We left the Rio Cullen plant the 30th November and we went back to the border at San Sebastian. It was quite late and we had to spend the night at the border station. The people of customs indicated us a waiting room allocated to travelers, with bathrooms and kitchen corner. We spent the night with two wild Germans and a couple of young married married British who decided to cycle from Ushuaia to Lima for their honey moon.
The following day was a nightmare. The real wind of Tierra del Fuego finally showed up and stroke us. With a strong head and side winds, our velocity dramatically dropped . The wind was about 100 km/h, and we thought it was one of the strongest we could have, but when we asked the custom officers, their response was depressing : “Some wind today, but not that strong …”.

At 2 pm, the wind blew stronger. We gave up at the estancia Flores, because it became ridiculous to go on (5 km/h on average). There, we had been very welcomed by Juan, the heir of Croatian immigrants in Chile. He proposed us a place to camp in his garden full of flowers, and invited us for an asado the evening. We then had a wonderful evening with him and his sister Krasma.




To schedule something in Patagonia is challenging due to the capricious winds. This day we left Punta Arenas to go along the road to Puerto Natales. The first 30 km were great, but then the wind started blowing like crazy from the left side. We did not manage to stay on the road, whereas we were aspirated to the wheels of the trucks that passed us. We managed the last 5 km in 1 hour and with great pain, and we reached a police station where we asked to spend lunch time. Five minutes later, we were invited to share the policemen’s lunch: salmon freshly fished by one of them with rice and home-made bread. We gratefully accepted the invitation and enjoyed this unexpected lunch. Outside, the wind was still the same, and even strengthened during the afternoon. It was then impossible to go on or to set up the tent anywhere. We asked again if it was possible to wait for the wind to drop among the policemen, and they all fully agreed. They looked very happy and proud to take care of us. After a small nap, we chatted with them about this and that, waiting the coming back of the chief to ask his agreement. We enjoyed a football game on TV and a crap movie in the control office. But at midnight, the wind was as strong as before and the chief was not back. At 2 am, our new friend decided that we had to rest, and he opened an office to set up our sleeping gears. Although it was short sleep, it was good and repairing, and we thought that we were lucky to have found them to help us.
The next morning, the wind did not drop at all. We had then several opportunities: 1) stay with the policemen until the wind dropped, 2) struggle against the wind with the risk to be shot by a truck, or 3) take a lift. After long discussions and a good breakfast offered by our new friends, we chose the third one. It was Sunday and a few cars only were on the road. In addition, it is not that simple to take two people and 2 bikes and the panniers in a single car. Next to us, the policemen did their job and controlled some of the cars. But after some time, we figured out that they were only controlling 4x4 pick ups. 30 minutes later, one of them called us: he found a lift for us !! We greatefully thanked them all for their kindness and we jumped into the back of the car. The passengers were a 3 person family who was going to Puerto Natales for the week end. Along the road, they had pity for us and stopped to propose us to get into the car. We were a bit squeezed, but it was much more comfortable than the very cold outside. Later, they offered us a coffee and a piece of cake. Cristian, Carolina and their son Nicolas were very friendly and also proposed us to help us in Puerto Natales. We gratefully declined the invitation, but we invited us for diner to thank them. We spent all together a great evening.
