Christmas in Puerto Natales

We returned from our six day trek in Torres del Paine National Park on 22nd December. Puerto Natales has a retarded taxi system, whereby they have to be called out one at a time to come and pick up people arriving at the bus station. We thought we would buy a little minibus and arrive at the bus station with the buses coming from Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine and make a fortune ferrying people around to the various hostels and bed & breakfast places.

Our bed and breakfast, Casa Hospedaje Costanera, was a bit expensive for what it was, so we moved to Hostel Trumau. This fared little better as you can read in my review from that link, however, it is where we decided to spend Christmas, in lieu of anywhere better to go!

Francesca said she did not feel very Christmassy, so I surprised her with some decorations and presents I had been hiding in our bags since before we went to the National Park. Whilst she was out of the room, I created a Christmas tree – well, more of a Christmas bathroom door really, compete with wrapped presents at the bottom.

It was the day before Christmas Eve, and Francesca went out the whole day while I stayed behind to do some work. Not much was going on in terms of buses, tours or activities – high season had put paid to any ideas of doing stuff on Christmas Day, so we decided to spend it together and relax instead.

Christmas Eve and Francesca was off out again! Where is she going all this time? I spent the day doing some more work, reading and relaxing, and then finally it was Christmas Day.

After Francesca opened her first gift, a book on the region’s history she had had her eye on, I opened my gift, a beautifully written card which contained… a riddle…uh—oh, I know what this means!

After we got up and ready we were off – it was a treasure hunt around Puerto Natales on Christmas Day, and my task was to find all six tokens in the town somewhere, and trade them in for my present once I worked out where Francesca was at the end!

Francesca disappeared off, and I was left pondering my first riddle:

“I haven’t yet climbed a mountain, this I know is true. The first step would be to camp here – I already went there with you!”

There was a pub called Base Camp which was where Francesca and I went for an excellent and useful talk given for free by the Erratic Rock guys from next door.

I asked the guy behind the bar if Francesca had been there and if she had left something for me, and with a knowing smile he left to get me a small Christmas packet, and then poured me a beer on the house! Nice!

Inside the gift packet was a packet of crisps (Pringles), which went great with the beer! Also, there was a few small chocolates, and another riddle, that was Token #1:

“The clue is in the beer drink, and it’s also a roof over your head. Think eco!”

I thought that this one must be an eco-hostel or something similar, but I had no map, and was unfamiliar with the city. I looked at the beer.

I asked the guy behind the bar if there was a hostel Austral (the brand of beer), and when he told me ‘No, not Austral…’, I knew by the look in his eye that he knew what I was asking. I asked if there was a hostel called Yagan (the name of the beer brand’s line), and when he told me there was, I found out where it was, and set off for destination two.

I turned a corner and there it was, Yaganhouse eco-hostel. I asked the lady there if she had something from Francesca for me, and another gift was produced like the first one! This one had a small can of Sprite in it, and some more chocolates! Cool! Token #2 was in there too, and it had another riddle:

“There is a beautiful place which can be helpful, they book activities for you. Their location is one that reminds you of a white enchilada.”

Hmmm. I asked the lady if she new of a tour agency called ‘bonita’ (Spanish for pretty) or ‘bella’ (Spanish for beautiful). There was! And when she told me it was on ‘blanco encolada’ (white enchilada?), that clinched it.

In the agency, I was directed to the Christmas tree by the nice guy who worked in there. I found my gift packet immediately, and the owner informed me I was lucky as he was worried – he was closing in ten minutes and had to get home, no doubt for Christmas dinner!

In my gift was a lovely blue scarf which I have been wearing ever since. On Token #3 was another puzzle:

“Their symbol is a map which shows which way the wind blows. It can be a place to rest your head. Look for the symbol of a compass.”

I was pondering this one, when I realized I was alone in the street and had no clue as to where to go. Francesca had written some hints and tips in the card in case I got lost – but I decided not to look at it, and instead to walk around a few corners and see if I could see anything which had a compass on it. I found it! South Wind Hostel, complete with compass logo!

This one proved to be a bit harder than the rest as the guy did not speak any English at all. My Spanish is getting pretty strong, so I got by. He checked my name, double-checked it, and even got me to write it down – I was beginning to think it was the wrong place as he seemed to be asking me if I wanted a room, when he produced the gift packet – maybe the old man was just screwing with me. In this packet, was a bottle of bath salts – nice, I could use those to relax in a nice bath – a luxury we have not had since arriving in South America, but had now started to appear in the hostels of Southern Chile.

Token #4 had another puzzling riddle:

“There is a flower which is also a woman’s name. It is also the name of a hostel to stay. The street place has a last name scrambled: TRAP!”

I found the street not far from where I was – Arturo Prat. Something told me to walk away from the center, and with the clues about a woman’s name, I was looking for a hostel called Lilly or Rose. I found it down a street where I was being dive-bombed by Chilean Swallows – little black and white birds that fly really quickly! Hostal Lili Patagonico’s.

The guys in this hostel seemed really excited to see me – they handed over my package and were all eager to see me open it! A nice candle and some more chocolate lollipops were in the gift package! Token #5 had my fifth quiz:

“Next you go to a place where Bulnes lives, the craft is art and there’s much inside. The key is a number that must be decoded D-C-C is the code.”

I had passed Bulnes street, so I figured it must be an art’s and craft’s shop. I made my way to one which the hostel pointed me in – but it was closed and padlocked up. I figured that D-C-C must be 4-3-3, the numeric equivalent, so went there, and sure enough it, too, was an arts and crafts shop. It too was closed, so I got a bit stuck.

At this point I was a bit stuck so I checked the cheat sheet Francesca had given me and sure enough it was the write place, 433 Bulnes Street, but as it was closed, and my knocking loudly and shouting for someone did not work – I headed back to the hostel to drop off my goodies and to see if I could find Francesca.

She was not at our hostel so I left for the craft store again. This time I got there, and Francesca was waiting outside and the shop had just opened (the lady had said she would be open, but she opened much later – silly woman). I went in and got my final gift packet. This one had a beautifully carved rhea – the South American Ostrich – made of wood in it. I love it! Also, my final clue:

“Yu found a rhea! From here you must be getting hungry. Here is something to make you smile! We’ve seen them all over South America, now find a new continent…”

I knew there was an African restaurant in Puerto Natales, and Francesca confirmed that we were due to go there in the evening for Christmas Dinner! I traded all of my tokens in and got my last present, a lovely blue fleece cardigan that went with my scarf. What a great Christmas!

As our reservations were at 7.30pm and I had finished in record time – we went for a drink where I excitedly recounted the events of the day to Francesca. It was a really nice and thoughtful treasure hunt that was a lot of fun.

Afrigonica is an African-Chilean fusion restaurant. The décor was fantastic and it was the first place in South America where we felt like we actually got any service in a restaurant. We ordered a chicken curry with saffron rice with raisins in it, Moroccan style. We also ordered a Patagonian lamb which was in a Moroccan style date sauce and was very sweet. The vegetables, rice and meats were all cooked nicely, and it was a really good meal. I washed mine down with a couple of beers. Lovely!

When we got back, Francesca opened her other gift from me – a book on the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego. We had some wine and watched The Muppet’s Christmas Carol with Michael Caine. A lovely day spent in Patagonia.

Our next trip was to be back to Argentina. We packed up all of our stuff, ditching some blankets and my coat with its broken zipper. All of our Christmas present came with us – we would have to send them home at some point, so they won’t get lost.

We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas – we certainly did. It was our second Christmas together, and we look forward to many more.