Day 7: I´m on a boat!

I had a good day today but didn´t reach my goal of Rio Gallegos. I rant out of daylight but not energy, which seems to be a trend. I ended up about 50 km from Rio Gallegos at the Argentine boarder. There was a head wind and I would have needed 3-4 hours to reach my goal, but that wold have involved biking at dusk, not a smart move. It rains a little this morning, so I was cold and damp all day.

Today was a very interesting day in the wildlife department. I saw more guanaco and almost hit one when it ran across the road, startled by both me and a truck going to the opposite direction. I also saw a type of imue or ostrage looking bird for the first time today. Those suckers are fast! I was hurding one along the side of the road and hit 25 mph and it was still staying out in front of me. But the animal sighting that takes the cake today were flamingos. Of all the places in the world to find flamingos, I would not have expected Tierra del Fuego to be one of them. I was just biking along and then there they were standing in a small bond by the road...too wierd!

Ranking right up there with flamingos was my boat ride across the Magellan Straight. I stood on the deck and just looked out over the cold choppy water. It was nice going somewhere not under my own power for a change. I also got 2 free bottles of water from some new fans after I told them about my trip. It took 30 minutes to make the crossing and it was free of charge since I didn´t have a vehicle and they couldn´t decide what to charge me. When we landed I biked another 3 hours to the Argentine boarder. When I arrived at the boarder the officer in charge said I could stay in the soldiers mess hall for the night. He was really nice and said I could make myself at home. The building I am has both Chilean and Argentine soldiers, but he told me that the Chileans are colder and less hospitable than the Argentines. In my brief interactions with Chilean officials I would tend to agree. I am 2 for 2 in scoring places to sleep at the Argentine boarder. Then as I was getting settled in I started to hear Mama Mia by ABBA start blaring on the loud speakers downstairs. I was half ready for the boarder guards to break out in dance. I guess their work can get a little monotonous at times. I made friends with some of the boarder guards there. They were all young normal people. A couple of them came up the the mess hall to play some play station later in the night.