PATAGONIA Tour on Motorcycle-05 February 2018 Day 15

SOUTH AMERICA / PATAGONIA TOUR with MOTORCYCLE
Riding to EL FIN DEL MUNDO between 21 January - 10 February 2018.

Day-15 (05 February 2018) :  Puerto Natales >>>Cerro Sombrero (375 km)

Day: 15 Route from Puerto Natales to Cerro Sombrero

After staying in Puerto Natales for two days we woke up in the Hotel Altiplanico and after the breakfast we departed around 08:50 and took the Route 9 to the South. The weather is nice but cool. Riding to the south we feel cooler. It is changing between 9 and 15 deg C. The road conditions and the quality is fantastic. We are still on Chile today.

Our first stop is at Va. Tehuelches. There we stop in front of a Café called Cocique Mulato.
Tehuelches are the Indians of this region. Most probably the man in the shop is also having ancestors from old Tehuelches. We took coffee and enjoyed the sun outside.

Sadik is enjoying nice weather and his coffee.

Rodeo arena in Va. Tehuelches.

After 4 kms passing Va. Tehuelches, we -as small group- took the gravel road to the right.
Cruz del Sur, Rio Verde is on our route. The other part of our group used the asphalt road to Gdor. Phillipi. The view on our right hand side was beautiful. 

We were riding the coastal road. Then we arrived at the asphalt road which goes to Punta Arenas. We took the left to Gdor. Phillipi. Our guides had mentioned that there should be a fuel station and we had to buy fuel. When we came to the fuel station we saw that it is no more life here. No operation !!

We were now riding to Punta Delgada where we should take the ferry to Tierra del Fuego. Our fuel was getting less and less we should find fuel somewhere. There are more then 115 km to Punta Delgada. We followed the Route 255 and came to a junction to the right side. The place is called Los Cisnes and there was a refinery in the far distance. 150 meter from the high way there is a COPEC fuel station. We, all, came to the station. It was around 11:45 and the operator was on lunch break. We waited until he opened the small counter but he said that there is no fuel !!  Our guides tried to find a solution. It is also for me non sense why they do not carry benzine in the van. They had got 3 x 20 liter plastic containers in the service van but these were empty.

After some talks with the COPEC guy we found out that there was fuel but already sold to someone who paid in advance. Then our guys talked with the owner of the benzine on the phone and he sold us 6 liter for each motorcycle. This was good news finally. Then everybody filled 6 liter and this should be sufficient for our group up to our final destination Cerro Sombrero.

Then we came to Estancia San Gregorio which is a "haunted village". It was first founded in the last quarter of the 19th century. There had been a rich family living here and had been working in the complex and they were trading ship skin and similar products of the live stock. After  some years the government had taken their meadows and ground.  Due to  this conflict the family moved away from Ea.San Gregorio and left the facility as it was running. All the buildings are looking old and evacuated.

After a break in Estancia San Gregorio we continued to ride. Maybe less then 20 minutes we arrived at the ferry port in Punta Delgada. There is a big restaurant/café here. We ordered two sandwiches and cokes. The sandwiches are really big. Good to share for two.
After having lunch here we took the ferry around 15:00. The ferry is operating between the continent and Tierra del Fuego which is an Island and separated from South America by the Magellan Strait. The ferry took us in approx. 30 minutes to the other side Pt. Espora.

Magellan Strait:- Right side is Atlantic Ocean

Light House of Punta Delgada

Sadik is in front of the Restaurant in Punta Delgada

Ferry took us to Pt. Espora on the Tierra del Fuego

 After we left the ferry we started to make our first miles on Tierra del Fuego. After 35 km we came to our stop for today. It is the Hotel at the entrance of the city Cerro Sombrero. It was sunny and warm in the front yard of the Hotel. 

Sadik is looking out from the window of the Hotel Room-Cerro Sombrero

 After having a short rest in the room I went out and bought a beer and drank in the garden together with our guys. Dinner is in the restaurant which is located just beside of the Hotel.
The food was not bad. It was OK with the red wine.

Our friend Bill from Wyoming

After the dinner I walked up to the down town. It is only 800 meter to the center of the city.
Don 't imagine a big city ! There is a cinema and sports center. The sculpture in the middle is showing a oil field worker with the tools. There is also a bus terminal for the domestic transportation between cities. Occasionally there were few buses which were leaving to Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales.

PATAGONIA Tour on Motorcycle-03/04 February 2018 Days 13-14

SOUTH AMERICA / PATAGONIA TOUR with MOTORCYCLE
Riding to EL FIN DEL MUNDO between 21 January - 10 February 2018.

