Bohemian Paradise in Bahia Inglesa - Thursday Dec. 7th

Off the plane into the middle of the desert! The "Aeropuerto Desierto" was certainly not a misprint in the book. As you can see from this photo where we landed was just sand sand and more sand.

We had a car reserved at this airport, so we were relieved to see a Budget desk. Of course, the attendant didn´t speak English and we don´t speak Spanish, but we muddled our way through. After about 30 mintues waiting for the credit card to clear, we are off into an extremely barren landscape (please come back later for pictures, as the computer here doesn´t have a USB port). After 10 minutes of rockin´out to mid-80´s metal rock, we arrive in sleepy Bahia Inglesa, a small cluster of bohemian expatriates and Chileans. We check into our room and find a note from Betsy saying "Meet us in the Dome."

We walk outside wondering where the dome is and upon taking a right see a big dome rising up out of the nearby rooftops. Unfotunately we didn't get a photo from the outside of the Dome, but hopefully this interior photo of Betsy and our new friends gives you an idea of the size. It´s kinda hard to describe, but basically it´s a big nylon dome with hardwood floors, comfy couches, and an awesome view. It´s a restaurant/bar with little baby domes for hotel rooms. Very cool. It was created and owned by an expat who had done the same 3 month National Outdoor Leadership School trip in Patagonia that Carrie did back in 1994 - he had done it in 1992. Small world. We found the Dome easily and Betsy was there waiting with Mojitos. How bizarro to meet her out in the middle of nowhere, but there we were!

Rich also joined us soon after a day of trolling on the ocean in a little boat with a local fisherman. They had come up dry, so we headed out to another cozy little resturant on the beach for dinner.

After a great dinner of seafood (fresh scallops and oysters, evidently Bahia Inglesa provides over half of Europe's scallops) and noodles, then back to the Dome for an evening of drinks and foosball with our new friends - a Canadian woman and English bloke we had met at the restaurant. It was a late night, and we eventual stumbled back to our hotel for some needed sleep.