Day 19 – Friday 26th October 2018
Puerto Natales
Distance travelled:-
By plane – 0
By public transport – 0
By foot – 13.7 kms/ 8.54 miles
Steps taken – 20,040
Today we had a lie in…we were entitled to it…we had a busy 5 days of early rises and little sleep so it felt good.
Once up and ready we hit Puerto Natales for one last time and spent our final day in Chile just chilling and took quite a few pictures.
We explored the town once again checking out different areas, walked the promenade and bought some food for dinner…tonight we celebrated Chile…we had chilli, in Chile when it was chilly (it wasn’t really chilly, I made that up)!
So this blog will celebrate Puerto Natales through photographs that were taken throughout the day.
A visit to the old shipyard
A burnt out pier
A colourful boat
Street Art
We have loved our stay in Chile, every single minute and we will be back for sure!
More amazing street art
Tonight Juan aka Che, the owner of the hostel sat with us for a while chatting. This guy is great, a real genuine person, who runs his hostel “for the people”….such a huge character. We were asking him a few questions about statues and murals we had seen in town so he explained their meaning.
So as we wondered the area there were many references to a mining heritage, the train, murals and statues depicting mining. He informed us that the town had a very healthy mining and sheep-rearing past which has now given way to tourism as its main activity.
Train like at ‘The Meedies’
We also heard about the meaning of the word Patagonia…Juan was telling us that when an expedition first arrived here the Europeans found some huge footprints from the Tehuelche people who inhibited the coasts of this region. Now these people didn’t really have massive feet but they wore llama-skin shoes, making their feet look big in footprints. So Patagon, literally meaning ‘Big-Feet’…became Patagonia!
And then there’s the Yaghan people, who are regarded as the southernmost people’s in the world. Statues celebrate these people throughout the streets.
The Mylodon is a huge symbol of the city, which can be seen in all the street signs, statues etc. It depicts a prehistoric herbivorous animal whose remains were found in a large cave located just outside Puerto Natales.
The myth was that The Mylodon was of tremendous size and gigantic proportions, similar to a large dinosaur.
The reality was it was estimated to be an average of two and a half meters tall, very similar to the replica below.
A smart bin, clever idea
I just loved this image
A very photogenic burnt down pier
This cross sat at the top of the town overlooking it and check out the stunning mural below it
A beautiful building
The street going along to our hostel, we very much stayed right in the centre of the local community housing which I loved
That amazing burnt down pier, again!
And in sunset
Goodbye Chile……….for now
Mary's Outdoor Adventure's 
Just on my way to bed and thought I’d check my emails and low and behold there’s Mary, Andy and their blog🌅.Beautiful photos of sunsets, love doing those in pastels .may be another project for me. Good to speak to locals as you can get the lowdown on the area. Did you tell him that your grandad was a miner.?The statue and the engine remind me of the memorials in Kelty. Look forward to your next episode.Love/God Bless. Aunty Alice xx
PS We stopped in a town in Canada called Canmore which intrigued your mum and me so we went into the local information office to find out how it came by its name but no one seemed to know. Found out later that small towns in Canada were given their name by the first person to open a Post Office there!!!
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Lol …I’m playing catch up Auntie Alice!!! Yes we try our best to ‘speak’ to them….sometimes with a lot of sign language added in also!!! Yes I did tell him that and also about the mining area we live around.
I remember mum and dad talking about the Canmore in Canada….Daryl and Corey are actually members of the Canmore Golf Club in Dunfermline so we found that interesting! Interesting stuff also though about how they are named…just goes to show! X
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Juan/Che sounds like a font of information…nice to chat to people like that. Wish you’d asked him for a photo…..would’ve been interesting to see someone with a likeness to Che. Those sunset photos are amazing. You’ve been lucky with the weather there in Chile. Puerto Natales looks an interesting fun place with all that street art. (By the way we drove up Kelty Main Street with Tony and liked the murals on a lot of the buildings) it cheers the place up!
I liked that photo of the Slowly Bar….wonder if you went in? Xx
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He was ….and the way he told his stories in Spanish/English was very funny indeed….he was also very animated….brilliant guy! I was going to ask for a photo with him aswell but didn’t but think I sneaked a sneaky photo of him 🙈🙈🙈 as he was lighting the fire..to prove how he looked liked Che…..I’ll look back and send it to you not sure how good it was.
We have been very lucky with weather everywhere really, so that’s been great actually! We are at the end of the world, next stop Antarctica and can you believe it’s colder in Kelty….now that’s funny 🙈😂
Yes the murals in Kelty, they’re everywhere. My cousins wife painted a few of them (Uncle Alex’s son’s wife Vanessa).
Unfortunately we didn’t go in to the slowly bar, if I had went in to every building I liked my travels wouldn’t have went beyond day one! 😂 X
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Sunset pictures amazing on a par with the rest of your pictures. There is always something special when looking at the sunset at the end of a lovey day. When your taking pictures you can only capture what is immediately in front of you and not all of the beauty around you it almost doesn’t do it justice, but it will remind of you both of how lovely that particular spot was when you look back and great for us to come on a virtual trip with you both and see parts of the world that we are perhaps not likely to travel to.
Can’t say I’ve heard of Ushuaia ! Just had a look on trip adviser re Ushuaia, gateway to Antarctica. Lots to do, see penguins, trek to the glacier, helicop ride, so much to choose from. You will have your time there already planned. It will be lovely to hear want comes next with more stunning pictures.
Theresa xx
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I do love a good sunset and there’s plenty here! So many photos we have taken!
Yes Ushuaia is the gateway to Antarctica…we won’t be going there this time…but I sure will get there at some point! Loads to do here….I love it….we had read so much mixed reviews beforehand so came in with an open mind….it’s so much more than I expected….we should have planned more days here 🙈 x
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