When 'Mid-20th century television shows' go bad..

I traveled to Puerto Williams, the town just south of the end of the world, to partake in some cultural absorption and to hike the craggy peaks of Navaro Island. Or at least this was my plan.

1.5 days into my three day stay, I tried to leave Puerto Williams (for reasons to be explained later), but was stranded on the island due to unpassable seas (This would be a good time to mention that the ferry boat was a 10 person Zodiac that might capsize if situated next to a well executed cannon ball). Puerto William is odd. Half of the 2,262 residents are there for Naval purposes, which means the other 1,131 citizens ate paint chips as kids. The average temperature during the winter is in the single digits, most houses have no insulation and they refer to beavers as the devil.

They have beautifully cemented and curbed sidewalks, but not one inch of paved road, and as a preemptive strike against the clever little beavers (and the collapse of the electrical grid) they have cement telephone poles. The beavers have destroyed entire landscapes of forest, and since their introduction to the island in the 1940's, they have become enemy numero uno (#1 for those of you who aren't fluent). As a result, every truck has fully loaded gun rack, every house has stuffed beaver or five in their front window, and the cowboys stylishly sport beaverskin chaps and play cricket with beaver tails.

I should have known something was up when I was the only person on the dingy over to the island, and there were 7 passengers waiting eagerly at the ferry landing to leave the island. I was bused to the Patagonia Hostel, which was a house with a hilarious and plump owner named Pedro Ortiz Ceballos (From the spelling of his name I believe he may be Dutch). It was friday afternoon, and i settled into my room and did final preparations for my hike the next day. That night, as I was watching TV with Pedro, Miguel (a 45 yr old electrical technician with terminally dirty hands) and three other middle aged men who stopped by for while, I took a moment to soak in the fact that I was at the bottom of the world (upside down from you). That fleeting second passed, and my attention quickly returned back to the romantic comedy "Serendipity" (in dubbed spanish).

ps. Depending on who you talk to, the part about athletic events and caudal appendages may be fallacious.