The South American Odyssey continued, Day 6 to Day 7.

 

So I have physically moved way past Santiago and Broad Hinton. Just catastrophically short of time and so busy that all I am capable of is to collapse into bed at night.

After getting back from South America I have had a few days to recover and then on the Wednesday my shooting buddies arrived from South Africa and the USA, so no time left.

Two busy days in the field in the English countryside in freezing cold weather, but fortunately no rain. I had been acclimatized for this by the last week of the ride in Patagonia, so these conditions were nothing unusual for me.

So let me get going with some more of the trip.

 

Day 6 (27-11-2017)

 

Puyuhapai to Coyhaique
234 kms.

 

Started off on tar but quickly became very challenging due to earthworks on the Carretera Austral. This remarkable road runs down the length of Chile from Puerto Montt to close to Punta Arenas. Original built by General Pinochet, the dictator of Chile as a military road to enable the swift deployment of troops to fight against Argentina in the disputed southern areas. This is a conflict I knew nothing about but testimony to it exists in the form of minefields alongside the roads in the deep south.

Apparently, the enmity between the two neighbours was such that during the Falklands Conflict (Malvinas in the Argentine least one ever forget there are signs all over to remind one. One of the border jumping Brits, Andy Searle continually has a problem remembering this so it is incumbent on us to remind him at every opportunity!)

These road works mean that the road running along the sea is closed for blasting daily for a few hours and almost immediately after leaving Puyuhapai we hit dirt and then a ferry that is transporting vehicles around the earthworks. This is a trip of about 30 mins on the boat. The challenge however is getting on and off the ferry. It is not a RoRo (Roll on Roll off which means that you drive on and then drive off the other side). This makes it easy. But who wants easy? This ferry has on and off at the same end.

The big trucks have to go down the ramp and then execute a 180 degree turn and reverse onto the ferry. The boarding ramp is nonexistent. So unlike Norway where everything was almost level and the ramp had a non-slip covering, here we have to go down a steep wet dirt incline, through a bit of sea water and then up the ferry’s now wet and slippery ramp. So it is a case of “look up and open up – but just a bit!!”. Like gentle final strokes. I manage it better than I thought that I would and we are on the ferry which quickly gets under way.

 

ET and I were first up and early out, fortunately this means we are ahead of most of the traffic so no major jams. We have carried bike covers for mornings like this when the bikes are wet due to morning dew and condensation from being near the ocean and cold, cold weather. Luisa had a reason for wanting to show us how the heaters worked.

We however did not put them on so a towel from the B and B was taken to do the job.

On the ferry a surprise, approached by a young girl who started talking to us, this was not a surprise as I have a hunk with me. It was the Afrikaans. Emily Currie from Jansenville in the Eastern Cape had heard our accents. She was four months into a pedal bike trip down the whole of South America and had a job with the company organizing the trip.

We offered her some of our Woolies “Tong” which went down like a BJ in Washington! Mrs. Currie your daughter is fine and doing well but seriously homesick. All us SAFFA’s are the same – we get home sick! More than any other nation. The Brits never want to go back. The Aussies know they come from the shitiest country on earth and the Yanks also are never in a hurry to get back. They all tell you that they want to keep on travelling. Not us. We cannot wait to get back despite all the problems in SA.
We reach the end of the sea leg and reverse the challenge up the ramp and off onto the road which is still under construction and very technical.
We make the suggested coffee stop in Villa Amenguel and hurtle on. Very technical riding now and intense concentration is required. ET and I swap the lead as the front man must talk his wingman through the various dangers (potholes and loose gravel etc.). I am thankful for the intercom system and have for this reason brought a spare unit plus mount – more about this a bit later on.

Lunch then at Via Maniuales where the suggested restaurant is closed and fortunately we find another on its very first day of business. They have an excellent soup, but nothing else. Andy Hill and Emma arrive shortly after us and join us for lunch.

