3/4  Today we left el Calafate. Of course another early day. This is suppose to be a 5 hour bus ride to Puerto Natales, but we have heard that crossing the border can take a while.  Unfortunately, this bus did  not have the nice wide seats.  All four ofnus took a little nap to start with, partially because it has been a busy, tiring couplemkf days and partially because we ciuld mkt stand to watch our driver. We all had the first row seats and I have never seen such a distracted driver. He was awfully hjsy doing paperwork, adjusting his ear buds and eating/drinking. Yes, there was hardly any traffic other than a few trucks or a couple of other tour buses, but really, the road was nothing more than a really wide single lane with lots of turns to watch out for. The landscape was pretty much the same as it has been....deserty, lots of sheep ranches (don't really see any homes, just fences, driveways and sheep), mountains in the backdrop. We could actually see Torres de Paine in the distance. It looked enormous even so far away. In one spot we saw a "herd" of rheas up on a small hilltop. Not sure herd is the right word. I tried to take a few pictures out the big front window, but there were 7 chips and 3 large cracks, which you can see in the picture. I can't believe the window is still in one piece.
All of a sudden, the bus stopped and we picked up a woman and her little boy who were waiting at the end of her driveway. Guess she needed a ride into town. The ride turned out to be about an hour and they both stood on the front step the whole time. No way at home!  I forgot to mention, on yesterday's bus ride we stopped to pick up a guy who had gotten a flat tire on his bike. The driver threw the bike under the bus and the guy with only 2 little packs that hang kn the bike, jumped on the bus and rode into town with us. Seems this is a normal thing...to just pick up people who need a ride. Kind of nice.
Well, the border crossing certainly did take a while. First, wenhad to fill out a little form then the driver collected all our passports in a little box and took them into the building. We all waited on the bus. Every so often, he would come back for additional paperwork from some. After avout a half hour, we head out. It was then that we realized, all that was just to leave Argentina. We had a little chuckle. About 5km down the road, we entered Chile. Here, we had to fill out 2 other forms, get off the bus with our passports, take our bags off the bus and put them in the building, get in line at the 1 window, get your passport stamped, collect your bag, put it on the xray machine, wait until you were cleared, take your bag and put it back under the bus, get on the bus and wait until everyone else was down. Wow, only because the building was extremely small and you could not easily get by other people. It certainly was not set up for a bus.
After arriving jn Puerto Natales, we walked 16 blocks to the ferry's office to check in and drop off our bags. I am certainly getting a strong back. Once done, it was now 5pm. Our last meal was breakfast at 7:30am. We stopped in a little local place and ate barros lucos - a chilean steak and cheese sandwich. It's the thing to eat here. Delicious. We walked around town, checked out the local Plaza, which every town in South America has, got snacks for the next 4 days on the ferry, and shopped. I bought some knitting needles and wool made in Chile to knit a scarf on the ferry. The grocery stores here do not have the pregnant woman priority thing.  T and I founda german kuchen bakery and bought a piece each for tonight with a cup of tea.  We saw the ferry and it is the size of a small cruise ship, and the truck that loaded our bags was a pickup with the bags stacked about 8 ft. high on the back. Two guys on either side to make sure they didn't fall off.
At 9pm we met in the office for a short briefing and boarded the ferry. T was all into the fact that we got on through the cargo area and he could check out the goings on down there. We found our cabin and it is tiny. We will share a bath with lots of others. The single berths are bunk beds tucked into the hallways, each with a locker. Each bed has a curtain to pull shut. Not for us!
We unpacked, and went upstairs to check out the pub. Tomorrow night is karoke. Should be interesting.  The pub has nice leather chairs and a bar with bartender.  Either G or I will post some pics of the ferry later.
Bedtime was interesting. Four of us getting ready at the same time when there is really only enough room for 2 to stand. But...we managed.  I love my bunk. Best mattress yet. There is a little light complete with outlet to charge whatever and a curtain to draw. My own little haven. However, sleep was a long time coming, since they were loading the rest of the big cargo. Super, super loud. The ferry is metal and everything clangs and echoes. Also people who come from the outside let the door slam and that echoes too. But eventually everything and everyone settled down and we all slept wonderfully.
These pictures are the Torres del Paine from the bus. In one you can see the cracked windshield and the other the fence that runs the entire lengh of Patagonia. It is to keep the sheep off the road. Every so often you will see a dirt driveway.