Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The End of the adventure
This is to thank you all for reading and I am sure that there will be many more stories about the trip, however the railbike patagonia 2009 Blog is over and I wish you all a Merry X´mas and a happy new year with the boys back home.
Another letter to Sandy
Sandy,
Arrived back in Buenos Aires at 7 am this morning after two days of overnight train and bus
trips. We took the one train per week trip from Jacabacci to Viedma which was 14 hours
overnight. Upright seating and packed with school kids. After an elegant lunch in a river
front cafe on the Rio Negro we spent the rest of the afternoon walking and snoozing in a
beautiful park. That evening we boarded our ´´Executive Suite´´ bus to BA. Full reclining
seats and meals. Good to be back at the Don Telmo Hotel and in familiar territory.
The second half of our railbike adventure was incredible. Unfortunately it is all blending
together in our memories and will take reviewing of our photographs to sort much of it out.
Dick and I are trying to piece it together so we can have a accurate accounting day by day.
The last week of riding took us away from the higher peaks of the Andes and into high
desert environment. The land is so incredibly expansive it is overwhelming, with vistas
that go on for ever. We had good weather for the entire trip except for periods of strong
wind.
The wind when gusting from the side was frightening. The railroad is often build on high
dirt fills that drop off 100 to 200 feet on both sides. The track is only 2 feet 6 inches wide
and the ties don't extend much beyond the outside of the rail, and many times the dirt
had eroded from under the ties, leaving the ends suspended in the air. Any derailment
would send you crashing down the steep bank. I had many uncomfortable moments.
The ties are mostly hand-made irrugular round tree trunks whacked off on the ends by
what appears to have been done with a hatchet, and the spacing of the ties is very wide and
irregular, all adding to the feeling of insecurity.
Many of the bridges are also frightening. They are not exceptionally high or long, its just
that there is virtually nothing under the tracks, and no walkways or guardrails. With the narrow rail width and wide spaced ties you are looking straight down to the rushing rivers
below. You are sure you are going to be blow off or derail and fall. It took all the control
I could muster to talk myself across the bridge outside of El Maiten.
Morgan left us the morning we departed from El Maiten to pick up the car. He was to meet
us when we arrived that afternoon in Norquinco. We had planned to leave our bikes there
and Morgan would drive us back to El Maiten so we could sleep in beds for one more night.
However, we arrived at 4 PM and Morgan was delayed until 10 PM. We spent the entire
time playing with the local boys who lived in the old railroad station buildings. There were
no cars in the village. All the kids rode horses and we were amazed at their horsemanship.
Dick had brought a frisbee which occupied us for several hours of laughs. Dick also
befriended a very old man who gave him a dried Armadillo, which has become our team
mascot. We were finally able to get one of the local women to open the school to store
our bikes, and they showed us videos of their local school activities. It was a wonderful
experience.
The next night we stayed at a totally abandoned station at Fitalancao. We climbed
a long grade to one of the highest points of our trip. Andean Condors sored below
us and Eagles above us. The air in Patagonia is crystal clear, no polution and constant
winds, making the views breathtaking. We used the two satilite phones to keep in
touch with Morgan every hour on the hour. Morgan spent much of the day searching
for the station at Fitalancao, and after finding the right dirt track found it was impassable
because of a washout, and he could not join us that night and slept in the car by himself.
The abandoned structures at the stations are all badly deteriorating and we could not
use them for shelter. But to our delight there was one small picturesque wooden baggage car left at the station which made perfect lodging for the night. It consisted of three rooms.
One in the center with large side doors for loading baggage, and a room at both ends with
platforms similar to our cabooses. The windows and doors were gone, but it still provided
a roof over our heads for the sky was getting dark with clouds and we could see flashes
of lightening over the mountains. We over-indulged in our nightly ritual of a couple of shot
of wiskey and got pretty silly. Got some funny videos of Dick showing us how a bird vomits.
Good blackmail material.
The next morning we made another long climb and met Morgan at one of the few road
crossings where he had spent the night in the car. Around midnight while he was sleeping
there was a knock on his window. Another car had stopped to see if he needed help.
He told them no thank you, he was waiting for his friends. This confused his benefactors
because he was in the wilderness in the middle of the night. "Where are your friends?", they asked. "On the railroad", answered Morgan. "But there are no trains", said his benefactors. "They are riding bicycles on the tracks", Morgan replied. At which point
they all jumped back in their car a fled in haste from this foreign madman.
Morgan provided invaluable assistance by carrying about half of our luggage in the car,
and providing cold beer at the road crossing whenever one was available. He also went
ahead to the stations to scout out camping spots or when there was habitation, look for
stores or possible lodging. In the village of Rio Chico He found an unforgetably
wonderful man named Alejandro who arranged for us to stay in the home of a local family. The family moved their kids out to friends or other family, and the travellers then slept in the kids rooms. This is a common practice in Patagonia. Everyone lends a helping had to those in need. It is a matter or survival in this sparly occupied country. Almost all the people are economically poor, but rich in spirit.
Alejandro took us to his ranch where he raises horse and Alfalfa. We toured his property
and met his wife in their modest home. He was a character never tó be forgoten .
About 6 feet four, with a mustache and beret, who spoke good English but with a wonderful
accent and the rhythm and melody of the Spanish language. His hands and arms were
forever gesturing and we could listen to him for hours. He took us to a goucho bar for
dinner where we met a very old local man who had worked on La Trochita all his life.
