3.7
Took the bus from Ushuaia to Puntas Arenas, which involved a ferry crossing over the strait of Magellan and a border crossing into Chile. It was funny bc the bus was supposed to be 15 hours (took only 11 bc of quick border crossings and no ferry lines) but with no stops for food, so we were all told to bring lots of food. Then of course as we approach the Chile border they tell us they don´t let meat, dairy, fruit, veg, etc across the border, so it was this massive feast on board the bus to try and get everyones food finished. It was a hilarious scene.

Since we got in earlier than exptected, I had time to walk around Puntas Arenas a bit. The RV Palmer (the USAP´s research vessel that docked at mcmurdo for awhile) is stationed here so I got to see it, and it brough back a huge flood of memories! Oh how I miss Antaractica and the people involved!

I also got my hair cut which was an awesome and fun experience. A young girl cut it, and she couldn´t believe I was cutting my hair. She thought there must be something wrong with the translation. The talk during the cut was fun bc I could understand about 50 percent of what she said and could say only about 60 percent of what I wanted. So we did a lot of laughing and smiling. There was another woman there who came to join in the talk and laughter. They both just couldn´t believe I was cutting it, though I tried to explain it was for camping. They told me I was muy guapo (very handsome with it) and looked like James Bond. haha that is a funny one.

3.8
I had the whole morning free so I did some errands including buying a tent and stove. I decided it would be best and cheaper in the long run to have a tent, so I broke down and bought one bc some israelis here told me there was a cheap place with good quality. The tent and stove ended up costing me 150 bucks, which wasnt too bad. Patagonia has been about twice as expensive as I expected which is very rough on the budget. I think I will definitely have to shorten my trip if it stays like this. I was hoping to average 40 to 50 bucks per day but it has been more like 85 to 100. Hostels are 25 and I spend about 10 on food (boy am i going to lose weight), but its the national parks and bus fares and activities that are so very expensive. The last bus ride cost me 75 bucks. The equivalent in India or SE asia would be 10 for a fancy one 5 for a junker.

In the afternoon, I took a long ferry ride to Isla Magdaline which is home to a cool lighthouse and 150,000 penguins. This trip was actually fairly inexpensive bc it was on a big ferry, and it was totally worth it. It was so cool to walk on this small island just crawling with magellanic penguins. You just can´t possibly believe how many there are. Its like what you see on National Geographic. And as per usual, the penguins are so very cute and just funny going about their business.

Tomorrow I have a bus to Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for the Torres Del Paine treks.