Seno Ultima Esperanza). But on the late spring day that we were there, the sun was shining, and the water was like glass.

So we walked right up, reached our hands off the end of the continent, and dipped them into the Strait. (To give credit where due, we got the idea from Becky). We also paused to enjoy the weathered playground at the end of the boulevard, and a number of the monuments honoring various people who had passed through, facing weather far worse than we saw.


http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555604843UMWWgo

Other than that, it was a relatively uneventful day of travel. The cab to the airport showed up at noon exactly. I mean 12:00 to the second. For all the talk about Chileans having a different interpretation of punctuality...

With the sunny and clear skies, we had spectacular views from the plane. Similar glaciers that looked mammothly static from the ground took on new, dynamic characteristics when viewed from above, where the debris that they had been grinding off mountainsides was striped along their axis of motion.

Pictures from the plane (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555615797BboAMv)

At Santiago, we picked up the rental car. Budget Rent-A-Car operates in a very similar manner in Chile as it does here. Which was good, because even with a couple weeks of exercise, our Spanish skills could not keep pace with the agent that was helping us.

Our trusty steed for the next few days was to be a 5 speed Peugeot 206. While the French supermini was cute, we couldn't even fit half of our baggage in the trunk. It's no wonder roadtrips are less common in Europe...

Only a few wrong turns later -- always listen to your navigator -- and we were back at Pablo's apartment.

We met up with Morgan to share one last bottle of Chilean wine before she flew back, and then called it a night.