Buying supplies for lunch each day was our biggest food problem. The few small villages
had only one tiny store, which carried mostly beer and wine. Argentineans hardly ever eat
vegetables and refrigeration in outlying areas is mostly non existant. Meat, chicken and
potatoes are the staple diet. Fresh fruits are scarce outside larger towns. In the very small community of Mamuel Choique we inquired if there was a store. "Si, this way" or something to that effect. We were led through a yard full of dogs, cats, sheep, chickens
and small children to a small adobe house. An old man took us in, got down on his knees
and opened the bottom of a small cabinet, where he pulled out a bag of cookies, and two
other unidentifyable items. Morgan was kind enough to by the cookies, and we had undoubtedbly experienced the world's smallest store.
The same night we made friends of two gouchos who stayed in our camp for some time.
Later they came back and gave us gifts of ancient arrowheads and the rounded rocks they
use in their leather slings to kill game and livestock.
Francisco arrived in Jacobacci the day after we with a group of railfans on a homemade
speeder pulling a trailer. We were able to ride on this for a short distance while they moved
it into a shed for storing. We all agree railbiking is much superior. It was good to see
Francisco again and thank him once more for all his help and hospitality.
Too many memories to share by email. Need a few days now to recover.
Anxious to get home.
Much Love,
P
Arrived back in Buenos Aires at 7 am this morning after two days of overnight train and bus
trips. We took the one train per week trip from Jacabacci to Viedma which was 14 hours
overnight. Upright seating and packed with school kids. After an elegant lunch in a river
front cafe on the Rio Negro we spent the rest of the afternoon walking and snoozing in a
beautiful park. That evening we boarded our ´´Executive Suite´´ bus to BA. Full reclining
seats and meals. Good to be back at the Don Telmo Hotel and in familiar territory.
The second half of our railbike adventure was incredible. Unfortunately it is all blending
together in our memories and will take reviewing of our photographs to sort much of it out.
Dick and I are trying to piece it together so we can have a accurate accounting day by day.
The last week of riding took us away from the higher peaks of the Andes and into high
desert environment. The land is so incredibly expansive it is overwhelming, with vistas
that go on for ever. We had good weather for the entire trip except for periods of strong
wind.
The wind when gusting from the side was frightening. The railroad is often build on high
dirt fills that drop off 100 to 200 feet on both sides. The track is only 2 feet 6 inches wide
and the ties don't extend much beyond the outside of the rail, and many times the dirt
had eroded from under the ties, leaving the ends suspended in the air. Any derailment
would send you crashing down the steep bank. I had many uncomfortable moments.
The ties are mostly hand-made irrugular round tree trunks whacked off on the ends by
what appears to have been done with a hatchet, and the spacing of the ties is very wide and
irregular, all adding to the feeling of insecurity.
Many of the bridges are also frightening. They are not exceptionally high or long, its just
that there is virtually nothing under the tracks, and no walkways or guardrails. With the narrow rail width and wide spaced ties you are looking straight down to the rushing rivers
below. You are sure you are going to be blow off or derail and fall. It took all the control
I could muster to talk myself across the bridge outside of El Maiten.
Morgan left us the morning we departed from El Maiten to pick up the car. He was to meet
us when we arrived that afternoon in Norquinco. We had planned to leave our bikes there
and Morgan would drive us back to El Maiten so we could sleep in beds for one more night.
However, we arrived at 4 PM and Morgan was delayed until 10 PM. We spent the entire
time playing with the local boys who lived in the old railroad station buildings. There were
no cars in the village. All the kids rode horses and we were amazed at their horsemanship.
Dick had brought a frisbee which occupied us for several hours of laughs. Dick also
befriended a very old man who gave him a dried Armadillo, which has become our team
mascot. We were finally able to get one of the local women to open the school to store
our bikes, and they showed us videos of their local school activities. It was a wonderful
experience.
The next night we stayed at a totally abandoned station at Fitalancao. We climbed
a long grade to one of the highest points of our trip. Andean Condors sored below
us and Eagles above us. The air in Patagonia is crystal clear, no polution and constant
winds, making the views breathtaking. We used the two satilite phones to keep in
touch with Morgan every hour on the hour. Morgan spent much of the day searching
for the station at Fitalancao, and after finding the right dirt track found it was impassable
because of a washout, and he could not join us that night and slept in the car by himself.
The abandoned structures at the stations are all badly deteriorating and we could not
use them for shelter. But to our delight there was one small picturesque wooden baggage car left at the station which made perfect lodging for the night. It consisted of three rooms.
One in the center with large side doors for loading baggage, and a room at both ends with
platforms similar to our cabooses. The windows and doors were gone, but it still provided
a roof over our heads for the sky was getting dark with clouds and we could see flashes
of lightening over the mountains. We over-indulged in our nightly ritual of a couple of shot
of wiskey and got pretty silly. Got some funny videos of Dick showing us how a bird vomits.
Good blackmail material.
The next morning we made another long climb and met Morgan at one of the few road
crossings where he had spent the night in the car. Around midnight while he was sleeping
there was a knock on his window. Another car had stopped to see if he needed help.
He told them no thank you, he was waiting for his friends. This confused his benefactors
because he was in the wilderness in the middle of the night. "Where are your friends?", they asked. "On the railroad", answered Morgan. "But there are no trains", said his benefactors. "They are riding bicycles on the tracks", Morgan replied. At which point
they all jumped back in their car a fled in haste from this foreign madman.
