Our kayaks arrived in Punta Arenas very early on Friday, which was very exciting. We had hoped we could collect them on Friday afternoon, have our kit inspection by the Chilean navy on Saturday and start our trip on Sunday….

Think again! On our first visit to the port on Friday morning, we were told “What kayaks?” After swapping our passports for visitors passes and going to 4 different offices, we at least got an acknowledgement that the kayaks were here – somewhere! After a few phone calls and a further visit to a 5th office on Friday afternoon we were told we can collect the kayaks on Monday at midday. If the kayaks really are ready at midday, then we need to take apart the wooden crate that Barry built, get through customs and return to Kiko’s house by 4pm for an inspection by the Navy! If that all happens without hitches then we hope to start kayaking on Tuesday.

Although we’d hoped to get away quicker, at least now we have a fixed time we can relax until Monday when the fun and games begin again! It has been really frustrating at times and we’ve spent many hours in various offices. I don’t know how we’d have done it without Kiko, who has driven us round between the Port, the Navy, the National Parks authority, Customs, the department in charge of making sure we don’t take vegetables or fruit to or from Argentina, a dried fruit shop, supermarkets, a fuel shop (for the MSR), 3 different outdoor shops to put together a fishing line and a different shop to buy lighters. All the time he is smiling and upbeat while I could tried not to get annoyed by all the delays.

We’re getting to know Punta Arenas which is a clean, orderly town by the sea. Kiko, his wife Vero, and his kids Coto & Maca are great hosts and make us feel very at home here with the added bonus that our Spanish is improving a lot.

The weather has been quite sunny most days, with different amounts of wind. The wind has been from the South or west which would give us a good push if we were paddling. Today the pressure is dropping fast and the trees are being blown all over the place. Let’s hope for a moderate following sea on Tuesday!

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