Rio Verde to Punta Arenas And Our Ship

Saturday – January 8

We were not in a hurry today so we got to sleep in. Our breakfast in the common room was family style where we sat at long tables. We were the only people staying at the estancia so we had the room to ourselves. We were served a large breakfast  - juice, coffee, cereal, eggs and toast. When Ann and I were leaving to go to our room, the owner, “el Padrone”, followed us out the door and told us to come with him to show us something special. We hopped into his mini van along with one other guest and he drove us out into one of his fields to watch a sheep roundup. The gauchos (they are called something different in Chile) along with their dogs were herding a huge flock of sheep into a corral. It was amazingly fast and efficient.

After that, he drove us to his house which was only a quarter of a mile away. He didn’t invite us in but we could see where a major sheep rancher resides when he is at the ranch. The house was very humble.

He also drove us to where the Rio Verde crosses under the road. It was just a trickle. They are in a drought.

Back at the ranch, “el Padrone” lead our whole group on foot around his ranch. We watched them run the sheep through a selection gate where they separated the sheep they were going to sell from the keepers. Sheep with long tails get sold. Those with short tails stay. The rams also stayed.

After that, we watched one of the hired hands sheer a sheep. This was all very interesting.

We had some time to spare, so Julio led us on a walk through the fields to a pond where flamingos were gathered. I always thought that these birds are tropical. Apparently they aren’t.

Lunch was back in the common room. We had lamb, chicken and sausage which had been roasting in the huge fireplace and its small oven next to it.

After lunch, we checked out, got onto the bus and drove for 1 1/2 hours to Punta Arenas. We had some time to kill so Ann and I wandered a bit until we found the hotel where we got a free welcoming drink. The hotel also had several computers set up with free internet. I was able to check my email and Facebook accounts. Ann was a fortunate because Yahoo mail kept killing Firefox. We also walked through the town plaza where Saturday vendors were set up in their booths under the shadow of a stature of Magellen.

We said goodbye to Julio, our local guide, and Roberto, our driver after we went through security and before we boarded our ship, Stelle Australis. The ship is very new and looks it. Our stateroom is roomy enough for us. We have a large picture window so we can watch the scenery go by.

We went to an introduction session where we learned about the services on the ship, were introduced to the captain and his officers and where we were entertained by some folk dancers.

Dinner was at 8:00. Ann and I both had tuna steaks and lots of wine.

We finally got o bed at 11:00.