Morgan provided invaluable assistance by carrying about half of our luggage in the car,
and providing cold beer at the road crossing whenever one was available. He also went
ahead to the stations to scout out camping spots or when there was habitation, look for
stores or possible lodging. In the village of Rio Chico He found an unforgetably
wonderful man named Alejandro who arranged for us to stay in the home of a local family. The family moved their kids out to friends or other family, and the travellers then slept in the kids rooms. This is a common practice in Patagonia. Everyone lends a helping had to those in need. It is a matter or survival in this sparly occupied country. Almost all the people are economically poor, but rich in spirit.
Alejandro took us to his ranch where he raises horse and Alfalfa. We toured his property
and met his wife in their modest home. He was a character never tó be forgoten .
About 6 feet four, with a mustache and beret, who spoke good English but with a wonderful
accent and the rhythm and melody of the Spanish language. His hands and arms were
forever gesturing and we could listen to him for hours. He took us to a goucho bar for
dinner where we met a very old local man who had worked on La Trochita all his life.
Buying supplies for lunch each day was our biggest food problem. The few small villages
had only one tiny store, which carried mostly beer and wine. Argentineans hardly ever eat
vegetables and refrigeration in outlying areas is mostly non existant. Meat, chicken and
potatoes are the staple diet. Fresh fruits are scarce outside larger towns. In the very small community of Mamuel Choique we inquired if there was a store. "Si, this way" or something to that effect. We were led through a yard full of dogs, cats, sheep, chickens
and small children to a small adobe house. An old man took us in, got down on his knees
and opened the bottom of a small cabinet, where he pulled out a bag of cookies, and two
other unidentifyable items. Morgan was kind enough to by the cookies, and we had undoubtedbly experienced the world's smallest store.
The same night we made friends of two gouchos who stayed in our camp for some time.
Later they came back and gave us gifts of ancient arrowheads and the rounded rocks they
use in their leather slings to kill game and livestock.
Francisco arrived in Jacobacci the day after we with a group of railfans on a homemade
speeder pulling a trailer. We were able to ride on this for a short distance while they moved
it into a shed for storing. We all agree railbiking is much superior. It was good to see
Francisco again and thank him once more for all his help and hospitality.
Too many memories to share by email. Need a few days now to recover.
Anxious to get home.
Much Love,
P
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
To Bariloche
Rail bikers: They met Francisco and friends in Jacobacci. Morgan went to Bariloche to return the rented car and there, take the train back to Jacobacci where Arne, Peter, Richard will hop up to join him back to Buenos Aires.
Rail cart riders: Now they are travelling on the support track to Bariloche. The rail cart was left in the wearhouse in Jacobacci, after it has done a very good job!!
Rail cart riders: Now they are travelling on the support track to Bariloche. The rail cart was left in the wearhouse in Jacobacci, after it has done a very good job!!
Empalme
Francisco phoned this afternoon: The people in the "march for peace and no violence" driving a "rail cart" = Zorra in Spanish are in "El Empalme" 13 kms to Jacobacci waiting the order to proceed. They are also pulling a small cart (carrito) behind with some friends ( also in the peace march) who had joined them on the way. On arrival Francisco will meet rail bikers who are waiting at the station for the train from Bariloche to Buenos Aires, that will take them to Buenos Aires as they are going back.
All the plans seem to come to terms.
All the plans seem to come to terms.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Jacobacci
The Rail bikers have arrived at "La Trochita" Jacobacci train station, Provincia de Rio Negro. Congratulations!!
Richard rang and sounded very happy. How long before they start to plan the next rail adventure? They will be waiting for Francisco and his friends coming from El Maitén on the Zorra (rail cart)
Richard rang and sounded very happy. How long before they start to plan the next rail adventure? They will be waiting for Francisco and his friends coming from El Maitén on the Zorra (rail cart)
They will start the speedcar ride today.
http://www.marchamundial.org.ar/
Some go on the truck and most of them will travel on the speedcar.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Garza
She comes to us in the mornings. She is on the roof. Her family (4 of them) come to see her almost everyday in the afternoons, flying and stopping on one of the pine trees.
Ojo de Agua
The bikers are in Ojo de Agua. They are on schedule. They will be waiting for Francisco in Jacobacci. Francisco is going on the speedcar toward Jacobacci.
The speedcar peace contingent party is already at our home, getting ready for tomorow.
The speedcar peace contingent party is already at our home, getting ready for tomorow.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Rio Chico Cerro Mesa
They climbed the mountain, it was a bit hard, but after that it was all the way down hill with tail wind, no pedalling needed. They´ve got some rain on the way and a bit of cold weather. They are spending the night in a rented house in the town. They are on schedule.
Fitalancao
They called last night and said that they are now at Fitalancao where they spent the night. Today they are heading off to Cerro Mesa that is the hardest leg as they would have to climb the mountain. Go for it boys!!!
Morgan could not reach Fitalancao ´cause there is no road into the place. He will meet them at the next road crossing.
Morgan could not reach Fitalancao ´cause there is no road into the place. He will meet them at the next road crossing.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Railbikers are gone and motoriders are coming in
Our friends, Esteban and Pablo, visited us stopping over in Esquel as they are on the way from Bariloche and beyond to Comodoro Rivadavia.
We are happy that the garza bruja is recovering, altough one of the legs is still weak. Now she/he is free outside, but comes to us when hungry in teh morning
Monday, December 7, 2009
telephone conversationas ans letters from Peter to Sandra
Telephone conversation 6 dec. 2009
FIRST DAY: Liliana and Francisco roasted a whole lamb on a spit to welcome the intrepid travelers. Peter said it was really delicious. All the men who helped work on Francisco's bike were there. They did not speak English, but they knew all the words Happy Birthday, which they sang to Peter. He was quite impressed and very touched. They continue to run into these new friends along the way. I guess they keep popping up here and there.
