Rio Serrano (Part 2)

Here are a few photos of the house. This is the living room and dining room at the house. Also the couches where the family sits and stares out the windows, pondering life (at least that's what I did when I joined them). They make comments every 20 minutes or so. The rest of the time it is silent, waiting for mealtimes or for the radio to call to say someone from the hotel wants a trail ride.Also, below, is the wood-burning stove. There is also a gas stove in the house but Andria was the only one I saw use it. The generator (for electricity) is turned on from dusk to about midnight (2-3 hours). Some days the internet router also works during that time.




















I love the simple decorations: Mi caballo y mi mate (my horse and my mate tea). Enough said.

Here we are pondering life shortly before I left. Adita is the mom/grandma and Gonzalo is her son. Aniseto, the dad/grandpa, was still sleeping (had a little bit too much "fun" at the party the night before). Many of the staff from the hotel were leaving since the season (about 3 months long) was over. They cooked up a great asado and had karaoke (in Spanish). We had already had some eggs and rice for dinner but they insisted we eat some chicken, beef, sausage (choriso), salads, and more. Hmm, hard to say no to that! South Americans love to have parties with a ton of food and music so loud you have to shout to be heard. Throw in trying to speak a 2nd language and I could hardly communicate anything. Thankfully they are very understanding and many knew some English thanks to all the tourists they get down there.


















Since it was sprinkling most of the day, we got to see some amazing arco irises (rainbows). Thanks to the vivid color setting on my new camera, you can actually see the vibrant colors.

The sunbeams also make some spectacular displays over the pampa.

Here again is the forest with the Old Man's Beard moss. Like I stated before, it's so mystical that it seems like a different planet.















I wanted to take a zodiac boat (river-raft) back to Puerto Natales that cruised the rivers but I didn't get a reservation settled before the office closed. In the morning it was REALLY foggy and I was happy to save the US$140 and instead take the US$3 bus back to town with Andria.















[Photo left: mural of original inhabitants, Puerto Natales]
Back in Puerto Natales I spent some more time browsing the shops and bought a bombilla (metal mate straw). I also watched the fowl along the shore. Here is a family of black-necked swans.

We connected up again with Juan Pablo and had some great burgers at Baguales Brewery and then hung out at a little local bar listing to reggaeton and local hits.

Tuesday's plans: Off to the penguins!