Archive for the Chile Category
Posted on April 14, 2012 by jason
Our first day on the road north, we made it through the border crossing at San Sebastian (Chile) with no issues. But, the weather turned on us by early evening and we were driving through rain and mud. It didn’t help that this was probably the worst road that we have driven in all of Chile. Nothing but trucks, washboard and pot holes. Big ones.
We called it a night when we arrived at Cerro Sombrero. This is a trucking/company town (don’t know which one) and everything seemed to be prefabricated and dropped into place – nothing interesting here. We ended up sleeping behind the gas station. We’re glamorous travelers.
The next day we finally hit pavement again and took what will probably be our last ferry ride for a long time. This one costs about $20 USD and took us to the mainland. Adios, Tierra del Fuego. the Argentina border was only a few minutes up the road and another easy crossing.
Next on the destination list was Rio Gallegos. Not for any reason other than we didn’t have much energy and Simon wanted to go look for someone to repair his muffler. Simon and M.C. have a buyer for their bus in Osorno, Chile so we’re going to travel together a bit longer until they cut West. They’re cool folks and fun to travel with… and it doesn’t hurt to have a backup when your driving an old bus.
Rio Gallegos is a bigger town, but there’s not much worth mentioning here, either. We had heard that the stretch of road up to Buenos Aires is the most boring drive on the continent. We were hoping to prove it wrong, but so far it’s been pretty dull. And, there’s the wind. It’s not in any of our photos, but it’s one of the most memorable things about this part of the world. It can be unforgiving – like, the next day.
We started out to Puerto San Julian into a stiff headwind. Our max speed was under 40 mph with the pedal on the floor. The pop-top was going crazy with each big gust and then POOF! It went up. We quickly pulled over and realized the left bolt holding the front scissor hing sheared off. Just going out and inspecting was harrowing with the top flopping up and down in the gusts – Angela stayed inside and wrestled the pop top handle down with all her weight to prevent it from flying off and breaking the rest of the mechanism. I quickly put some bailing wire through the hole and called it good – Angela continued to hold the handle while we slowly crept along.
Ten minutes later and the next time a big truck passed… POOF. The bailing wire broke. Simon was quick to pull out a thick cotter pin and it did the trick… for a while.
Twenty minutes later and POOF! This time the front bolts held, but the brackets that hold the rubber tie-downs in the middle and back yielded and bent out of shape, releasing the tie downs. And, one of the tie downs was ripped.
This wasn’t fun.
I bent them back into place, but they were now weak and useless. Again, Simon came to the rescue with a big roll of duct tape. Duct tape went everywhere. I pulled out our trusty rope we’ve been carrying around since Bolivia and tied down the front section through the windows.
We drove… really slowly all the way to Puerto San Julian. The rope and duct tape held. Each time a truck passed, we slowed even more and pulled over to the shoulder. The double-decker buses were the worst.
Posted on April 3, 2012 by angela
Well, it happened again. Bode got a little carried away playing with his bigger friends and ended up with a dislocated elbow. It had happened twice before, once back in the States, and again in Mexico.
The problem was that we were camping in the middle of Tierra del Fuego, Chile. And, it was almost dark.
Although we had planned to meet the gang in Rio Grande, Argentina later the next day, they all decided to get up early and follow us to the hospital. This is actually a big deal with our group… it takes a while to pack up 2 tents, 2 VW’s and a motorcycle in camp mode. But, we enjoyed an amazing sunrise as we drove the last of the road in Chile.
Bode was a trooper. He declared he would not be able to do any schoolwork for 3 more days, and conned me into watching the Smurf movie (I had previously said that I would never watch that with him). We kept the bed down and stayed under the covers for the first few hours of the drive. It was damn cold.
The Chile border office at Pasa Bella Vista was small – in fact it looked closed. Then, two guys came outside and stamped us out – we didn’t even go inside. Good thing it was quick because it was not easy getting Bode out of bed and bundled up. They told us the Argentina office was across the river.
Then we drove another kilometer to find that the river crossing does not include a bridge. The guys got out and started the head scratching. A border official on the other side walked out and motions where we should drive, and our caravan plowed through. Paul went first, gunning the motorcycle and lifting his legs.
Camille and I rode in Fern so I could get some good shots of Red Beard swimming.
Immigration was slow and by hand, but eventually we all got stamped in with vehicle approvals for Argentina. No food inspections, which was a nice surprise.
A few hours later – after getting caught in a Patagonian traffic jam, and with time for Simon to destroy his alternator pulley – we pulled into the hospital in Rio Grande. Simon and MC accompaned me in to help translate. Jason went to find an ATM, since we were sure we didn’t have enough pesos for the visit.
We were directed to the Guardia (urgent care) and led immediately into a pediatrics room. Before I had shuffled the Uno cards, a nice English-speaking doctor appeared. He took a look and asked a few questions. Then, Bode let out a shriek as the doctor swiftly snapped his arm back into place. Quick. Efficient. Friendly. Free. No paperwork. Damn this anti-American socialist system.
