Trip Report One: Tierra Del Fuego January 1 - 12, 2001 January 1 - I leave Seattle via Miami, Buenos Aires (airport change), Trelew, and finally arrive the next day in Ushuaia. The Miami / Buenos Aires flight has personal video players and I watch several stupid movies instead of getting the sleep I need. January 2 - I arrive in Ushuaia, meet Hans at airport, build my bike outside the terminal, and cycle 8 km to downtown. Ushuaia feels like Jackson Hole, replete with rich tourists (Argentinians from Buenos Aires), boutiques, and souvenir stores. It is beautiful, though. picture: Ushuaia Airport January 3 - We buy groceries, bike to Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego (15 km), go for a brief swim in the Beagle Channel (cold water), then return to Ushuaia to begin biking north. I start with about 25 kilograms in bob trailer. About 30 km north of Ushaia, the bob trailer nearly jacknifes on my first steep downhill. Hans comments that the trailer was oscillating back and forth about 45 degrees from the direction I am biking. He is sure that I am going to crash. Instead, I learn an important lesson -- go slowly and cautiously with heavy load in bob trailer -- at least until I know how it handles. The maximumu safe speed is only about 35 km per hour. At 40 km from Ushuaia, the pavement turns to gravel, the road climbs to the Paso de Garibaldi (approximately 800 meters elevation), then descends to Lago Fagnano. Scenery is magnificent over the entire distance -- jagged mountains and glaciers everywhere. We make camp off main road near the shore of the lake. Total distance 81 km. pictures: Swimming in the Beagle Channel - Ushuaia - Fuegian Mountains - Continental Divide (appr 600 m) January 4 - We get a typical late start (noon) and bike along gravel roads through small community of Tolhuin and on to a campsite near the Atlantic coast. In the bakery in Tolhuin, we meet three friendly Mexican cyclists who have been biking through Latin America for the last 2.5 years. Their bikes and panniers weigh 70 kilograms. Once they arrive at Ushuaia, they plan to turn around and bike back to Mexico. Just beyond Tolhuin, the road becomes paved once again. Total distance 74 km. picture: Mexican cyclists on a 2.5 year trip January 5 - We wake up to poring rain, a sopping wet tent and sleeping bags. We pack up in a hurry and bike to the city of Rio Grande where we splurge on a hotel room (30 dollars). During this section I am wishing that I had scrubbed my nether regions a little better during my last shower in Ushuaia. After swimming in the sea, I knew to wash off the salt, but Hans showered first and used up the hot water. My cold shower was too brief to allow sufficient scrubbing. Oh well, a little chafing never hurt anyone. Total distance 75 km. January 6 - Our latest start yet (1:30 PM). The road heads north along the Atlantic coast directly into a relatively fierce headwind (20 to 30 km per hour). After about four hours of cylcing the wind lessens a bit, we leave Argentina at San Sebastian and benefit from a nice tailwind all the way to the Chilean border post. Border patrol carabineros are incredibly friendly. We cross the border at dusk and set up camp in the lee of a farm building. We enjoy a fantastic dinner at the local cafe (roast lamb, potatoes, salad). Our kind hostess undercharges us significantly for the meal because she like us and the fact I am fluent at Spanish. We go to bed under clear skies. Total distance 94 km. pictures: City of Rio Grande - Large sheep estancia in Tierra Del Fuego - End of Pavement sign (Atlantic Ocean in background) January 7 - It rains during the night but we are able to dry everything off in the morning sun. We watch some of the sheep shearing operation and a little boy shows us a handful of about 100 severed sheep ears -- they cut them so that they can differentiate Chilean and Argentinian sheep. We bike against moderately severe headwinds and crosswinds to the community of Cullen (where we get a late lunch -- 6 PM). Topography is mostly flat with some rolling hills. There are enormous sheep estancias every 25 km or so. The farms are neatly kept and consist of 10 to 25 buildings surround by miles and miles of open fields, filled with sheep, some cattle, and the occasional horse. The roads we are biking are all gravel in pretty good condition. Drivers are very courteous and give wide berth (about 1 car or truck every 10 minutes). Most of the drivers know enough not to honk when passing, but instead flash their lights in greeting. We bike about 30 km beyond Cullen (in and out of rain squalls) and camp in a brand-new yellow shephard's hut (still smells of paint) at the side of the road. Total distance 83 km. pictures: Waiting out rainstorm in Tierra Del Fuego - Campsite in Tierra Del Fuego January 8 - Today we bike through the oil and gas mining community of Cerro Sombrero. A nasty headwind (30 to 40 km per hour) and washboard roads making the going real slow (as slow as 8 km per hour at times). After Cerro Sombrero, route 3 curves north for 37 km to Bajia Azul, the ferry crossing to the mainland. By the time we reach the ferry, our aches and pains are worsening. I have a sore leg, tired back, and hands that get numb if I bike for more that 30 minutes straight (I grip the handlebars too tight in the crosswind). Hans as other minor ailments. Foremost in both of our ailments are the aches emenating from our butts due to an average of 6 hours a day in the saddle. The ferry crossing over the Straits of Magellan takes about an hour (approximately 15 km across). The sea is awesome with whitecaps and swells and windblown spray. There is no charge for us to cross with our bicycles. ***Note that our route from Tierra del Fuego to the Continent is different from the route initially planned. We decided to go north and cross at the Primero Estrecho, rather