Day-13 (03 February 2018) :  El Calafate>>>Puerto Natales (220 km)

We departed from the Hotel after the breakfast around 08:50. The weather is nice and there is no rain. The road 11  took us to Route 40. It is about 30 km to the junction with Route 40.
The good quality asphalt road became steeper after the junction. We climbed nice and curving road up to Co Los Escarchados (818 m). The climbing road is something around 
10 km. After getting to the top, it is very smooth to ride on this flat part of the country. It took approx. 30 minutes and then we came to the junction El Cerrito. 
The temperature is 15 deg C. After having a short break at the junction we followed the gravel road in the south west sense. After the massive gravel road of 65 km we came to the fuel station at Tapi Aike. We filled up our tanks at this station.

The lodge at the side of  the fuel station at Tapi Aike.

We continued our ride up to the border city named Cancha Carrera. This one is the Argentinian town at the border. The adjacent town named Cerro Castillo is on the Chilean side. We left Argentina and crossed the border to Chile. The procedures at the border took another 1,5 hour.

Horses in Argentina before reaching to the Argentinian border with Chile

There is a better quality at the Chilean side. The people at the border processing the entrance works are looking also better. The road pavement is also better on the Chilean side. There was a restaurant/café right after the border building. We all sat there for lunch. 
After the lunch we departed from Cerro Castillo and together with Sadik we arrived at our Hotel in Puerto Natales. We parked our motorcycles in the back yard of the Hotel Cost Australis. It is right at the coast. 

There is a strong wind outside. After a short rest in the room which we shared with Sadik I came out and took some pictures in the small city Puerto Natales. Because of his neck   Sadik wanted to rest in the room . 

Looking to the west from our Hotel.

I walked to the downtown. There is a small but very nice coffee shop. I suggest !!! I tried No.18.

Available coffee types.

One of the shops in Puerto Natales.

Main square of the city.

At 19:30 our group met at the lobby of our Hotel and Christian took us to a restaurant. The restaurant is in walking distance. We walked in 10 minutes. We enjoyed our meal and wine. 
The ambiance was also very different. The restaurant was built out off marine transport containers. They had cut and welded number of containers each other.After the dinner we walked in the town and we ate ice cream together with our guys from UK. Then we returned to the Hotel. I drank two Mojitos in the lobby and then went up to the room in order to sleep.

Day-14 (04 February 2018) :  extra day in Puerto Natales - Torres del Paine (250 km)

Today, after the breakfast we left the Hotel in order to move to another Hotel in the same city. Edelweiss people have done a mistake and they have booked only for one night at the first Hotel. Therefore we will overnight in Altiplanico.

We gave all our luggage to Thomas' van and we departed with our bikes in the direction of the National Park Torres del Paine. Sadik is not riding together with us. He wanted to rest full day in the city. We took the road to Pt. Prat and then went further. Most of the road was unpaved and with dusty gravel. The wind was blowing advantageous during the ride in this direction. The dust was not causing big effect. When we came to the lake on our right hand side we stopped and took some pictures of the awesome view.

Lago del Toro

Lago del Toro

Lago del Toro

Our guides bought the entrance ticket to the National Park and our group entered the park.
Riding in the park is soft and comfortable. The gravel road are OK for riding. We arrived at a point at the north side of the Lake Grey where we parked our motorcycles. Then we walked about 300 meter in order to watch the water fall from the glaciers lake.

Our riding route in the National Park

 It was very windy on this road. Sometimes the was so strong that the people must stop and protect themselves by leaning their body down the ground.

Warning ! Area with strong winds !

There is a waterfall from the upper lake group to the lower one. The wind comes from the mountains in the north and blowing through aisles among the earth shape.

Waterfall from Lago Nordenskjöld to Lago Pehoe

Dead trees in the N.P.

Lago Pehoe

Since the wind became stronger, we cancelled the rest part of our tour. We would go further to Cerro Castillo and had finished our tour from North to Puerto Natales. We used the same route as we had taken this morning. We stopped at a place at the lake and passed the bridge by walking and reached to the restaurant there. I ordered a hamburger and drank a Coke.

After this lunch stop here we continued our ride. At the exit of the N.P. we took a right turn and had got very spectacular and awesome view over the valley and meandering river. I took some pictures of this fantastic view.

Then we departed and took the road back to Puerto Natales. The wind was stronger and it was also causing more dust on the road. Following and overtaking the cars was really difficult in such a dusty environment. But I managed to reach to the Hotel without any damage. But I was fully in dust.

We came to our new Hotel which is Altiplanico Puerto Natales. It is a concept design Hotel. Almost all the building is within the earth. Only the windows are visible from outside.

After a shower and refreshing I went to the lobby and ordered a cold beer to clean my throat. Then we sat to dinner. It was a tasty dinner and nice service.