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 Tuesday
January 2nd, 2001. It´s the end of the world, at least
here in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost town in the world.
After arriving here on December 20th, we boarded a boat to the
ends of the world, fell over the rim and were swallowed by a
penguin standing on top of a turtle (or was it the other way
around …?), never to be heard of again. For more information
on our daring escape, read on to the end of this fascinating
narrative…
We rode
into Chile from Bolivia on the 1st of December. The scenery
changed quite drastically after the Altiplano, as we headed
due south again along the northern Chilean coast, consisting
mostly of desert, interrupted only by the odd town or village.
Such is the desolation that the Chileans thought it necessary
to plant several sculptures in the middle of nowhere, perhaps
just to keep drivers awake and interest alive. The road, in
very good condition, is for the most part a straight ribbon
along the coast. We would usually either picnic or stop somewhere
in a little seafood place, where we would feast on excellent
congrio (eel) or some other delicacy. In Tocopilla, at a small
beachside restaurant, we became the main attraction for a rather
large flock of kids that showered us with questions and professed
great admiration for the respective colours of our eyes. As
soon as we were done with lunch, they cheerfully raided the
table for all they could find, much to the dismay of the restaurant
owner.
Shortly
before Santiago, Ellen´s clutch gave out. We had been
aware of the problem for a while, hoping to make it to Santiago
where spare parts were already waiting for us. Since that hadn´t
worked out by a meager 100 km, we loaded the bike on a truck
with the help of a couple of locals and headed into town. Besides
having both bikes serviced, we also met up with Jeanette Sabus,
who was preparing to leave for a one year ride around South
and Central America (http://www.geocities.com/pandoras_tour).
The next destination was Puerto Montt where we had decided to
take the ferry for Puerto Natales. This made us miss the Carretera
Austral, but considering the rather miserable weather and the
fact that we wanted to spend a few days exploring the Torres
del Paine National Park, it seemed like the best way to go.
The ferry ride was uneventful and pleasant. We were quite lucky,
since our cramped four man cabin became a lot more spacious
due to the fact that our roommates decided to switch to more
comfortable accommodations, leaving us by ourselves on an otherwise
fully occupied boat. We´re still wondering if the fact
that our riding jackets hadn´t been washed since Alaska
had something to do with their decision to switch rooms….?
In Puerto
Natales, the weather continued to be so miserable as to make
a visit to Torres del Paine pointless. We hung out in town,
being pleasantly lazy, waiting for the weather to improve. One
morning, when it seemed like clearing up, we got ready to head
out only to find out that both bikes wouldn´t start. We
eventually got them running again, but we had lost another day
and the weather was worsening, so we decided to head straight
for Ushuaia, where we arrived on December 20th. We had a day
to arrange parking for the bikes with the help of Pepe, the
amazingly friendly owner of Hostal Alakaluf (Tel 54-02901-436705,
http://www.alakalufhosteria.com.ar),
wash our clothes (including the jackets !!) and get some supplies
for the trip to Antarctica.
That done,
it was time to meet up with my parents as well as my sister,
Anne, and her boyfriend, Richie, who had flown in from Australia,
much to the surprise of my father, who didn´t know they
were coming and who also had no idea that we were going to Antarctica.
As surprises go, these worked out well, all in honor of his
65th birthday.Once together, we boarded our ship, the Lyubov
Orlova, and headed for the Drake Passage, where some traditionally
rough seas awaited our coming, effectively incapacitating about
60% of the passengers aboard. The six of us did reasonably well
though, spending the two days in the Passage reading, attending
lectures, and celebrating as much as the rolling of the ship
would allow us. By the end of the second day, we arrived in
calmer seas, and the following day, we finally set foot on Antarctica,
at Neko Harbor on the Antarctic Peninsula. Penguins, seals,
whales, birds, and ice, ice in different forms and shapes, glaciers,
icebergs, ice everywhere, an always repeating yet always different
sight. Absolutely spectacular. We landed in six different spots
altogether during the time effectively spent in Antarctica,
including places like Deception Island, a flooded volcano, and
Port Lockroy, a former British research station. The voyage
back through the Drake Passage was slightly less turbulent and
agreeably punctuated by more lectures, good company and decent
food.
We were
back in Ushuaia on the 29th of December, Ellen and I planning
to stay for a few days, whereas my parents, Anne and Richie
continued to Buenos Aires. For several years, there has been
a gathering of long distance bikers in Ushuaia for X-Mas and
New Years´s, and we were looking forward to meeting some
other bikers.Immediately upon arriving, we met Moe, a 67 year
old gentleman from Texas who had ridden down from Quito, and
together with him, we went hunting for more bikers. We eventually
found them at a campground in Lapataia, where the New Year´s
party was to be held. Unfortunately, our planning on the evening
of the party didn´t quite work out, as we ended up having
a wonderful but rather lengthy dinner in town and only arrived
at the campground when the party was going towards its end.
 However,
there was a group of Argentines still going strong, so we celebrated
with them eating, drinking, and laughing until the early hours,
having a lot of fun until the moment one of them stole my video
camera and ran off. Other people on the campground, including
the bikers, were missing some equipment as well, so the first
day of the New Millennium started with a search of the premises
and a talk with the police. Not exactly what we had in mind.
Although some of the missing objects were found hidden away
in the surrounding bushes, the video camera was not among them
which also meant the loss of the footage from Antarctica, along
with quite a bit of disillusion about those people we had been
celebrating with. I don´t consider myself especially naïve,
but the situation was a lot more unpleasant than having it stolen
anonymously off the bike or from the hotel room. This was however
the only ugly thing about Ushuaia, the town being very nice
and the Argentines being every bit as friendly as I remembered
them from my first trip. Even our robbers were essentially very
pleasant people !!!! Still, may the scoundrels be affected with
acid stomachs and festering boils in their private places.
Other than
that, we´re about to head north again, about 3000 km to
Buenos Aires, where we will spend a few days, concluding the
first leg of the trip with almost 30.000 km in five months.
Our favorite air carrier, CARGOLUX, has agreed to fly us and
the bikes to our next destination, Accra, the capital of Ghana.
This includes a short stopover in Luxembourg in order to replenish
some supplies, have our sorely tested bikes looked after and
do some righteous bragging in the company of family and friends.
Feliz
Ano Nuevo, Happy Njuju
Ellen
& Manou
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