And yes, he was able to ride in the cab of the locomotive, which he said was worth the coming down to Argentina alone. (Sorry guys) It was really, really an adventure for him, but the phone connection dissolved before he could go into more detail about it. When I told her, his cousin wrote me and said, "Wasn't a bit surprised to hear Peter is trying to get to ride in the locomotive cab. I will always remember him having me drive up into the foothills, while he visited us as a kid, and telling me he would talk the engineer into letting him ride in the cab! Didn't think he could do it but he used some kind of teenager charm and managed to ride back to Oakdale," (California). Ah, I guess the magic still works.
He is finding his Birdy a bit difficult to ride. The bike handles best when it is level. And, as the tracks are not great, uneven and banked in some places, they have figured out a way to handle this. He has to keep leveling the Birdy with a rope on some kind of device. You pull up on the robe to open the clamp and let out the rope to lower, which helps to even out the ride. Sounds pretty tiring. Since he is having to do this quite often he is protecting his left hand with a glove. I am paraphrasing because it was a little difficult to understand the principal on the phone, but he says he has plenty of pictures that demonstrate it. I imagine they will be published later when they get access to a computer again.
SECOND DAY: It was freezing cold with 50 to 60 miles MPH winds for several hours. It was really quite tough, but simply gorgeous. The Andes wore a mantle of snow on all the mountain tops. He felt like they were riding through an Alpine valley with those huge peaks all around them covered with snow. They are getting a bit of a late start in the mornings. It seems there is always some bike adjustment that needs to be made so they don't take off until around 10 am, getting to the next stopping place bout 9 pm.... making for a very long day. They put miner's lights on their hats to take care of dinner and set up camp. Long underwear keeps them pretty warm in their sleeping bags at night. The freeze dried meals are quite good, he says.
THIRD DAY: EL MATAN: Another gorgeous day! This time he felt like he was in the African Veldt. On both side of the tracks they saw herds of the guancos. These animals can run nearly 35 miles per hour -- faster than any other Patagonian animal except the puma. They are a relative of the now-domesticated llama and Patagonia's largest land animal. They would stir up dust storms as they stampeded by. Ahead of them on the tracks at one point there were about 40 guanco babies, looking like small geese without feathers and about 18 inches high. Quite a sight.
There were also large marshes and ponds The birding was incredible. So far they have seen An Andean condor, which, he said, was incredibly huge; a dark hawk-like bird with white outlining his wing; a black & white gorgeous bird; lots of hawks and smaller birds. Since he did not have a birding book with him, he could only describe them to me. Perhaps when he gets home he will be able to look them up and give them their proper names. They would settle on the tracks in front of them then fly off. It was a birding paradise. I know he wanted very much to spend lots more time there taking photos.
Since they are having to stay pretty much on schedule because of the delays, there is very little time for Peter to set up shots with his cameras. Says he may forget using the tripod and stick with the hand held camera in the interest of time and getting some footage. They are using a lot of sunscreen as one gets sunburned pretty fast.
Sadly, Morgan will withdraw. It has been pretty tough for him. But, he has decided to catch a bus to the nearest large city which will take about six hours. There he will rent a car. He will return to the Rail Bikers and follow along as a sort of sag wagon. They are trying to work out logistics. This is great as he will still be a part of the adventure and may be able to carry some of the excess baggage.
Up until now Arne and Morgan have ridden this same route several years ago. The next leg will be a bit more of a challenge as well as an unknown. They expect it there to be more dessert and quite hilly as the tracks go up to 2200 feet.
They are trying to keep on schedule. Everyone is healthy and doing well and Peter sounded just great.
==============================================
From El Maiten Sunday, Dec.6
Hi Sweetie,
It was great talking with you.
There is a delay on this computer when you type so the letters
don't appear for a while.
You did a good job with your letter to the blog
I won't go into lots of detail but the birdlike creatures we chased down the tracks
were Rhea, an ostridge-like bird. There were about 20 or 30 of them in a group.
Momma had already crossed the tracks in front of us and the little ones panicked
and ran down the center of the rails for about 100 yards before turning off. The young
ones were about 20 inches tall. I don´t know if I got the video or not.
The countryside varies more than I expected. Sometimes high desert like
eastern Oregon with unending vistas across plains to the Andes. Sometimes
we will run along a river and through lush green valleys with small ponds and
marshes. Occasionally through rocky cuts high on the hill sides. Always with
the background of snow-capped mountains.
When we arrived in El Maiten we were soon surrounded by dozens of pre-teen
boys. They wanted to help us with everything so we had them carry our big suitcases to our
lodging, about three blocks away. As you know, the big cases are very heavy. We turned
the suitcases flat and it took 4 boys, one on each corner, to carry them. Dick got a great
photo of this procedure.
We had a very nice restaurant meal and a good bottle of wine. Everything is so cheap.
You could litterally live like multi-millionaires here.
If Morgan can get back to join us on Monday night we will leave our bikes and gear in the
school house in Norquinco and drive back to El Maiten for dinner and lodging. None of us
relishes sleeping on the ground if it can be avoided. We will still would have four nights of camping ahead of us. Although there is a rumor that there may be lodging in one isolated spot ahead.
