Punta Arenas

Arriving to Punta Arenas at night is like entering a thriller book. The windy streets are empty except for the occassional sleeping dog. The city looks like an abandoned ghost town somewhere between the Australian desert and a Stephan King´s book.
We arrived late, after the most beautiful flight we´ve ever had, above an unbelievable view of volcanos, mountains, glaciers and wide planes.
The hostel we were in is not your usual European style hostel. It is run by a young familly which is hardlly clean or organized, so it basically feels as if you stumble upon a young couple and they agreed to host you in their spare room if you agree to play a little with their young (and a bit annoying) son. They also had a computer, full with viruses, that killed 3 days of our photos. Small price to pay for the lesson we´ve recieved - never connect your hard drive in a familly hostel!
The next day we went to the Mecca of the travellers in south Chile - the tax free zone in the far end of Punta Arenas (the Zona Franca). In the Doite travelling shop you can find some pretty cheap cooking gear as well as some tents, sleeping bags and warm clothes. The variety is not too great, though. Later that day we took a nice pinguineros tour. The driver took us to a private reserve, an hour from the town, where there is a marked walking path that leads to a gathering place of the pinguins near the shore. On the way you can find some of the more publicity hunting pinguins that model for the photographers some classical, 'Happy feet' style, pinguin moves like the 360 degrees spin of the head or looking at the sky while openning their mouth. The photographers, us included, gargled with joy and everyone were happy. Too bad that most of the pictures where lost because of the virus.
We are now in Puerto Natales, getting ready to start the Toress del-Paina trek tommorow. The next update will be after we´ll be back, 5 or 6 days from now.