Chile - Part 4

All too soon the last day was upon us, and we headed to Punta, a transer of 5 hours.  Our driver this time was ex Chilean Army, and took great pains to point out the minefields along the border, as the route from Torres Del Paine follows much of the Chile/Argentina border.  Certainly in Patagonia, we found that lots of the Chileans support the Falkland Islands, and cannot understand why their government is allying itself with Argentina.  They too suffered when Argentina claimed much of Tierra Del Fuego from them, and there are currently some disputes about where the border lies in Torres Del Paine.....

Our fianl hotel Cabal de Hornos was in the centre of Punta, but only 500m from what could be most easily described as run down housing, similar to a Favella!  Dogs roamed the streets, and beggars were plentiful.  This was a side to Chile we hadn't seen.

Harry enjoyed looking at beach, but couldn't go onto it, as it was covered in rusted and twisted steel and lots of other rubbish.

The hotel itself was very nice, but there was a huge military and police presence outside, and we, along with many others suffered from shocking customer service.  We found out why when a huge entourage arrived in the restaurant.  The Chilean and Uruguayan presidents were staying there prior to heading to Antarctica.

The flight back was through Rio Gallegos, Argentina, and may possibly have been one of the last flights to stop there if the rumour mill is true.  LAN are coming intense pressure from Argentina to suspend the flights to the Falklands, and this would be a huge blow to the islands, especially the large Chilean community who live and work here.  By all accounts they recently wrote a letter of complaint to the Chilean government about their concerns with the Argentinians.

Fortunately we didn't have to get off at Rio Gallegos, and were able to sit on the plane.

 We were able to get some photos of the Falklands from the air, although Harry missed them as he was asleep.  Big Dog was with Harry for the whole trip, and had now notched up in excess of 15,000 miles travelling with Harry!

West Falkland

San Carlos Water in the centre of the photo (looks like a Y on its side)

Goose Green and Darwin

And all too soon we were home.  It was nice to get away, but it is also nice getting back, and knowing you don't have to keep packing up suitcases, although Dawn did have 6 or 7 loads of washing to get through!  Our neighbour, Steve, the Chief Vet, had prepared a meal for us, which was very well recieved

I would go back to Chile again, and to the same area for some more walking, although Dawn wants a beach holiday next time :-(