Andy has bought a new top of the range Sena Intercom specially for the trip and this has bust. So I tell him that I have a replacement for him. He is beyond grateful as the two of them ride separate bikes and are suddenly looking forward to two more weeks of no speaks. However, he will have to wait until the end of the day to get this as it is in one of my too full bags.

After lunch we set off again and after more dirt hit tar and a hill before town. We stop at the top and look at our objective, which is a mid-sized town originally built for the military and now trying to become a tourist attraction. So, the first thing the wise city elders did is build a casino and so we are staying at the Hotel Dreams Coyhaique. This is part of the casino and is very nice. It has a pool and a sauna which we use.

That evening ET, Andy, Emma and I go out to La Casona, a small family restaurant across the road from the Dreams and have an outstanding meal. I have one of the best pieces of Salmon I have had since my time in Alaska. Perfectly cooked. The Chilean Caminiere Red wine is also outstanding and my first introduction to this varietal. This is not going to be my last bottle.

In the tradition of good bikers I pass out into dreamland.

Day 7 – (28-11-2017)
Coihaique to Puerto Guadal

270KM all dirt

 

A total dirt day – no letup but road conditions are generally good and we make good time. We decide that we are going to stop in Puerto Tranquillo on Lago Buenos Aires for lunch. This is a fuel stop and a busy little town with lots of adventure tourism related activities.

Shortly before town we have the funniest incident on the whole trip. We are stopped at a “ry/go” road works stop. The lady in the hut positions herself firmly in the middle of the road with a stop sign. We wait. After about ten minutes a pick-up truck comes along the road works. We can see the entire length (about 2 km) of these into town. It stops next to her. She gets in and off it goes leaving us sitting on our bikes without any explanation. We wait about 5 minutes and then decide to ride. We nearly get taken out by a digger loader coming in the opposite direction and the road surface is treacherous. Built up soft sand with steep drop offs on either side, recently watered by the contractors and very, very slippery. The guy manning the check point at the other end nearly has a fit as we pass by, as he is still letting traffic pass in the opposite direction. ET explains the problem to him and he just shrugs. It is no longer our problem as the town is right there.
We find a small place for lunch and have the daily special, which resembles a beef stew and is tasty. Andy and Emma arrive as we are leaving as do some of the other riders. We do not wait and set off again, on dirt virtually immediately after leaving town.

The road takes us through magnificent countryside alongside Lagos Buenos Aires, a glacial lake reminiscent of those in the Glacier National park in Wyoming.

Near the end of the lake we come upon a few lodges and one of these is ours. Marlin Colorado. The access road is a small dirt track up to the lodge built of wood and situated up the side of the mountain overlooking the lake. As I am in the lead I turn up and accelerate to get up the slope. My back tire hits the grass in the middle of the track and in a second I am off. At no speed but I am off with the heavy bike on top of me and my left foot is trapped between passenger’s foot peg and the ground. I have my face in the grass and cannot extricate myself. Without help there is no way out. ET is there in a flash, concern in his voice as he is aware his mother has threatened him with a fate worse than death if he allows any damage to me. I assure him I am ok but stuck. It is not easy to get out but fortunately ET is strong and virtually picks the bike up and this allows me to get my foot out, all before the rest of the crew arrive. He rides the bike up the ridge for me as I am feeling a bit wobbly. We go into the main lodge room and have a beer to calm down. The other riders start arriving. ET and I are sharing a great room in our own cabin a bit further up the hill.

After dropping our stuff off we decide to go for a swim in the glacial lake. Mark who drives the support vehicle decides to come with us. He takes us down the road looking for a beach which we do not find. Eventually we make our way to one of the other lodges as they have a jetty off which we can jump. The people at reception tell us we are mad as the water is “freezing”, but we are here and we are bikers! No water is too cold for us and I have done this before in Wyoming. The water is at about 3ºC! As we go in my breath disappears and we rush to the shore. Once out in the ambient air that is in any event cold, our bodies feel incredible and alive.

Back to our cabin, a hot shower and off to dinner in the main lodge. The whole crew at one table and an excellent evening, then off to bed and an instant pass out as we have a big day ahead.