Start Line

They left this morning at about 10 o´clock after they put their equipment inside the cargo wagon (Huge lot). Francisco went with them but he will be picked up at La Cancha, and come back to Esquel

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.