Weather continues to be warm to hot with big cumulus clouds. Francisco says
weather pattern changing - to hotter. The country ahead is more barren and rocky, but
there are a few rivers. We all bathed in one which was like being rebourn. More nude
photos in the collection!
Air is very dry. We are all drinking lots of water and using suncreen.
Making continuous progress improving my bike. Much more comfortble riding now.
With Morgan meeting us at our camp sites each night we have been able to reduce or
luggage weight considerably, which will make riding much easier.
My biggest problem is finding where something important is packed. It takes a lot
of prethough to anticipate what you will need during the day, or first at the campsite at
night. We don't have time to stop and unstrap the suitcases and go through all our stuff
looking for some item, so if you don't have it easily accessible you go without.
Eating at night is an inconvience. Resturants don't open until 9 PM, even out here in
the boonies. We would prefer to eat between 6 and 7 and get to bed.
This computer connection driving me crazy so will call it quits.
Love,
Pedro
.
FIRST DAY: Liliana and Francisco roasted a whole lamb on a spit to welcome the intrepid travelers. Peter said it was really delicious. All the men who helped work on Francisco's bike were there. They did not speak English, but they knew all the words Happy Birthday, which they sang to Peter. He was quite impressed and very touched. They continue to run into these new friends along the way. I guess they keep popping up here and there.
And yes, he was able to ride in the cab of the locomotive, which he said was worth the coming down to Argentina alone. (Sorry guys) It was really, really an adventure for him, but the phone connection dissolved before he could go into more detail about it. When I told her, his cousin wrote me and said, "Wasn't a bit surprised to hear Peter is trying to get to ride in the locomotive cab. I will always remember him having me drive up into the foothills, while he visited us as a kid, and telling me he would talk the engineer into letting him ride in the cab! Didn't think he could do it but he used some kind of teenager charm and managed to ride back to Oakdale," (California). Ah, I guess the magic still works.
He is finding his Birdy a bit difficult to ride. The bike handles best when it is level. And, as the tracks are not great, uneven and banked in some places, they have figured out a way to handle this. He has to keep leveling the Birdy with a rope on some kind of device. You pull up on the robe to open the clamp and let out the rope to lower, which helps to even out the ride. Sounds pretty tiring. Since he is having to do this quite often he is protecting his left hand with a glove. I am paraphrasing because it was a little difficult to understand the principal on the phone, but he says he has plenty of pictures that demonstrate it. I imagine they will be published later when they get access to a computer again.
SECOND DAY: It was freezing cold with 50 to 60 miles MPH winds for several hours. It was really quite tough, but simply gorgeous. The Andes wore a mantle of snow on all the mountain tops. He felt like they were riding through an Alpine valley with those huge peaks all around them covered with snow. They are getting a bit of a late start in the mornings. It seems there is always some bike adjustment that needs to be made so they don't take off until around 10 am, getting to the next stopping place bout 9 pm.... making for a very long day. They put miner's lights on their hats to take care of dinner and set up camp. Long underwear keeps them pretty warm in their sleeping bags at night. The freeze dried meals are quite good, he says.
THIRD DAY: EL MATAN: Another gorgeous day! This time he felt like he was in the African Veldt. On both side of the tracks they saw herds of the guancos. These animals can run nearly 35 miles per hour -- faster than any other Patagonian animal except the puma. They are a relative of the now-domesticated llama and Patagonia's largest land animal. They would stir up dust storms as they stampeded by. Ahead of them on the tracks at one point there were about 40 guanco babies, looking like small geese without feathers and about 18 inches high. Quite a sight.
There were also large marshes and ponds The birding was incredible. So far they have seen An Andean condor, which, he said, was incredibly huge; a dark hawk-like bird with white outlining his wing; a black & white gorgeous bird; lots of hawks and smaller birds. Since he did not have a birding book with him, he could only describe them to me. Perhaps when he gets home he will be able to look them up and give them their proper names. They would settle on the tracks in front of them then fly off. It was a birding paradise. I know he wanted very much to spend lots more time there taking photos.
Since they are having to stay pretty much on schedule because of the delays, there is very little time for Peter to set up shots with his cameras. Says he may forget using the tripod and stick with the hand held camera in the interest of time and getting some footage. They are using a lot of sunscreen as one gets sunburned pretty fast.
Sadly, Morgan will withdraw. It has been pretty tough for him. But, he has decided to catch a bus to the nearest large city which will take about six hours. There he will rent a car. He will return to the Rail Bikers and follow along as a sort of sag wagon. They are trying to work out logistics. This is great as he will still be a part of the adventure and may be able to carry some of the excess baggage.
Up until now Arne and Morgan have ridden this same route several years ago. The next leg will be a bit more of a challenge as well as an unknown. They expect it there to be more dessert and quite hilly as the tracks go up to 2200 feet.
They are trying to keep on schedule. Everyone is healthy and doing well and Peter sounded just great.
==============================================
From El Maiten Sunday, Dec.6
Hi Sweetie,
It was great talking with you.
There is a delay on this computer when you type so the letters
don't appear for a while.
You did a good job with your letter to the blog
I won't go into lots of detail but the birdlike creatures we chased down the tracks
were Rhea, an ostridge-like bird. There were about 20 or 30 of them in a group.
Momma had already crossed the tracks in front of us and the little ones panicked
and ran down the center of the rails for about 100 yards before turning off. The young
ones were about 20 inches tall. I don´t know if I got the video or not.
