Adios, Patagonia

We spent another day, more or less, in Puerto Natales, packing, waiting for the (as usual) delayed flight onward. Below are some more pix of Puerto Natales, which I sort of liked. It is the gateway to the Torres del Paine NP, attracting thousands of trekking aficionados every season, yet it seems to insist on its own regional identity. We found only two (2) stores that sold Torres del Paine merchandise (T-shirts, magnets, patches, etc.). Major business opportunity here, considering....

Block-long mural of note

Distances, hither and thither, customary for
extremes such as this

Maybe next time

The giant sloth, again; tastes like chicken

Our last night before the trek we tried the
trendy Aldea restaurant

Sometimes you need to just look at the menu and say "no
thanks" and leave; several prospective diners did just this;
but not us (that is, me); the mains here consist of hare and
lamb, conger (not eel, they said), and a veggie

So I went for the seafood curry appetizer (should have stopped
there, despite the fact it was tasty and ample)

This is the first restaurant we have visited in 50+ years where
there was absolutely nothing on the menu Vicki found desirable;
so she had some tomato soup; but did not complain

While I enjoyed the conger and whatever other stuff; sometimes
trendy is just a bit confining; anyhow, the redeeming aspect of
this restaurant was that the person who waited on us, a Chilean
national, had gone to college at The University of Montana, in
Missoula, graduating in 2008, the very year we retired and left
Missoula; an English lit major, too; since then she has traveled
the world, winding up, for now, in Patagonia; not the first
person we have met from tiny Missoula

Old but still functioning old cash register at La Mesita Grande,
our favorite in Puerto Natales; great pizza served at one long
table

Adios, Patagonia