This morning we packed up, got our rental car, and headed a bit further north to Puerto Natales. Fairly soon on our trek we came across some unexpected wildlife. Rheas (like an emu or ostrich), guanacos (similar to a llama), and flamingos! Can you believe it?? I knew there were flamingos around this area, but I definitely didn’t expect to see them just while in transit. We stopped and watched them for a bit, but they were kind of far out. Good thing my binoculars made the cut! Kayla, the “non-birdwatcher”, even brought a pair. We were on a roll. Next new bird we saw soaring above us was an Andean Condor! I mean seriously! We weren’t even bird watching! Well, I’m always bird-watching, and Kayla’s getting the hang of it now too, whether she knows it or not. We’re off to a good start.

The landscape is more flat and open than I expected. There are sheep everywhere, so that explains the openness. It did get hilly as we approached Puerto Natales, and either way the landscape is beautiful and fascinating. Not many people in this area outside of the towns, so we saw lots of guanacos, sheep, cows, and rheas along the way.

We reached Puerto Natales in time for lunch. I tried a dish called traditional Chilean corn pie and when I asked what was in it, the server showed me an empty bowl. Whoops. Guess I messed up some Spanish there. Whatever, I like corn, I’ll take it. Turned out to be a sort of casserole with different kinds of meat underneath a creamy baked corn layer with a hard-boiled egg on top. Delicioso!

Puerto Natales is definitely more touristy than Punta Arenas. Lots of shops, hostels, restaurants, and travel agencies. Many people come here as a base before doing backpacking trips to the national park, so there were people from all over the place wandering the streets with gigantic backpacks. We did a little meandering, and of course found ourselves bird-watching by the water again. Kayla’s starting to think I’m tricking her into bird-watching, but that’ll teach her to either make more of the decisions or start bird-watching herself! On the drive up here we only took one highway, so instead of being in charge of navigating the roads, she was in charge of navigating the bird book. She’s learning that she doesn’t have much of a choice. Maybe she’ll even ebird by the time we get home… As a big sister it’s my obligation to show her the way. 😉