The countryside varies more than I expected. Sometimes high desert like
eastern Oregon with unending vistas across plains to the Andes. Sometimes
we will run along a river and through lush green valleys with small ponds and
marshes. Occasionally through rocky cuts high on the hill sides. Always with
the background of snow-capped mountains.
When we arrived in El Maiten we were soon surrounded by dozens of pre-teen
boys. They wanted to help us with everything so we had them carry our big suitcases to our
lodging, about three blocks away. As you know, the big cases are very heavy. We turned
the suitcases flat and it took 4 boys, one on each corner, to carry them. Dick got a great
photo of this procedure.
We had a very nice restaurant meal and a good bottle of wine. Everything is so cheap.
You could litterally live like multi-millionaires here.
If Morgan can get back to join us on Monday night we will leave our bikes and gear in the
school house in Norquinco and drive back to El Maiten for dinner and lodging. None of us
relishes sleeping on the ground if it can be avoided. We will still would have four nights of camping ahead of us. Although there is a rumor that there may be lodging in one isolated spot ahead.
Weather continues to be warm to hot with big cumulus clouds. Francisco says
weather pattern changing - to hotter. The country ahead is more barren and rocky, but
there are a few rivers. We all bathed in one which was like being rebourn. More nude
photos in the collection!
Air is very dry. We are all drinking lots of water and using suncreen.
Making continuous progress improving my bike. Much more comfortble riding now.
With Morgan meeting us at our camp sites each night we have been able to reduce or
luggage weight considerably, which will make riding much easier.
My biggest problem is finding where something important is packed. It takes a lot
of prethough to anticipate what you will need during the day, or first at the campsite at
night. We don't have time to stop and unstrap the suitcases and go through all our stuff
looking for some item, so if you don't have it easily accessible you go without.
Eating at night is an inconvience. Resturants don't open until 9 PM, even out here in
the boonies. We would prefer to eat between 6 and 7 and get to bed.
This computer connection driving me crazy so will call it quits.
Love,
Pedro
.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Ing. B. G. Thomae
They informed that the arrived to Ing. Thomae yesterday, which is 14 kms after Leleque and 26 Kms before El Maitén.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Lepá
They have arrived to Lepá on schedule. As arranged they called yesterday at 7:00 PM., and said that everything was OK and run on schedule. First they called to say that they would not make it to Lepá and 1 and 1/2 hour later they called again saying they were picking up the tents at Lepá. They have had few hitches with one bike but apparently it is fixed.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Francisco´s back in town as Tallarico picked him up.
After few hiccups with Peter´s new gear outside the airport lands, everything ran steadily and smoothly and continued to La Cancha.
In La Cancha, they picked the tens up and set up the camp while Francisco and Tallarico lit a fire. All things on schedule and they have the marvelous souvenir of a stunning Patagonia full moon that appeared as a giant red ball behind the mountains.
We will have to wait for Peter´s filmings to see the images.
The student outshines the teacher
Francisco´s student, Jannet Iturra, who lives in Nahuel Pan, and is pregnant, is testing her teacher bicicle. Behind there traditional ferro houses.
With Américo, "The Director"
Francisco is introducing the team to the director of La Trochita and arraging the following steps
One by one
Where are the techno people? Dick and Morgan work loading while Arne, who deserves a good rest after 2 days of hard work, is somewhere else and Peter is documenting it all.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
emails from Peter to Sandra
Sandra asked me to insert his last mails, and Peter is happy for me to do that, so here they are:
Friday in BA
Hello again,
Took the bus to the Cemetary this morning. Now I have ridden all forms of public
transportation. Once you know how it is really easy.
Cemetary is incredible. Huge. Row after row of humungus tombs with narrow walkways
in between. Have photos of Evitas.
Then walked about two miles to the railroad station and took some photos of the trains. Went next door to the bus station to check it out. Wow, its about the size of 6 Washington Square Malls.
Thousands of people. Nowhere any English spoken. It took me about 45 minutes to figure out the proceedure. First you go upstairs and find your bus line and get your ticket from over 200 booths.
The rub is you don t take your luggage upstairs, so you have to leave it downstairs with somebody to
guard it, and then trade off so the second person can go upstairs and get their ticket.
I think I will take Dick to the bus station on Saturday after he settles in and we can both get
our tickets at the same time in advance. Then we will have them and can go directly to the boarding dock
on Sunday without too much trauma.
Lightening and thunder and heavy rain today. Supposed to clear and have sunny weather when
we start railbiking.
Getting ready to go to the football match.
Will right tomorrow.
Love,
PEDRO
======================
Wednesday in BA
Hi Sweetie,
If you were here I would say [Hi Sweaty[.
These foreign keyboards are very different and I can not find much of the puncuation.
Today I took a 24 hour tourist bus. You can get on and off at many points along the route.
Entire round trip takes 2 and one half hours. I spent several hours in a section called
La Boca. It is very old and much like old Key West but more so. Very touristy but really fun.
I walked outside of the tourist area and through the real La Boca. Fascinating. After taking
quite a few photos I was stopped by the policia who nicely told me no cameras outside the
tourist area. Fortunately I was pretty much done by then.
BA just goes on forever. The main streets are very wide, 6 lanes or more, and the side streets
are very narrow and European. Lots of trees like Portland. And the Jacarondas are incredible
and in full bloom.
The dress code is non existant. Most everyone very, very casual. There is such diversity that no one
looks at you, which makes it very comfortable. I do stand out because of my height, most South Americans
are much shorter, and because of my beard, which few have. Also, there are very few bald men. I wear my
baseball cap but only young boys wear them here.
