Ushuaia--El Fin Del Mundo

Something i forgot to mention in the previous post: the drive down from Esquel to El Calafate (the place with the glacier) was wild. not mountanous or through forests, just long, straight, flat roads. in every direction around us it was purely flat. not even hills for much of it. if you think of looking over the ocean, and that flat horizon line, a line so flat that it is almost only ever created by the ocean, i saw that kind of horizon line on land. there were no hills, no plants, no trees, no buildings...nothing. for hours. very strange.

alright, to continue where i left off, a 7 day sailing trip around cape horn was $2500, so i think ill pass. i didnt accomplish much in ushuaia, which was kind of my goal. ive been moving pretty fast lately--2 nights here, 3 days there--and i was looking for a break. i went for a hike with a semi-insane, anemic looking american girl who was on vacation after studying in BA for a few months. the idea was to hike up to a glacier, which was really just some ice and snow on some rocks. a bit disappointing. my birthday was pretty good. i started celebrating the night before (after midnight though, so it was my birthday) with a guy from boston who vacationed in wellfleet for 20 years, a wierd, very drunk guy from brazil, and 2 argentine women, who were nice. although they ordered a round of tequila shots and i had to do two since it was my birthday. although apart from a glass of wine that was the only drinking i did that night. the next day (the 26th) involved a lot of sleeping and taking a walk with an italian woman who lived in switzerland. that night was fun. 4 brazilian guys made a bunch of food and fed us and i stayed up a bit with time drinking some beers and playing jenga, and trying to understand portugese. i met an aussie girl and watched and laughed at the brazilians who set up jenga but had twice as many pieces as they needed, so they just made a really tall tower and the game was over much more quickly.

I left a couple days later, happy with my stay. i met some really cool, fairly ridiculous people, and left that hostel with more new email addresses than ive taken from one hostel in a while. i made it to puerto natales, where i was planning on paying substantially less than retail for a 4 day voyage aboard a ship headed north. heres the story: the ship leaves tonight at 9 and there are plenty of spaces left. the retail price for a bunk is $510. im not about to pay that much. i came by their office at 10 today and offered $250. the woman laughed. i expained that i wanted to give her money, and that the company she works for does want my money. shes not going to make $510, and if she doesnt take my $250, she wont make anything at all. if there is one thing ive learned about people of argentina, and i guess chile, too, its that they dont like to take money. she wouldnt accept my offer. so i bought a bus ticket to leave this worthless town tonight, but im going to go back at 7:30, an half hour before the office closes and see if they have reconsidered. $250 or nothing. you think it would be an easy choice.