index page x keepgoing

Travel Diary:

STAGE 8 and Last

1st April: ARRIIIIIVEEEEEDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!! after approx 8000km and 7 months on our bikes,

we finally made it to Ushuaia... we still can't believe it, we've reached the southernmost

city of the world and our long lasted dream of cycling the whole SA continent has become true!

LET'S PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

31st March: 115km from Rio Grande to Tulhuin in a freezing Tierra del Fuego, fall has just begun and we've

been lucky enough to add another amazing landscape to our trip... 70km South of Rio Grande

the Pampa ends and we crossed the Andes for the last time through multicolored woods.

Slight ups and downs overlooking silver lakes surrounded by red, yellow and green trees,

this time of the year Tierra del Fuego gifts the traveler with some of the most melancholic

and fascinating colors ever... it seems that nature here is perfectly interpreting our feelings!

28th-29th March: 198km (120 on gravel road) from Cerro Sombrero to Rio Grande. Ushuaia is just

211km away!!!!!!!!

27th March: 78km to Cerro Sombrero. End of Patagonia, we crossed the "Estrecho de Magallanes"

and officially entered Tierra del Fuego.

26th March: 104 km from Rio Gallegos to Punta Delgada, again a tough day with strong and freezing

head-wind. We crossed the Argentinian-Chilean border for the 5th time at 7pm and

kept biking in the night until 11pm, when we found a 'comidor' for truck drivers at

km 104 where a hot soup and chicken closed our daily effort. We tried to convince

the old lady to let us sleep in her restaurant as no rooms were available... no chance!

we ended-up setting our tent in the dark, waiting for the patagonian wind to crash it

as usual ... another almost sleepless night!

23rd-24th March: Rest days in Rio Gallegos... Happy Easter to everybody from the end of Argentinian Patagonia!!!

20th-22nd March: 320km in 3 days from El Calafate to Rio Gallegos, we crossed the ever-flat Argentinian Pampa

to reach for the first time in this trip the Atlantic shore of the Latin American continent.

On the 20th we set our new daily distance record, cycling 174km in a day,lasting10 hours

continuous pedaling! We reached La Esperanza at 11pm right after one of the most impressive

sunsets ever seen. On the 21st our tired legs could take us just to Las Horquetas, 66km further in

the Pampa fighting against a strong head wind. Final 80km to Rio Gallegos enjoing an

unprecedented tailwind that pushed us at 30kph most of the time.

16th-19th March: Back to El Calafate, we rest and eat for a couple of days (!) before jumping on our bikes again.

10th-15th March: We left our bikes in El Calafate and travelled by bus to Torres del Paine National Park.

There we spent 5 days trekking into one of the most amazing Patagonian landscapes

dominated by the stunning presence of the Paine gigantic granitic peaks. We trekked on

the "W circuit", a well organized single trek that allowed us to admire the mountains from

different perspectives and walk the whole day into untouched nature. Camping sites offer

a nice place to set-up the tent every 5-7 hours walk.

7-8th March: Today starts the 8th and last stage of our bike trip through South America, after

almost 7 months on the road we are approaching our last 700km ride from El Chalten

(Argentina) to Ushuaia, known as the Southernmost city in the world.

We left El Chalten in a shining morning with mixed feelings, excited to finally head towards

Ushuaia but at the same time sad and a bit scared to face the last km of this fantastic

adventure! Argentinian Patagonia is definitely back with its total isolation, we ride the

225km to El Calafate across pure Pampa, no water, no food, nothing! our only companion

is a constant wind that gently pushes us over the first 85km but suddenly turns in our face

and makes our ride a disappointing effort over the last 140km. And presents us with the

most troublesome night of our trip: after 10 hours on the bike at midnight and in the middle

of nowhere the Patagonian wind starts lifting our tent making our sleep impossible...

we decide to put down the tent and try to sleep outside, but a "friendly" rainshower forces

us to wake up again. We quickly pack and rush on our bikes again at 1am!!!

almost desperately we decide to ride directly to El Calafate, but after 10 minutes we meet

some men at work on the gravel road and they kindly offer us to sleep in the back of one

of their trucks... THANKS GUYS!!!