Phoning is a hassel without a phone in the room. There is no privacy in the small lobby. As long as the
email works I will send letters every day and call less often.
The weather is suppose to cool off which would be a godsend, at least while in BA. Not sure yet where I will go tomorrow. There are so many areas left to see. Much of the city is very dirtly and jam packed with people.
Traffic is madness. Seems like all the sidewalks have been recently bombed. They are all broken up with
big holes and loose stones, brick and tile. The people don{t seem to notice.
Hope this reaches you. Love you. Because of the heat and the humidity you are better off in Oregon.
Your hubby,
Peter
==================================
Hello from BA
Hi Sandy,
Everything went like clock work. Arrived at 11am, went through customs, found my bags immediately, exchanged money, got taxie and was at hotel by 1. Very hot and humid. Hotel is on really run down street where they are tearing down old buildings. Looks like derelict row. Once inside the hotel it is clean and charming. Wonderfull
roof garden and breakfast area. Much superior to our place in Paris and close to all the sites, etc. No airconditioning but has a big ceiling fan. It is suppose to cool off at night. Could^not be happier for $39night.
Friendly English speeking staff.
I forgot to bring Dicks email address. To save time, please forward this letter to him. you can find his address in my address book under Richard Smart. His address reads something likerailcycle@adelphia.net. I am going to copy him in but don{t know if I have the correct address.
I think we are 6 hours ahead of you here in BA. I will call you later.
Love Ya, Peter
==============================
Tuesday Dec 1 ¡Patagoniattyt
Hi Sweetie,
If this letter is badly typed it is because these foreigh key boards are hard to use.
Lots of stuff in different places.
It took all morning to put my bike together. He said it took him 100 hours to build it.
After seeing how complicated it is I believe him.
After we got it together we discovered the shifing mechinism on the handlebards didnt work.
We could not fix it so I rode into town on the bike to a bike shop. I couldn´t find it anywhere although
some people tried to point me in the right direction. No English spoken. While I was driving around
Franciscos wife and son were on the way to the vetenarian to take in a Heron with a damaged foot.
Story to follow. I followed them to the bike shop but there was no mechanic on duty. They gave us
the address of another shop and I had the defective mechanism replaced for $4.
Packing to ride the bike has been really tough. Can't get everything into the suitcase so will have to
strap my tent, sleeping pad, my full pack and a bag of food to the bike somewhere. Everybody is in
the same boat.
Weather has been partly cloudy, cold and very windy. Hopefully it will improve by tomorrow.
The injured Heron is a young Night Heron, which is about half the size of the Great Blue Heron.
He flew into Franciscos yard a week ago and they have been hand feeding it. Today they noticed
it was having trouble walking so the took it to the vet. Somehow it had injured its leg, but could still
fly alright. Turned out it had a broken leg. They bound it up and have to take it back to the vet tomorrow.
The Night Heron is dark when young but turns white as an adult. Got some photos of course.
We leave on the train tomorrow at 10. Francisco will try to get me a ride in the locomotive cab for
the trip. We only go about 20 miles. Then they will leave us off and we will continue on our bikes.
Wont be able to write again until we get to El Matien on Saturday or Sunday.
I 'm healthy and happy, but think its going to get tough.
..... will get back to you SAP.
Peter
===========================
Friday in BA
Hello again,
Took the bus to the Cemetary this morning. Now I have ridden all forms of public
transportation. Once you know how it is really easy.
Cemetary is incredible. Huge. Row after row of humungus tombs with narrow walkways
in between. Have photos of Evitas.
Then walked about two miles to the railroad station and took some photos of the trains. Went next door to the bus station to check it out. Wow, its about the size of 6 Washington Square Malls.
Thousands of people. Nowhere any English spoken. It took me about 45 minutes to figure out the proceedure. First you go upstairs and find your bus line and get your ticket from over 200 booths.
The rub is you don t take your luggage upstairs, so you have to leave it downstairs with somebody to
guard it, and then trade off so the second person can go upstairs and get their ticket.
I think I will take Dick to the bus station on Saturday after he settles in and we can both get
our tickets at the same time in advance. Then we will have them and can go directly to the boarding dock
on Sunday without too much trauma.
Lightening and thunder and heavy rain today. Supposed to clear and have sunny weather when
we start railbiking.
Getting ready to go to the football match.
Will right tomorrow.
Love,
PEDRO
======================
Wednesday in BA
Hi Sweetie,
If you were here I would say [Hi Sweaty[.
These foreign keyboards are very different and I can not find much of the puncuation.
Today I took a 24 hour tourist bus. You can get on and off at many points along the route.
Entire round trip takes 2 and one half hours. I spent several hours in a section called
La Boca. It is very old and much like old Key West but more so. Very touristy but really fun.
I walked outside of the tourist area and through the real La Boca. Fascinating. After taking
quite a few photos I was stopped by the policia who nicely told me no cameras outside the
tourist area. Fortunately I was pretty much done by then.
BA just goes on forever. The main streets are very wide, 6 lanes or more, and the side streets
are very narrow and European. Lots of trees like Portland. And the Jacarondas are incredible
and in full bloom.
The dress code is non existant. Most everyone very, very casual. There is such diversity that no one
looks at you, which makes it very comfortable. I do stand out because of my height, most South Americans
are much shorter, and because of my beard, which few have. Also, there are very few bald men. I wear my
baseball cap but only young boys wear them here.
Phoning is a hassel without a phone in the room. There is no privacy in the small lobby. As long as the
email works I will send letters every day and call less often.