than take the 4 hour ferry between Porvenir and Punta Arenas, because ferry service to Punta Arenas is relatively irregular and doesnīt go each day***. The pavement begins at the other side of the Straits of Magellan. Our butts thank us for the reprieve from the washborad gravel. We bike another 16 km to a road junction and stay in a 100 year old farmhouse converted to a hotel (Hosteria Telhueche). It is a beautiful place with high ceilings, a great restaurant, and beautiful gardens. Imagine the movie Casas de los Espiritus -- rent the movie if you havenīt seen it yet. If I had been traveling with someone other than Hans, the Hosteria we stayed in could have been very romantic. Total distance 78 km. pictures: Typical Patagonian wind (apparent in the sea) - Ferry across straits of Magellan January 9 - The paved road stretches 102 km from our hosteria to the Punta Arenas / Puerto Natales road. Not a problem to do this in one day, right? Our progres is smooth for the first 60 km, with beautiful coastline, scenic estancias, and a couple of impressive beached ship wrecks. Then, about 40 km from our intended destination, the wind hits. The sleet during the squalls isnīt so bad, but the constant 50 to 60 km headwinds are distinctly depressing (especially since we are heading southwest -- away from the Caribean!). We camp in the only shelter we can find, a roadside kiosk positioned at the junction with a country road. The last twenty kilometers of the day took about 4 hours! Total distance 77 km. pictures: Hosteria in Villa Telhueche (continent) - Shipwreck on Straits of Magellan January 10 - We awaken at 6:30 AM to take advantage of a hoped-for early morning lull in wind, bike the 26 kilometers to a road junction and turn north towards Puerto Natales. At the road junction, we enjoy a breakfast of the most nourishing (the only) food we can find - Pringles, chocolate cake, and orange sugar water. Winds is pretty moderate in the morning, but picks up in the afternoon and later becomes a significant crosswind. Fortunately the road is still paved. After a lunch stop, we decide to continue another 50 km to the next road junction. Lo and behold, we benefit from a beautiful tailwind and it takes us just over 2 hours to do this section. We camp in an abandoned shed near the carabinero immigration post. Total distance 125 km. pictures: Camp at a roadside shelter (junction) - Nyandu crossing - Campsite at Morro Chico January 11 - We decide to wake early so that we can escape headwinds and arrive in Puerto Natales for a much-needed rest day. Progress is great until about noon when the wind picks up. By about 2 in the afternoon we have an oblique crosswind with gusts in excess of 80 km per hour. It is hard to walk in winds this strong. Our bikes get blown into the gravel at the side of the road several dozen times. I only get blown completely off my bike one time. Luckily, when you are biking at 5 km per hour, it is hard to get hurt too badly if you crash. The wind appears especially strong because it is coming in directly off the Pacific Ocean. Apparently there is nothing between our bicycles and New Zealand to slow down the westerly wind. The thought of warm, plentiful food in Puerto Natales keeps us going. We average 7 km per hour (not including stops) for about 30 km of windy highway. The last 14 km into Puerto Natales, scenically located at the edge of a fjord, is relatively protected by the wind. Nevertheless, it is a long tough day and we stay in one of the first hospedajes that Hans finds. Total distance is 102 km. picture: Roadside shrine near Puerto Natales January 12 - In a city full of tournists and numerous economical hospedajes, Hans has managed to find the most economical (and disreputable) establishment in town. We canīt decide if we should be more worried about the fire hazard or the earthquake hazard. A single match could have sent our cardboard guesthouse into an inferno or alternatively, a healthy blast of wind might have toppled the casa. We sleep in a second floor cubicle with a floor that sags several inches when we cross from the beds to the door. Our hostess is a 40 year old friendly but excessively talkative woman who offers frequent innuendoes that could be construed as a joke or as an invitation to her bed. It occurs to me in the middle of the night, that the house of cubicles could be a prositbulo converted to a tourist guest home in the recent past. And our hostess and her leering women friends (all of whom have mouths full of gold fillings) may in fact have been the previous tenants. In the morning I suggest to Hans that we relocate to more respectable lodgings and we quickly find a spotless hostal run by an old Chilean couple. We clean out our rooms and pay off Patricia (our host / prostitue), letting her know that we are changing residences because we have met with some friends (a necessary lie). Nevertheless, Patricia is offended, yells a litany of expletives, complaining about the chronic homosexuality of North Americans, and pushes (not too gently) Hansīs belongings out the door. During this last encounter, I talk to an amused vendor outside Patriciaīs home and he explains that the woman is a bit nutty and her home was in fact a whore house before she determined she could make a living off of tourists. The rest of our rest day is much more mellow. Puerto Natales is only the third real town that we have seen since Ushuaia and it is good place to eat, drink, and email. We are restocking our supplies, resting our gluteus maximi, and listening to horrific stories about the wind we will encounter. Tomorrow we bike north along endless gravel roads to the fantastic National Parks of Patagonia. In a week we should again be in email contact in the Argentinina town of El Calafate. pictures: Puerto Natales accomodation - Hosteria (prostibulo) Island Adios for now. Next >>