Strait of Magellan

New day, new bus, new destination, same time 🙂 At 8 we were at the bus terminal to catch the bus South to Ushuhaia. When we boarded the bus I got a call from my bank how we're going to proceed about the credit card and it looks like everything is resolved. Also I got the notification that I can pick up the cash from Western Union 💸
Relieved that this is resolved the bus made its way to the first (of 4) border crossings, the exit from Argentina. This went quick and efficient, same as the entry to Chile. Half an hour later we arrived at Punta Delgada and already saw lines of trucks and cars waiting. Soon afterwards we knew why: The crossing of the Magellan Strait was closed because of stormy winds so the ferry can't cross until 5 - 6pm. So we've had to kill time for the next 6 hours at least ⏰😴

First up we went off the bus and checked the area, there was a pretty cool sign post with different cities and a sun clock. Nearby is a lighthouse which is now a museum (unfortunately closed) with the inscription "Boca Oriental" meaning that here is the Eastern opening of the Magellan Strait. After half an hour we had seen literally everything and also the wind blew dirt in our eyes. So it wasn't that comfortable walking around 😁 Afterwards we had the lunch that we carried with us consisting of 3/4 of a baguette, slightly melted and sticky mozzarella cheese and a super fluid pasta sauce. Sounds worse than it tasted though 🙂 Still more than 4 hours left, so it was good that I had to catch up on writing in Find Penguins, reviewing photos for the Torres del Paine post and playing games on the phone. Julia watched series, read and watched series. Occasionally we went to have a walk but it was just too windy to be comfortable.

At 6pm it was still nothing happening and the bus driver said it can be that the bus won't be driving today. So we went in line for the restaurant/shop to get some more snacks because we only had salted peanuts 🥜 left 🙈 We stood for about two hours in the queue without making a lot of progress and they didn't make anymore sandwiches. In the queue we talked to two women from another bus that live in the province and they said it's pretty normal to wait but the ferries usually go in the evening. And in fact, at 9:30pm the first ferry came and took a load of cars to test the crossing. Apparently it went well and we were on the next trip and crossed the famous Magellan Strait. It took just about 20 minutes and with 12 hours delay we continued on to cross the border once again 🇨🇱 We had been told that the border closes at 12, so we had already expected to stay there for the night. To our pleasant surprise they had kept it open 🥳 And once again the Chilean border was well prepared: Everyone needed to hand their passport and immigration form in, they processed it and half an hour later we drove on while the passports were given back. Very efficient!
Next up the Argentinian border crossing, where nothing happened for the first 30 minutes. So we feared that they had already closed the border... Buuut then we were called to the border control, stamped and off to Ushuhaia 😌 Finally a little bit time to sleep 💤Read more