Quick Stats
*Total Distance: 8,002 km / 4,972 miles
* Number of jars of Peanut Butter consumed on this trip: 6
* Number of fevers above 103 fahrenheit: 3
* Jaw dropping waterfalls: Innumerable!
Current Maps
* Please note numbers in top, left-hand corner are incorrect.
Below are stories documenting our travels from Puerte Monte to Villa O’Higgins, Chile from December 7-19, 2011.
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The Navimag Ferry – Setting Sail on the open Sea
December 7th-9th,2011
We couldn’t be more excited to board the ferry south and leave the unfriendly port city of Puerto Montt. When we bought our Navimag tickets a few days prior, we decided not to purchase tickets for our bicycles since we found it quite ridiculous that our tickets were $75 but our bikes would cost an additional $60 each. If we could find a truck that would allow us to put our bikes on their bed, well then they would travel for free and we’d save $120.
After three hours of sitting at the cargo entry port for vehicles, a Chilean cop dressed in civilian clothes, prepared to go on vacation with a suitcase, asked what we needed help with. When we explained our situation, he brought us over to the port, and proceeded to go from truck to truck seeing if anyone could help us out. A big thank you to Andreas, who was transporting huge panes of glass, for letting us board our bikes on his truck! We hope you enjoyed the chocolate treat!
Our ship originally was set to board at 10pm and take off at 12am. Around midnight, the crew finally came around to pick up the 25 or so passengers in the wait room who were strewn about chairs half asleep. We boarded the massive ship, learned where our room was and promptly fell fast asleep in our comfortable bunk bed with clean sheets and pillows, and a private bathroom! We awoke around 7:45am and realized that we were still in port and not set to leave until maybe 9 am, 9 hours later than originally planned! Breakfast was some delicious baked bread, runny scrambled eggs, and yogurt, but we didn’t complain much.
I enjoyed meeting some other travelers as we grew quite close living in such small quarters. Melissa’s favorite friend was a puppy who also made his way in a carrier box to Andreas’ truck, which was parked next to a massive tractor. We also spent some time in the bridge gally chatting it up with the captain and watching him track our progress on paper maps, in case the GPS failed, which I guess it had in the past.
We arrived in Puerto Chacabuco 24 hours later after some bumpy seas but pleasant scenery of the snow capped peaks in the distance. Happy to be off the boat, we set off in the afternoon mist hoping to meet some cycling friends in Coyhaique. As we gradually climbed up a valley paralleling the Rio Simpson, the purple lupin on the road thickened and before we knew it there were fields of lupin, covering the valley floor, one of the most beautiful displays I had ever witnessed.
~Justin
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Cycling the rugged Carretera Austral
We are so happy to finally be riding our bicycles through the remote lands of Patagonia. Magnificent, multi-tiered waterfalls decorate the rugged glacier capped mountainsides as the clearest blue rivers I have ever seen snake through glacier carved valleys below. The trees are home to many different species of birds, including parrots, who sing to us as we roll down the bumpy, dusty dirt roads.
The weather is quite hard to get use to down here. It changes on a dime- one second it is so hot you think you are melting, then a huge gust of wind picks up and it drops below freezing with you covered in sweat, now shivering. Add to that a dash of rain when their is not a cloud remotely close to you… and presto! You are in Patagonia, my friend. I finally stopped jumping for my rain coat every time I felt a sprinkle start up. If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes… or maybe seconds.
~Melissa
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New Friends along the Road
In the past 10 days we have seen more cyclists than the prior 60 days combined. The Carretera Austral is a magnet for those seeking adventure, remote riding, and incredible vistas. Each cyclist we approach we always give a very big hello too and ask the usual questions of where you from and where are you heading? We have met cyclists from all over the world Canada, Poland, Slovakia, France, Romania, Belgium, and England who are all enjoying the bumpy ride and pristine waters.
The cyclists I would like to highlight are a couple from France and their 3 year-old daughter, whose birthday it happened to be on the day we met them. They began in Ushuaia and are heading north to Quito, Ecuador over the course of the next year. We wish you luck and safe travels!
