We found ourselves that night camping right on the shore at some random beach. The next we had planned to go to a lake down another gravel road to check out a bunch of flamingos, but it was raining and we decided to just go into Argentina instead. We arrived at the border with all the same documentation only to be turned around and not allowed to leave Chile as foreigners in a Chilean vehicle. There is a law that says foreigners cannot leave the country with a Chilean vehicle that they own. There is also another law that states if you sign a declaration that you will sell the vehicle back inChile again and have it signed by a notary then you can pass. We had all the necessary documentation but it was a no go. There wasn't much we could say or do. They weren't going to let us through.
So we had to drive back on the gravel road that we came on for the 120 kms we had covered and head south for the next border crossing. We were a little perturbed. Along the new stretch of road on the Carretera Austral, there were some pretty cool things. The Rio Baker is an amazingly blue river and it was a cool spot where it joined with the Rio Neff.
We stayed in a Hospedaje that night which is basically a room in someone's house. There was a lot of things falling apart in the place but it provided a dry kitchen and a nice warm bed so we left happy.
The next day we tried our luck at a new border crossing which happened to be in the middle of nowhere, but absolutely amazing. We passed one other vehicle on about 200 km stretch of road. We got really excited when we spotted our first wild guanacos.
They are a camelid and look exactly like a llama. The first ones were the top of the iceberg though as we saw thousands that day and thousands since. Then as we were cruising, I spotted a few flamingos in a small lake. It just seems so crazy that they are down here in between the mountains. We had a little hike down to them and took in the amazing views.
Guanaco dung pile.
Most of this area had been bought up by the North Face founder and given back to the government to be protected land. He died in a kayaking trip a couple years ago on the lake we did the marble caves tour. He and a few others bought up huge amounts of land and they have given most of back to the public as long as it was protected. It is quite the amazing conservation story. His latest wife(one of the founders of the brand Patagonia) continues to give land back and has signed over a lot to the Chilean and Argentinian governments.
We got to the Chilean border where they gave us a warm welcome and chit-chatted with us through the whole process. Quite a difference from the last border. We may have been one of the only crossings that day to be honest. At this border, the Argentinian customs was around 15 kms farther than the Chilean. Between the borders we spotted our first rhea. It is a large flightless bird native to the area that looks like an emu.
Later we would see hundreds more, but at the time we didn't even knew they were down here. We also caught a horse that was running around with a saddle and tack on and tied him to a sign after having a little photo shoot. The Argentinian side was a breeze as well.
On the Argentinian side, I spotted two huge condors on a small cliff overlooking a dead guanaco. I decided that I would try to get as close to them as I could. I ended up getting right under them like 20 feet away before they flew right over my head. Condors can have a wingspan of almost 11 feet and are among the largest flying birds in the world. They are basically huge, ugly vultures, but it was really cool to get that close as they are usually soaring way up in the sky.
The road itself was the worst one we have been down yet. Never ending washboard and many potholes, but it was worth it. When we finally hit the pavement it felt like we were floating.
Basically all the cows we see are Herefords which makes Roberta happy.
That night we camped out on the pampas for the first time. It was a beautiful sunset.
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