After the Navimag Ferry dropped us in Puerto Montt, we spent a few days making our way up the coast to Algarrobo, Chile. Algarrobo is home to San Alfonso del Mar which boasts the largest swimming pool (outdoor) in the world.
Category Archives: Chile
New Photos – Navimag Ferry
January 24, 2009 – 9:39 pm
To save a bit on driving time and gas consumption and to take advantage of a unique opportunity to check out the beauty of the Chilean fjords, we decided to take the Navimag Ferry from Puerto Natales more than 2,000 kilometers north to the town of Puerto Montt. The ferry is basically a commercial operation transporting commercial goods such as produce and livestock from the isolated southern coast of Chile to Puerto Montt, where the main highway begins and runs all the way north to Santiago and beyond.
New Photos – Torres del Paine
January 23, 2009 – 1:37 pm
One of the highlights of Chilean Patagonia is definitely the mountains and peaks in Torres del Paine National Park. We planned to catch the Navimag ferry from Puerto Natales, Chile in a few days and it was a convenient location because the national park was only an hour dive outside of Natales. Torres del Paine is notorious for bad weather and since we were there during the end of winter, we did not know quite what to expect.
Photo of the Week- Chaiten
November 28, 2008 – 6:28 pm
Nothing could be stranger than seeing cars, houses, playgrounds and an entire town buried under several feet of volcanic mud after the erruption of Volcano Chaiten in Chile.
Photo of the Week- Puerto Natales
November 28, 2008 – 6:27 pm
f you ever doubted that Patagonia was amongst one the windiest places on earth, this photo should put your mind to rest. The photo was taken whilst we were in Puerto Natales waiting for the Navimag ferry to take us further north in Chile. On this particular day, the wind was so strong it managed to pick up our tent and blow it over the two meter barbed wire fence into the neighbors yard, shredding the outer material to pieces. A tent weighs nearly nothing, however the tent was not only pegged but also tied down, as well as weighted with a few packs and some bedding, which also managed to get a little tattered.
Farewell Mi Amigo
November 25, 2008 – 8:22 am
As with most good things in life, they all seem to come to and end sooner or later. For the World by Road, one of those good things was having Fernando Bischof (aka Nandor, aka F-Dude) as part of the crew. Unfortunately, Fernando’s stay with us on the expedition has come to and end and it was time to say goodbye. It was tough to see Fernando go because he has been with us longer than any previous crew member on the expedition, over three months, and we all got to become pretty good friends.
Sucking Her Dry
November 22, 2008 – 6:11 am
I am sure everyone has been in the situation where you think you are going to run out of gas or better yet, have actually run out of gas at some point in your life. Whether it is running out of gas while idling in gridlock traffic or realizing that you have gone past the point of no return on stretch of road where the distance between gas stations is a lot further than you thought, it is an unsettling, frustrating yet all to familiar feeling that comes with driving. Even more so than any other scenario, going on a road trip always seems to attract at least the potential for running the tank dry at some stage in the journey.
Santiago: I hardly knew ye!
November 20, 2008 – 10:10 am
The trucks are fixed and, many thanks to PatoPower, we are well geared for the upcoming road conditions of the Atacama, Bolivian salt flats, and the Pantanal wetlands but due to our friends on strike at customs, we left Santiago about 4 days behind schedule. Chile and more specifically Santiago was a wonderful place to spend a few extra days, despite how the government employees might feel.
It’s Official!
November 14, 2008 – 1:47 pm
The World by Road is pleased to announce that all crew members are now officially certified in the world’s most elaborate hobby: scuba diving! On Friday last, Fernando Bischof, Melissa Terry, Darrell Stephenson and Laura Sutton passed the PADI open water scuba written test with flying colors after already having completed the actual open water dives. Aside from the written exam taken in Santiago, all other courses were coordinated and conducted at San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo, Chile. Not only that, but the three English-speaking members have also had the unbeknownst pleasure of adding a barrage of SCUBA-centered words to their flourishing Spanish vocabularies.
Public Servants Strike Again… Literally
November 13, 2008 – 2:28 am
The list of quotes related to patience is just about as long as the situations in life you will undoubtedly encounter that require it. Problems are inevitable in life and having the patience to deal with problems as they arise will undoubtedly make your life easier. I knew that there would be a lot of situations that would require a lot of patience on this expedition, and I like to think that over the course of the last two years, I have become a much more patient individual. Just about every day on the expedition, something will come up that requires some degree of patience. Whether it is trying to communicate with someone in a foreign language about the simplest of things, or waiting for political issues in the country you are in at the time to run their course, having the ability to be patient can get you through a frustrating situation without doing any physical or emotional harm to yourself or anyone around you.