An English cyclist we met is cycling 6 continents, now working on his second, kind of hard to wrap your mind around 80+ thousand kilometers and 5 years of biking. At this point in our first tour it is no wonder so many people are into seeing the world by bicycle, the slow pace, simplicity, and freedom makes it a top choice.
Overall this part of the world has seen some huge changes with the new roads as locals have traded and sold their horses for more modern pick-up trucks. Tourism has it’s grips on the economy and cyclists seem to treated like any other paper spender, but have a bit more freedom in not relying on the infrequent buses. Still the preferred way to travel is cycling as long as you pedal fast enough to evade the horse flies.
~Justin
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Fever in the tiny town of Cochrane
When we woke up about 20km from the town of Cochrane, Justin complained of a stiff back and achy legs. I thought that maybe he hit a pot hole a bit too hard the day prior and hopefully he’d feel better once we got moving. When we arrived in the cute little town, we enjoyed cucumber, tomato, and cheese sandwiches on the shady, grassy plaza.
“Jeeze, it is cold right now!” Justin said as he pulled out his wool sweater while shivering.
Uh oh. It was close to 90 degrees, one of our hotter days yet on the trip. I immediately made the executive decision that we were staying in town for the day, and went in search of a campsite for the night. I set up the tent, and Justin laid down to sleep, still shivering with a piping hot body. He came in and out of a snooze while I worked on washing laundry and cleaning up the bikes a bit.
Around 3pm, I could not take it anymore! Justin had a serious fever and was completely achy. He started asking me the same questions, moments apart, and was surprised to see our laundry done, when moments earlier he had watched me finish. I ran to the hospital and entered the dark hallway, covered in sweat, wondering where to go and what to say in Spanish. A doctor walked up to me (we are so far from the States!) and asked what I needed help with. I explained Justin’s symptoms and he said to bring him in IMMEDIATELY – we both feared it was the mortal Haunta virus caused by inhaling particles from dried mouse urine.
I grabbed the only wheelchair in the hospital, and ran the four blocks back to our campsite pushing the wheelchair along while getting quite a few stairs from the locals. As I pushed Justin over to the hospital, he at least was cracking jokes which made me feel a bit better.
The nurse immediately took his temperature with an old school mercury thermometer, and indeed he was up to 39 degrees Celsius. They drew blood and determined it was definitely an infection but too early to see other possible symptoms. Back on Cipro our dear Swift goes… They at least calmed my nerves and reduced my blood pressure by half when they stated he did not have the symptoms for Haunta. WHAT A RELIEF!
When the nurse went to administer a shot to reduce the fever symptoms, Justin looked away and squinted his eyes. I came into the room after grabbing some paperwork, and went to hold his hand. When I looked down at it, his fingers were PURPLE! I screamed about ten times, “His fingers are purple!! His fingers are purple!!” in English, of course, and a few moments later the nurse figured out what I was panicking about. Was this the next symptom?! He can’t lose his fingers!!
I then proceeded to run up and down the hallway screaming, “Where is the doctor?! Where is the doctor?!” The doctor later joked that I needed Valium – who wouldn’t need valium after seeing their loved one with a high fever and purple fingers in a remote village the farthest you could possibly be from your home?
We laid Justin down on the examining table and raised his legs. The doc explained Justin reacted to having a shot and was going into shock. Justin later told me that the nurse missed his vein and it really hurt. The finger discoloration subsided as we finished getting the paperwork together and paid a whopping $41 for the hospital visit. Justin hobbled back the four blocks to our campsite but he still made me a bit nervous as he had trouble walking in a straight line.
After some simple lentils and rice for dinner, he lay peacefully to sleep and slowly the fever waned.
In the morning, he was back to his usual antsy self, raring to continue on. After a blood test confirmed the infection had reduced, we set back off on the open road.
~Melissa
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More scenic views of glacial carved valleys led us to the cozy town of Caleta Tortel, which is navigable solely by boardwalks – no cars, or bikes clog noisy roadways. After a good bite of food and a great visit with new friends from British Columbia hiking with their sweet 2 1/2 year old child, we rolled on to Puerto Yungay. Another ferry found us en route to Villa O’higgins where we now lay resting for a day before taking our last ferry and slog through mud to our Christmas destination – El Chalten, Argentina.
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