Rio Tranquilo and Coyhaique Redux

I decided to change my Northern Patagonian itinerary in order to celebrate my sixty-eighth birthday on April 19th. I had found an excellent conversationalist in my new friend Omar in Rio Tranquilo during my first visit there (blog of April 11) and he readily agreed to spend my birthday with me. He kindly plied me with excursions around the neighborhood, including the campground which he owns and manages. He prepared as well an excellent birthday dinner, even ordering his local baker to make a strawberry cream cake! Hooray for good company!

I then made a second stop in Coyhaique—mainly to recover from all the icy, shared-bathroom, one-to-two-night hostal stays. I caught my breath in the familiar streets, and was lucky to make a new friend, Vicky. Originally from Rome, she met her artist husband, Siguesmund, in Italy over thirty-three years ago, and has lived in Patagonia/Coyhaique ever since. When she and I met in one of those huge Chinese-owned emporiums (which are now all over the world) she invited me to supper that very night. I met her husband and two grown children, and was treated to more excellent conversation. The following day, we walked all around Coyhaique to see “Sigues’s” sculptures, and also to have a nice long chat. The advantage of traveling alone at my age (and with a few foreign languages) is that I can quite willingly lend my ear to anyone who needs a non-gossipy alternative to local company. We had a ball.

So, here I am, sixty-eight in actual age but hey! —still twenty-four in outlook—or so I’d like to think.
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