Day 300: Ruta Cuarenta – Day 5
While we enjoyed our visit to the penguin colony yesterday, the only thing that could have made it better was sunshine: it was cloudy yesterday and our pictures (though close-up and in-focus) could have used better light. The sky was mostly clear and blue when we got up in the morning, so we decided to stop by the Penguin Trail one more time when it opened at 9AM before leaving the park.
Sunrise on our campsite in Monte León National Park
Morning on the beach in Monte León
Guess it just wasn’t meant to be: the clouds rolled in just as we walked down the 2KM trail and we ended up with the exact same conditions as the day before. Oh well – at least we got to enjoy the penguins alone this time!
We try to return to the penguin colony while there is a little break in the clouds for some better light, but the clouds roll in just as we reach the end of the trail. We still get great close-ups, tho.
Playing with the baby penguins hiding under the viewing platform – they love to tug on Lindsay’s loose shoelaces, so we “accidentally” let them dangle between the floorboards
The sad side of nature – several decapitated penguin heads litter the area around the colony
As we leave the beach and return inland out of the park, we encounter terrestrial animals, including guanaco
Ñandús (South American emus) roam the grasslands
We refueled in Río Gallegos one last time on our way to the border with Chile, passing by the turn-off for Ruta 40 (we stayed on Ruta 3). We left Argentina through the Paso de Integración Austral – a much busier and more official border station than the Paso Roballos. Funny thing, the immigration process *out* of Argentina was incredibly lax – they didn’t even stamp our passport nor check our vehicle paperwork (hello? We could be stealing someone’s car!). The Chileans, however, were VERY buttoned up, making us go through 4 separate stations (Immigration, Customs, Vehical Registration and Vehical Inspection) before giving us the green light to enter the country. When doing the inspection for foreign fruits and vegetables, the agent checked our glove comparment and randomly selected two pieces of luggage to scan before letting us through.
Once we were back in Chile, we could relax a bit more – our rental company had 24hr roadside assistance available once we were in Chile, so worst case scenario, we could call someone to come help us if we popped another tire. Also, we were on a much more well-travelled road this time, so we would probably be able to flag down help within minutes if we needed to.
Smooth sailing once we cross the boarder back into Chile – even if we bust another tire, we have roadside assistance in this country
As we pass through the ghost town of La Estancia San Gregorio, we pass the rusted remains of the Amadeo – a steamship that ran aground in 1932
“The Steamship Amado belonged to the Ménendez Behety Shipping Company from 1893 to 1932. It had a length of 36M and a width of 6M.”
Since the rental agency was already closed by the time we reached Punta Arenas, we had to find a place to stay for the night. Freedom campsites are really hard to come by so close to a major town, plus it had been 2 days since our last shower, so we decided to find accomodations inside a building tonight. A quick search on Booking.com located a wonderful B&B called La Casa Escondida (The Hidden Home), but our data reception cut out just as we were about to make the reservation. We figured the chances of someone else making a last-minute reservation were pretty small, so we decided to just show up unannouced and hope we weren’t interrupting the family’s dinner.
The poor owner, Luis, and his son Diego were very confused as we drove up to their doorstep (they started to worry that they had somehow lost a reservation!) – we explained that, no, they weren’t crazy, and we asked if they still had a room available for the night. Luckily, the answer was yes (we even got a discount since they didn’t have to pay Booking.com’s comission fee!), and even better – we didn’t miss dinner! Looks like eating late is a thing in Patagonia, as they told us dinner was typically served around 8:30PM. That gave us plenty of time to clean up and even chill our bottle of sparkling wine before a delicious home-cooked meal. Afterwards, we sat down with Luis next to the cozy, wood burning stove and picked his brain about the rest of our itinerary and where else we could explore for our final 2 nights. With a new plan in hand and content, full bellies, we finally crawled into our soft, warm bed around midnight.
We roll up to the Casa Escondida at 7PM without a reservation, giving the owner a bit of an alarm. Luckily, he had a room available so we got to enjoy hot showers, strong Wifi, and a real bed!
We brought a little bit of Argentina back across the border – bubbles from Trivento! A perfect pairing with our Chilean salad and corn tamales