We leave Puerto Natalas this morning on our journey toward Punta Arenas where we will board our cruise ship for the journey through waters traveled by Magellen and one of my personal favorites - Charles Darwin.
One the way, we are fortunate enough to enjoy a visit to the Estancia Fitz Roy. Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy was the captain of the HMS Beagle. The estancia raises sheep primarily but there are llama and the lupines abound! They are nearly as tall as I am. I've taken pictures to show my lupines at home what they can aspire to be!
Learned about sheep shearing and saw a demonstration of shearing by hand with shears. I'm not sure if it's because all that heavy wool was being removed or if the sheep just like being handled, but it did not seem to a stressful event for the sheep. The dip, however, didn't seem all that wonderful (they have to be dipped twice) although I'm sure the resulting lack of ticks is a good thing.
Enjoyed a wonderful barbeque and had a very nice tour of the ranch. There is quite a collection of... well, almost anything you can think of.. in one of the barns.
The estancia is on any island so we experiences yet another mode of tranportation - the ferry!
Onward to Punta Arenas where we had time to walk around the town to see the sites and pick up whatever essentials we felt necessary before boarding the Via Autralis at 6 p.m. - our home for the next four days. Tiera del Fuego, here we come!!
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.