Puerto Eden complete with a garden???

My bible studies are a bit rusty but I seem to remember Eden being a place with a garden and a fig leaf...  While we did find a garden here, if you only wore a fig leaf you'd probably have problems with frozen plumbing.

Puerto Eden, a lost paradise???

Other than the very cold wind, Puerto Eden has been a nice break from the solitude.  The people here, as usual in Chile, are very friendly and helpful.  We came here not expecting to find much in the way of things we needed.  Fuel was a long shot, vegetables unlikely,  cell reception a pipe dream, laundry not even considered.

Well, we are happy to report that all boxes were checked here.  We quickly found "Uncle Alito" who hooked us up with diesel on the down low.  The guide book talked about poor quality dirty fuel at exorbitant prices.  We were pleasantly surprised to find good clean diesel at prices that only reflect how hard it was to get it here.  Alito, after inviting us into his home for tea then went as far as offering us use of his laundry facilities.  We lept into action and two loads of hard to wash items were quickly run through the machine.  Unfortunately, as is common in Chile, he didn't have a dryer so we will spend the next couple of weeks moving items inside and out to get them dry.  The weather here is not exactly conducive to removing moisture from things.  At least they smell cleaner than they did.

Laundry being blow dried

After the unexpected laundry chore we went for a long walk around the small town to see if we could find any other hidden gems to spend our money on.  The first Almacen (market) we found took us a while to sort out how to get to.  After walking a few boardwalks around the store with no way to it evident, we sorted out a path and an older man working in his yard invited us through.  His living room had racks of AAA batteries in single unit blister packs and a few cans of peas...  He did have a bottle of concentrated lemon juice...  At least we could ward off scurvy but this was not a good start.  Karina asked in broken spanish...  Vegetables???  Ah, yes, follow me.  He went into his kitchen and grabbed a knife.  We then followed him into his yard and he pointed to various things growing in his garden and greenhouse.  Chives, Swiss Chard, Dill, Mint, and Lettuce were all quickly acquired.

The next Almacen we found looked closed and deserted but upon ringing the door bell a smiling man welcomed us in.  This was a "Supermercado"!  We discovered good quality Onions and Potatoes, lots of canned fruits and vegetables and a freezer full of meat including the coveted "Centolla" which is the same giant crab you find in Alaska.  King crab for dinner!

Puerto Eden is the rainiest place on earth (according to Wikipedia so it must be true).   We have actually had almost 24 hours without rain though.  We took the opportunity to further explore the boardwalks and covered the whole village in just under an hour.  This included a hike up to the lookout which taxed our boat bound bodies.  We even decided to stay an extra day with the promise to complete the same hike the next day (rain or shine).

Danger Gary, praying the tower wont fall over.

This is the last sign of civilization we'll see until we arrive in Puerto Williams more than a month from now so we will certainly make the most of it.  We've spent hours at the computer performing last minute internet


research tasks, getting ready for the next leg.  We've even managed to download a few videos to keep us occupied during the cold and rainy afternoons when it's too ugly to move to the next anchorage.

All in all we've been happy with our stop here.  If you've ever wondered why humans are so hearty and resilient, we've found the answer here in Puerto Eden.  Adam and Eve must have been pretty damn tough people to live here with nothing but a fig leaf and an apple.

Sea Rover and all her glory in Puerto Eden