Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 18: Puerto Natales, Chile. Hostage Day 2.
Tangled web of power, phone, and cable lines shot from my hotel window. This was the 2nd day we were held and not allowed to leave Puerto Natales. We were the luck ones that found a hotel where we could stay. There were nearly 1000 others that were staying in an elementary school that was converted into a Red Cross shelter, or just living rough in the open. In addition there were several thousand more stranded in Torres del Paine National Park (Parque Nacional Torres del Paine). At this point, I needed to see a doctor for a bad cough that turned into walking pneumonia, but there wasn’t a doctor or pharmacy available. Also, the US State Department didn’t really believe that we were being held against our will — all having to do with issues of fuel subsidies provided by the central government to the residents of southern Chile. The new President canceled the subsidies, and southern Chile went on strike and wouldn’t let the tourists (one of their main sources of income) leave… Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec).