The weather is suppose to cool off which would be a godsend, at least while in BA. Not sure yet where I will go tomorrow. There are so many areas left to see. Much of the city is very dirtly and jam packed with people.
Traffic is madness. Seems like all the sidewalks have been recently bombed. They are all broken up with
big holes and loose stones, brick and tile. The people don{t seem to notice.
Hope this reaches you. Love you. Because of the heat and the humidity you are better off in Oregon.
Your hubby,
Peter
==================================
Hello from BA
Hi Sandy,
Everything went like clock work. Arrived at 11am, went through customs, found my bags immediately, exchanged money, got taxie and was at hotel by 1. Very hot and humid. Hotel is on really run down street where they are tearing down old buildings. Looks like derelict row. Once inside the hotel it is clean and charming. Wonderfull
roof garden and breakfast area. Much superior to our place in Paris and close to all the sites, etc. No airconditioning but has a big ceiling fan. It is suppose to cool off at night. Could^not be happier for $39night.
Friendly English speeking staff.
I forgot to bring Dicks email address. To save time, please forward this letter to him. you can find his address in my address book under Richard Smart. His address reads something likerailcycle@adelphia.net. I am going to copy him in but don{t know if I have the correct address.
I think we are 6 hours ahead of you here in BA. I will call you later.
Love Ya, Peter
==============================
Tuesday Dec 1 ¡Patagoniattyt
Hi Sweetie,
If this letter is badly typed it is because these foreigh key boards are hard to use.
Lots of stuff in different places.
It took all morning to put my bike together. He said it took him 100 hours to build it.
After seeing how complicated it is I believe him.
After we got it together we discovered the shifing mechinism on the handlebards didnt work.
We could not fix it so I rode into town on the bike to a bike shop. I couldn´t find it anywhere although
some people tried to point me in the right direction. No English spoken. While I was driving around
Franciscos wife and son were on the way to the vetenarian to take in a Heron with a damaged foot.
Story to follow. I followed them to the bike shop but there was no mechanic on duty. They gave us
the address of another shop and I had the defective mechanism replaced for $4.
Packing to ride the bike has been really tough. Can't get everything into the suitcase so will have to
strap my tent, sleeping pad, my full pack and a bag of food to the bike somewhere. Everybody is in
the same boat.
Weather has been partly cloudy, cold and very windy. Hopefully it will improve by tomorrow.
The injured Heron is a young Night Heron, which is about half the size of the Great Blue Heron.
He flew into Franciscos yard a week ago and they have been hand feeding it. Today they noticed
it was having trouble walking so the took it to the vet. Somehow it had injured its leg, but could still
fly alright. Turned out it had a broken leg. They bound it up and have to take it back to the vet tomorrow.
The Night Heron is dark when young but turns white as an adult. Got some photos of course.
We leave on the train tomorrow at 10. Francisco will try to get me a ride in the locomotive cab for
the trip. We only go about 20 miles. Then they will leave us off and we will continue on our bikes.
Wont be able to write again until we get to El Matien on Saturday or Sunday.
I 'm healthy and happy, but think its going to get tough.
..... will get back to you SAP.
Peter
===========================
Behind the airport
Francisco´s just called me because there is signal there. They are just behind the airport. They left Nahuel Pan at 14:30 and are half the way to La Cancha. They met a gaucho there on horseback and Dick is interviewing him. (Fun!!). Francisco sounded very happy and he said he is going with Dick and the other boys are coming close by. The gaucho told him that there is signal, so Francisco tried. (good!!!)
Start Line
They left this morning at about 10 o´clock after they put their equipment inside the cargo wagon (Huge lot).
They´ll call us on satellite phone all evenings at 7 pm and say only few words to say how they are doing.
The team is formed by Arne, Morgan, Richard, Peter and Francisco.
Our friends, the Tallarico Family will pick Francisco up at La Cancha.
Last night we have corderito patagónico (Patagonian lamb) and Russian (just potatoes with peas and mayonnaise) and tomatoes, onions and lettuce salads and have a toast for their endeavor and also celebrated Peter´s birthday. The toast was with cider and pan dulce (x´mas cake).
Yesterday, Peter had a problem with the speeding mechanism of the bike, but we found somebody who did not fix it (as we did not have much time), instead he installed a brand new basic device which could do the job, besides the original one that will be fixed after.
All these days, Sebastian was with us, and he fostered a nice juvenile "garza bruja" Black-crowned Night Heron that was in our garden.
Every year they come and nest on top of the nearby trees. They form a family with may be 2 young. They feed on insects, frogs, etc.
This time, a young came to our home, to search in a pond we have. It was calm and quiet, so we thought it was lost or that has fallen off a tree. We kept it inside, so the cats could not catch it. It flew away, after 2 days with us, with Sebastian feeding it with fish. Yesterday, a windy day, very very windy, it appeared in the garden, like brought in by the wind.
This time, Sebastian and Richard found it had an injured leg. Richard, a dentist, has the nearest profession to a veterinary and he had a look and said that there could be a fracture. We took it to the Vet.
Now Sebastian is flying to Bariloche, Francisco is with the explorers, and the garza bruja is under my care. This afternoon I will go back and take the bird back to the vet. The bird is eating, OK. But it is still very weak. I hope it recovers well. I do not think its parents are in the area now. Perhaps I will be talking to the Fauna people and see if they know what to do. The important thing now is to get it up so it can feed and fly.
See attached last years birds, a mother and a juvenile , separate and together.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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