Patagonia: Day 2, 24 Feb
In which we collect John's car, cross the Magellan Straits into Tierra del Fuego and slip into the luxurious comfort of Estancia Viamonte.
In which we collect John's car, cross the Magellan Straits into Tierra del Fuego and slip into the luxurious comfort of Estancia Viamonte.
Flat land and wind. Did I mention the wind before? Target: cross the Straits of Magellan, the historic route through the southern tip of the Americas which the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan discovered in 1520.
This is really an exciting moment to be standing there at Punta Delgada in a line of cars waiting to board the ferry. A lighthouse and a closed cafe. Just a wee bit of trepidation seeing that the ferry is what could also be described as a rust bucket. Still adventures have always been our daily fare, so we happily drive on board, hotly pursued by a huge yellow mechanical digger on a flatbed truck and another truck carrying a two-room grey portable cabin.
This is really an exciting moment to be standing there at Punta Delgada in a line of cars waiting to board the ferry. A lighthouse and a closed cafe. Just a wee bit of trepidation seeing that the ferry is what could also be described as a rust bucket. Still adventures have always been our daily fare, so we happily drive on board, hotly pursued by a huge yellow mechanical digger on a flatbed truck and another truck carrying a two-room grey portable cabin.
This is one of the narrowest crossing points and really it looks more like a very wide river, except it takes half an hour to cross because of the strong current, the wind and the need for the ferry to run parallel to the coast before heading across to the mysterious land we know as Tierra del Fuego. The first European explorers called it the Land of Fire because the local natives always had fires burning to keep warm. They even had fires in their canoes. Don't ask what 'Ealth and Safety would have thought of that!
As our car bumps up the ramp and on to dry land at Punta Espora I feel that our journey has really started.
Drive through prosperous Rio Grande, where fellow Toastie Annette Pearson ended up after her motor bike accident near the end of her 50,000 km journey from Alaska, and down the coast to Estancia Viamonte.
What a great welcome at this huge farm guest house with warm smiles and kisses from the welcoming staff. This is definitely a treat. Pre-dinner drinks with owner Adrian (b 1936) and later son Simon and his two young girls and wife. Kids rule: can't eat from pre-dinner snacks without first offering them to us. Seems Simon's wife is German and rules are rules. We get to eat a lot of snacks, and thankfully a large whiskey.
Sleep in what turns out to be the most comfortable bed we have enjoyed since landing in Argentina.
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