After hiking in Torres del Paine we spent a couple days in the nearby town of Puerto Natales to relax and take in some of the activities near town. However Melanie and Steve left the Rio Serrano a day early and instead did a three day kayak trip along the waterways ending up in Puerto Natales.

We got to the Hotel Indigo early in the morning long before our rooms were ready. Fortunately the spa opens at 10am so we ended up just pulling out our bathing suits and relaxing there. The indoor pool was basically just a hot tub but was a little on the hot side. The outdoor pool had amazing views but unfortunately was a little too cool. We asked the staff to turn down the inside pool and turn up the outside pool and fortunately the next day when we returned the temperatures of both were much better.

Since it was Christmas Day when we arrived there really wasn't much else to do. Jasmine and I walked around the town a bit an only found two things open, a small convenience store (that sold Snickers) and a restaurant that was part of a hostel. Everything else was closed and felt very much like a ghost town.

The other highlight of our stay there is when we went to the bus station to catch the bus to El Calafate we were told it was 4 blocks away. Since we only got one cab instead of the two we ordered Melanie took all our luggage in the cab and the rest of us would just walk the "4 blocks" to the bus station. The bus station turned out to be well over a mile away and we were really worried we were both lost and would miss the bus. Fortunately we did eventually get there after following some British backpackers to the station who claimed to know where it was.

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Kayak Trip

Melanie and Steve took a three day kayak trip. They were picked up at the Rio Serrano and taken to a spot nearby where they prepped their gear and put on their very heavy wetsuits. It was just them and their Canadian guide on the trip where they would take a relaxing trip down the river letting the current push them along.

If only. The winds were still ripping the day they left and it turns out the first part of the trip was into the wind. After more than an hour of kayaking into the wind and barely moving they could still see the hotel. The guide at one point ended up walking along the shore and pulling them because fighting the wind was a losing battle.

The highlight of the trip was kayaking up to a glacier and camping near it. They ended the trip by enjoying a lamb BBQ before meeting up with us at the Hotel Indigo.

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