Almost there
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2008
1
39
41
Trip End
Feb 28, 2009
Rio Gallegos,
Patagonia,
Argentina
Saturday, January 24, 2009
As we left Comodor this morning the winds began to howl off of the Atlantic Ocean, the temperature
dropping noticeably. We had a cold, hard ride with occasional rain fall as the legendary winds of Patagonia blow us around. The Guanaco´s and sheep staring at us from their pasture, pink flamingos picking away for food in shallow ponds.We arrive in Rio Gallegos late in the evening and both of us are exhausted from the winds.
January 24th
We realize this morning that we are on the doorstep of our goal, we are laughing and bantering despite the fact that we have 2 border crossings in the same day. As we pull up to the first border my jaw drops,
there is a line up of cars at least 1/2 km long. We make our way into the office and have to wait almost 2 hours to have our passports stamped and bikes released from Aduana. The line up of people doubling in size as we wait. My estimate is they will be standing in line for over 3 hours. Entering Chile was quick and straight forward. As we
rolled along we had to get on a ferry to cross the Strait of Magellan. Ruta 3 continued for several kms and it finally ended and we followed road number 257. This was by far the worst road we have traveled on this trip, huge washboards and potholes, very loose grade A gravel, sitting between the tire tracks. At times 6" deep it was difficult to keep the motorcycle out of this deep gravel with the strong wind pushing us around. On top of all this there is a constant stream of transport trucks driving by throwing the large gravel stones at us. The dust produced as they drive by causes us to chock up and is often so dense that we cannot see where we are going. On one occasion due to the high level of dust from a passing truck and lack of visibility I hit the deep gravel. The bike swaying back and forth as I try to guide her out of it the gravel which is pulling us left to right several times. I
finally guide her out of this mess and stop to collect myself. After over 100 km of teeth rattling riding we arrive at Chilean Customs and work through the process again. We then travel 12kms to Argentina customs, by far the best border on this trip. The staff friendly, helpful and efficient while music is playing in the back ground and they all sip their Mate. In less than 20 minutes we were done. The road instantly changing to asphalt, a welcome change after the mess in Chile. The winds continue to get stronger and by the time we reach Rio Grande we both agree to stop for the night.
