Guanaco (Lama) watch at Caleta Horno

Continuing the beautiful sailing in Patagonia we arrived here in Caleta Horno at 8am local time. The nightshift was a bit rough for Marcus, he found us in a cross sea where the current flowed against the wind wave, making the waves 50% higher and very steep. So he did not only do his shift but also stayed up with Hanno in his shift. I woke up from the sudden rocking&rolling, that went on for a while. When it was my turn for the shift, the waves had gone back to normal so I had an easy shift. When I took over the wind was at 3-4 Bft and then speeded up to 5-6 Bft, nothing unusual. I reefed the Genua (front sail) when I had to tack anyways. Marcus slept like a baby, he was so tired of course. So was Hanno, who was up the whole time as well. He helped me with the tack and then went to sleep. When Marcus came up it was sunrise time (I love these shifts, my shift before was the sunset shift) and we were 1 hr before arriving in the bay of Caleta Horno. I love arriving in places early in the monring, when life on land starts, the birds start flying over us. Once we had the sails down and started the motor, Hanno also woke up and came on deck to enjoy the beauty of nature.

The place where we're at anchor is now incredibly beautiful, maybe the most distinct and beautiful of this whole trip. Not green, but beautiful. For a long time we did not see where the entrance to the backpart of the bay was, but then we found a canyon and knew that must be it. Once I am able to upload the pictures you'll see what I mean. The landscape here is a desert, a little green in some parts, just enough to feed the sheep, rabbits and guanacos (Lamas)who live here. Besides these animals there is nothing here. Well, fish of course and mussels. No street, no traffic, no people. Just all quiet.

We hiked a bit yesterday and I hiked for quite a nice time today, going up the highest hills here to get a better overview, sat there for about an hour and enjoyed this increbible quiet, peaceful and beautiful place on earth. The animals here have picked the right place to live. There are endless islands and bays here. The desert looks as if you would place some of the desert from Nevada, cut it up into pieces and place it in front of the ocean. Only Yoshua trees and the gigantic cactee are missing. Beautiful yellow bushes who maltreat your feet if you come too close and some small cactee can be found here. Such a peacuful place here.

And the most fun are the guanacos on watch. There is always one guanaco at the highest point on the hills close to where the little herd is, to watch out. If they see you, they start yelling to the others. On the photos to come you'll be able to see them on watch. Very cute. Today I had some guanacos and sheep very close to me. I love how they stare at you, watching avery step to see if they have to run or if they can stay.

This morning, when Marcus brought me to land with the Dinghi, he saw a seal. I took picutes of it from the top of the canyon here. So cute this guy, lazy, lying in the water, doing nothing but catching some air to breathe.

So, the trip this year, starting here in Patagonia, starts out really amazingly peaceful and beautiful. I know I keep repeating myself, but that's just how it is. Patagonia, a land with many different landscapes, from desert to green, ocean with beaches to mountains (the Andes) and many flowers. Huge and peacful, very few inhabitans, no tourists in distant places like this here. Just marvelous.

Have a great day everyone.

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