Chilean Patagonia: Day Five - A Day Of Rest Was Exactly What We Needed

The long halfway to our room.

Since we'd canceled out two main events for the day (New Year's Eve day) we only had a relaxing drive into Puerto Natales for a cultural tour.  We were the only ones in our van so we got a quick talk about the history of the area and city with all it's European connections.

A mural in Puerto Natales.

We stopped at a small museum that held artifacts from the native people as well as the European families that colonized the area.  It was nice but small.

We walked along the central town square and stopped at a place for coffee.  The Wife and I do not drink coffee but fortunately the place was connected to a large gift shop.  We turned the cultural tour into a shopping spree.  We visited three different places looking for handicrafts, and magnets. By the end of our two hour cultural tour, we'd bought nearly 80% of the things we were looking for.

The rest of the day we relaxed in our room or in the bar.  I wandered around and took pictures of some of the historical building and machinery.

Relaxing ripples.

We'd hope to have fireworks but there were none planned for the night.  Past fires in Torres del Paine national park (including one caused by a camper turning toilet paper) may have been one reason for not having fireworks. The hotel was having a special menu for dinner that night followed by a cocktail party and dance.  When I travel I do not pack formal wear.  Neither of us were interested in the party.  We did enjoy the special menu - the most interesting part of the meal being Guanaco carpaccio.  I can't say it was anything special.

Historic machinery in our historical hotel.

After dinner we retired to our room.  The Wife watched college football with Spanish announcers.  Since we were so far south, there was still some twilight until nearly 11:30pm.  At midnight the ships from the nearby port began blowing their horns in celebration.  Despite being in patagonia, the New Year's arrival seem very low key.  I imagine this was not what we needed and the quiet before the storm that I expect 2020 to be.

A ship lit up with the lights of Puerto Natales in the background.

Pictures can be found in my 2019-2020 Chilean Patagonia Google Photos album.