It occurs to me, as it has done elsewhere, there is little danger of missing the flight as I will be disturbed by the cleaner in plenty of time. There is maybe a danger of being stung for an extra night's accommodation though, if I end up being woken by the cleaner. (I must say, given I checked out nearly an hour late at my second hostel in Arica due to my clock being wrong the whole time I was there, it was very decent of them not only not to try that on, but not even to make tutting comments and say they'd let me off. I got no clue at all I was running an hour behind. This is perhaps even more surprising given I had probably hacked them off by turning up well after midnight every night, and even later than I thought due to the same clock problem.)
Mon 11:45pm. Just ordered another beer, my seventh and probably last. The couple just left.
Apropos of nothing, I am inclined to observe that if some major catastrophe struck (Western?) civilisation tomorrow before 1pm when I fly back, I would be far from sorted. The island is not self-sufficient in food according to one of the tour guides (and, although it's a luxury in this context, the electricity is from diesel generators, presumably run off fuel shipped in). I can't help thinking that it would be peculiarly grim being stuck out here (as a local, not just as a tourist, though that would add an extra dynamic to the hypothetical novel) under such circumstances. At least on the mainland, or a decent-sized island like the UK (moreover, one could imagine UK survivors crossing the channel if push came to shove), the struggle to survive post-disaster would be a contest for a fairly decent level of extant resources and with at least the potential for self-sufficiency. Here the struggle would probably be particularly nasty and brutish. (There are a few farms, and some cows and c
hickens, I have seen the latter with my own eyes.) Though I don't have the talent to write it, and it's probably been done (I would like to read it if I knew who had done it), I can't help thinking there's a half-decent novel in that observation.
(Although I doubt things could be developed quickly enough, I do have some idea the native population at its peak here - and obviously self-supporting at the time - was larger than the current population, maybe by a factor of two or three, though this is straining my recollection and may well be wrong. But as I say, that's a bit irrelevant in that hypothetical situation.)
(If I didn't make the observation while I was down there - I certainly shared it with the local brother and sister I met on the ferry as we watched night fall - according to something I read on straightdope.com, some scientists worked out back in the 80s (?) that Tierra del Fuego would be the last habitable spot on the planet after a global nuclear war, based on IIRC likely targets and prevailing weather systems. Not to say it would remain habitable indefinitely, but it would remain so longer than elsewhere.)
You'd think it would be at least as economical to ship beer kegs out as individual 350ml cans, surely? Maybe some place I haven't been here serves beer on tap, but I doubt it. Maybe it's partly cultural, but I suspect there is some bizarre economic motive at work here.
Tue, 12:30am. Just got back. The radio (?) in the taxi was playing Morrissey's "Suedehead" (I think - lyrics"I'm so sorry") on the way back. Was talking to the owner again when I went in to pay and asked them to call me a cab. He got to mentioning the discos on Saturday night, I said I couldn't go as I had to be up early the next day for tours but not sure if I got it across. I am half sorry I didn't experience that, but if I ever return - maybe in the really off-season when airfares and hotels are cheaper - I can do it then, when I won't be burdened with the need to do tours. I suspect I will never come back, and I'm not too bothered, but it's always good to leave something for a subsequent visit I guess.
(I did also see people driving round the island on quad bikes. It would have been quite cool to hire one, and I suspect even I could handle that with the limited traffic here, but I didn't bring my driving licence with me - figuring it would only ever be needed for car hire, which I would never do - so I couldn't pursue it. Another one of those 'next time' things.)
Feel pretty sober really. Not a bad night in a quiet sort of way. Anyway, a quick shower and then bed.
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