Short Tales
Monty is a cat living at the erratic rock hostel in Puerto Natales. When it first came around the operators thought it belonged to another American who lives in the area, she has an entirely black cat as well called Vladimir. After 3 days they discovered that it wasn't Vladimir, and Kat, (ironic yeah) an intern at erratic rock named the cat Monty.
The cat holds a special meaning to me as it bit my headphone cord exposing the innards, luckily for me the staff at erratic rock had some duct tape I could fix it with.
When I get a cat of my own, I am absolutely going to name it Monty; I just wouldn't get a black cat, I would rather prefer one of these red/whitish cats...Â
Yamanaka Hajime:
I first met Yamanaka Hajime in Rio Gallegos, he claimed to be "above 60" but that was all he would give. As his name implies he is asian, and more specifically Japanese. I had some lovely conversations with him (he had often had a lot to drink), but the peculiar thing was our travel patterns. We both stayed at the Casa de Familia Lecira Contreras in Rio Gallegos, took the same bus to Ushuaia where we both ended up in Los Lupinos (by pure chance). After a week there, we (by chance again) took the same bus from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas. I never saw him again after that, and I unfortunantly never took a picture of him, but I vividly remember what he looks like. An elderly (but lively) Japanese man with a slightly weathered face and short white hair.
If you are EVER going to Torres Del Paine or just Puerto Natales, you are cheating nobody but yourself if you don't stay at erratic rock hostel. It is a most wonderful place with great staff, good beds and the best omelet for breakfast that you can ever imagine, accompanied by freshly baked bread. Every day at 15 o'clock there is a great information meeting on hiking in Torres Del Paine, without it I would have been lost.
Located in Puerto Natales, prepare yourself for the best pizza outside Italy, the thinnest crust, best ham/cheese/tomato/salami/whatever-you-might-desire. The atmosphere, the long wooden tables and benches... Everything just feels perfect about this place, so after a successful trek through Torres Del Paine, please treat yourself here... You won't regret it ;).