We were out of the hospital and on our way back to our friends within 20 minutes, just as Jason returned with effectivo. It was a good start to the day.
Posted on April 2, 2012 by angela
The refugio we found next to the penguineria was dirty, but provided us some shelter from the incredible winds. It had a “fireplace”, so it was also our only source of heat for the night. This was by far the worst wind I’ve been in. The buses blocked a bit of wind for the 2 tents, but it was a loud and sleepless night for everyone.
The next day we packed up and continued south. This is sheep estancia country and the shear number of them along the road makes me wonder why wool is still so expensive.
We stopped on Rio Grande for a little fishing. Jason snagged the only trout for the day, and it was big enough to add to our taco dinner that night.
We moved on and found the abandoned campsite on Lago Blanco. We keep lucking out with beautiful days. Thankfully, here it was windless.
Posted on March 31, 2012 by angela
The landowner next door was wrong about us getting into the Pinguineria for free that evening. He’d allowed us to use his land and wind shelter to camp, and said the dueno of the land next door was gone for the season and had closed up, and that we could just climb over the fence to view the King Penguins who had migrated to Tierra del Fuego.
Unfortunately, the night guard didn’t agree with that recommendation. But, he was willing to let us in for half price. The cost went directly into his pocket, but he led us very close to the penguins (much closer than the marked path for visitors).
These 3-foot tuxedoed beauties normally live in Antarctica, but this flock has inhabited this isolated beach for a few years now. It was something really magical to see. It was perfect penguin-weather, but us humans were forced to leave a little quicker than we’d wanted.
Posted on March 30, 2012 by jason
A few towns back, Paul and Camille had run into some cyclists they had originally met back in Panama. When we were in Punta Arenas, they sent him an urgent email requesting help and wanting to know if he was still traveling with the VW’s. Natch, we extended an offer to help out.
Thank you, Jason, for you email.
Trying to reply right away. The thing is, I don’t know if Paul told you, but I am 8 weeks pregnant and cycling does not seem to cooperate with me anymore. From this point we decided to split with Zilvinas till Ushuaia. Zilvinas wants to finish the trip cycling and i was going to take a bus to Ushuaia. And then i remembered your fun company, so I thought maybe you still have some room for me and my loaded bike? Please, let us know if you are on line, otherwise we will try to come tonight and talk to you at the port.
Diana
Zilvinas and Diana are a Lithuanian couple (via Chicago) who have been cycling for 18 months. They’re on an multi-part trip around the world, but for Diana, this part ends in Tierra del Fuego.
We met up for the first time the next morning on the ferry to Porvenir. Diana walked her bike off the ferry and we started loading up. Her bike went on top of Red Beard under some brand new bungee (pulpo!) and tarp, and the rest inside. Zilvinas and Diana hugged and said their goodbyes, and now we’re at 4.5 passengers for the bus ride to Ushuaia.
After a quick run around Porvenir for groceries, we took off to go look for more penguins. We drove a few hours and ended up camping on the ocean, near a sheep-herders refugio. It was windy and cold, but we had good company and the dirty shack kept us all warm.
Posted on March 30, 2012 by jason
All of those little day to day problems keep adding up. We will limp to the tip of the continent with duct tape and baling wire. At least we found tires and a car wash.
It might finally be time to fix that cracked windshield too… the trick will be to find one down here.
Posted on March 29, 2012 by angela
We are VERY happy to report we made it to Punta Arenas without anyone blowing a tire. Camille’s stuff is now in Fern, and she’s riding bitch behind Paul.
We went straight to the Zona Franca to find most things closed for siesta, but we hung out and went to the market while we waited until they opened up at 4. Jason and Simon were on tire duty, and came back with 4 new Chinese-made Nankang tires in the bus. We’re not proud of them, but it seemed to be the best option with still very expensive and limited choices.
Jason and Bode set out to have them put on and balanced while the rest of us went to the mall-like center for shopping. We had high hopes we’d find everything we ever wanted nicely displayed and very cheap. But, things aren’t much (if any) cheaper, and it’s largely a collection of the usual weird shops that sell completely unrelated items (underwear and cameras, for example).
Jason returned from the tire adventure and we set out to find a place to stay for everyone, but everything was full. It turns out that the river flooded recently and the entire south side of town is under water or mud, and those residents have taken all the rooms in the north. We ended up in the ferry parking lot next to some sort of PT boat for 2 nights of boondocking with Simon and MC, while Paul and Camille found a room outside of town.
The first night was very windy and cold, so we just heated leftovers and the 4 of us ate in Red Beard. The next day we reserved our ferry ride to Tierra del Fuego and we all tried to run errands around town. There is a penguin colony on the other side of the peninsula, but they migrated early. so, no penguins this time. Bode and I went back to the mall and went duty-free ice skating.
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