From Oz to the Land of the Llama

Adelaide to Puerto Natales (14th-15th April)

For those that have glanced at any previous attempts by yours truly to detail my travels via a blog, you would be well aware that that the entries tend to dry up after a couple of enthusiastic attempts. Although this endeavour may prove just as fruitful, I will strive to detail an honest account of my adventures into parts of South America. Now most of this journey will surely be positive but if I am to be truly honest, I wouldn't be giving a good account if I didn't also look at the less glamorous aspects of travel.

At least half of this trip will be spent with a great mate Sean (Jamo) so it is only fair that he be included throughout, as many of the experiences will be shared.

Before delving into all the amazing aspects of the trip, the photos, the amazing landscapes and the immersion into differing cultures and language (Spanish namely), every story begins in an environment that is not always as desirable to spend large quantities of time.....the airport.

This first entry needs only to be short and sweet, given we seemed to lose time to the airports like a black hole. In truth, we may not have spent a record amount of time lingering in airports and on flights but 35+ hours is still a less than favourable time frame to go without showering, a decent toilet and solid sleep. Lack of facilities is probably something I shouldn't be complaining about given we were about to spend 5 days trekking through a national park undoubtedly using leaves or whatever we might get our hands on.

Fast forward all those lost hours and many airplane meals and you'd find a couple of wearier and smellier lads. All that was left was a three hour bus ride from Punta Arenas to our first destination Puerto Natales, a small town in the southern parts of Chile.

Given we arrived around 1000hrs, it was bloody freezing when we left the bus terminal. Heading in a direction we believed was loosely towards our hostel, one or two things were definitely noticeable in this little town. There were stunning views of snow capped mountains in the distance, set in the background of clear blue skies (once the fog cleared).......and the dogs seemed to pretty much have free reign, with one little guy following us from the terminal for the better part of a km before being distracted by another dog, then another.

The Singing Lamb was our destination, a quaint log style hostel, much smaller (and comfier) than other hostels I've experienced in the past. Without too much detail, the showers and facilities were used before we set out to explore and do a final supply grab pre-commencement of our trek the next day.

Unfortunately, one of the supplies that seemed to go missing from Jamo's bag was his headlamp, which may have found itself a fresh new baggage handler owner. With this in mind, we trudged through the streets surrounded by the dogs, so many dogs. The town of Puerto Natales had a certain charm about it, however, it was hard not to notice that many of the houses and buildings were in need of a bit of spit and shine and probably wouldn't pass safety standards in Australia. Nevertheless, the people seemed happy and it goes to show that not everything is about material possessions.

Ryan's Hot Travel Tip El Número 1 👍

Travelling to a continent that speaks Spanish everywhere, it's not a bad idea to brush up on that beforehand in order to ensure you don't look too much like an ignorant tourist.....I have since learnt this valuable lesson after our dinner and ordering something Lamb based (delicious by the way). After getting a T-bone and taking a bite, I may have been scolded by one of the waitresses for eating another persons meal. Turns out my meal was half a dozen lamb chops but a person can only eat what is put out in front of them.Read more