Windsurfing into Argentina!

Yesterday we hit a milestone! Finally, the 5th mechanic we visited knew a thing or two about carburators. During his test drive the car stalled out in the middle of the Costenara, a major, multi-laned highway in the heart of Punta Arenas. Immediately he jumped out of the car in the middle of traffic and started beating the carburator for all he was worth. After that it started up and ran fine. He told us we had a dirty. Carburator and it needed to be cleaned, but hitting it would help in the mean time (you can't make stuff like this up).

So off we set to our first stop along the way, Parque Nacional Pakistan Aike, a small, volcanic national park on the border of Argentina.

A few hours later when we arrived, we were met at the entrance by a portly park ranger who warned us about "el puma". Laughing we drove to the first trail head. The trail took us by two extinct volcanic craters that were nestled amid a twisted landscape of volcanic rock and lava tubes snaking through the ground like giant mole tunnels. The craters themselves had a green, Spanish moss like lichen draping from the jagged walls.

It was a desolate and windy wasteland with no trees but a few wild animals. The local guanaco was there in force as were some jackrabbits. We were charged by an angry skunk (quite terrifying) and there were plenty of chattering birds.

After a night of rain and a beautiful warm morning we set off for Argentina. The border crossing was smooth and we were making decent time towards Rio Gallegos. At least until we ran out of gas. At our last fill up we never filled up our reserve tank and that combined with a small turn around meant we were about 20 km short of a gas station. Rides were scarce, and 20 km was a long way to push a car.

About that time I wondered about the wind. It was sustained and very blustery. So blustery that it made it difficult to walk against it. I proposed we set a rainfly out the window and see if we could get the car to move. What started off as a joke soon became our best option and we started experimentation with different types of sail configuration. On the gravel, the car didn't move, but after a push and being back on the pavement, we were off! Mike sat in the window while Steph held the sail from her side and I drove. I also opened my door which would substantially boost our top speed. Along the flats we managed to hit 25km per hour, a respectable speed for a wind driven car. Or top speed was 45km per hour down a small hill and we made it about 9km to a police station in under 45 minutes. Along the way we got many thumbs up, smiles and looks of disbelief as we sailed our little car into Rio Gallegos.

In Gallegos we found a mehanic to clean our carb and do a bit of maintainance on our shock (it included cutting them amart with a grinder and welding them back together...) and we camped along the road with no tent, under a full moon and clear sky. In the morning after a few friendly greetings from passing trucks we set off for El Chalten, a long stop on our journey and the highlight of Patagonia.

Along the way we picked up a Dutch hitchhiker named Jordy who we drove 160 km to Chalten. Along we way we stopped by a glacially fed river that sliced through the brown dusty landscape like a bright blue ribbon and cooked lunch and shared beer along its banks.

As we approached Chalten, Fitzroy towered in the distance. I wish I could describe exactly how it looked, but words would be an injustice. Chalten is beautiful and today we are setting off for a few days to summit Cerro Solo, a glaciated peak with a fanastic view of the surrounding mountains. Wish us luck!