We are in the process of preparing for our return to France.

  • We are looking for places to sleep in between Madrid and Paris (we only need a little corner of land to pitch the tent!). If you can help us out, please follow this link.

  • We already have a couple of conferences lined up along the way. To see the schedule, follow this link. We would be happy to met with you!

We are also looking for an apartment in Paris or the surrounding area, starting in mid-May 2010. Any help or suggestions would be most welcome!

Reaction, Improvisation, and Reorganization

Change of plans

We had planned to take a combination of boats and bikes from Bariloche, but in the end the prices were prohibitive – more than $80 for 3 hours on a boat. We decided to take a bus back to Villa La Angostura, and then bike back to Chile from there, crossing back over the Andes once more.

The bus company sold us the tickets, knowing full well that we each had a bike. No problem, they said. Then, 10 minutes before the bus was supposed to leave, an employee came over and told us that we would have to pay for the bikes. Another ridiculous price – almost 3 times the price of the ticket, for each bike! We jumped up and went back inside to talk to the company. And after an hour of negotiations, we finally got our money back. The employee claimed the whole time that he had told us about the charge for the bikes, entirely untrue.

So, at 3 in the afternoon we had to set out to bike 55 km! We camped at a site in the Nahuel Huapi Park, right next to the lake. So in the end, it all worked out for the best. The next morning we got to Villa Angostura, where we were familiar with the hospital. We had one last parilla (grill/bbq) before heading back into Chile.

Crossing the Andes again

Crossing over the Andes was a big day for the 3 of us: very hilly and tough going. The campsite that we were hoping to stay at was closed, and so we were happy to arrive finally at Lago Puyehue and find a place to pitch the tent, almost by the light of our headlamps.

A third member of the team

We got rained on on our way back into Chile, unsurprisingly. We found shelter during most of the showers, including the biggest storm. We hid under a bridge and watched the fishermen. There was a salmon farm in the middle of the lake, and the fishermen stood right where the river met the lake and caught many of the escaped fish. They told us that today wasn't a very good day – although some of the them had caught more than a dozen! Normally they catch a lot more.

It was at the river that we met Scooby Doo, the name we gave an abandoned dog. He was very friendly and well trained, and he slept all night beside our tent. The next morning, he ran beside us for more than 20 km, never even slowing down. He was tenacious, but not very brave – he would hide behind us whenever there were other dogs or cows. We couldn't figure out what we were going to do with him. Then just when we got back onto the paved road, he went off the road a little and when we went to leave, he got stuck behind a barbed wire fence... we felt bad, but traveling with a dog just seemed a little too complicated for us.

Puerto Varas

We spent 6 lovely days and 5 nights camping in beautiful and varied countryside with rivers and lakes, dominated by snow-capped volcanoes.

We're in Puerto Varas now, where we'll spend a couple of days. Because of an article that ran in a newspaper of the Gard in 2008, we have been invited to stay with Nicolas, a Frenchman who runs a hostel in Chile.

After a little bit of hesitation, Heather has decided to bike with is all the way to Ushuaia! We are delighted, and very happy to be sharing our adventure!

Sara

[Drapeau de Chili Heather | Le 20-12-2009 17:14 | Add a comment]

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