"The biking adventure of Adritch El Gringo in South America

After Santiago de Chile, my first major capital,
where I arrived after 3 months of travel
and having completed the crossing of Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia,
first big leg of my biking tour across the South American continent,
I am now in the north of Argentina from where I greet with all my heart...

...Géraldine, my parents, my family and all my friends around the world!

And here's already how far I am:

My travel diary

Ushuaia - Friday November 20th, 2024: landed in Ushuaia, at the end of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego, after the flight from Geneva via Madrid, S&atolde;o Paolo and Buenos Aires..
And my trip definitely begins under a lucky star, since she managed to get my bike here on the same flight as me, so that I can immediately proceed to assemble it at the airport!
And, as is often the case, the coincidence of life works out well, since I find a piece of Switzerland here, with the grandfather of a study friend from Neuch/acirc;tel, who welcomes me here to Ushuaia with his family.

Puerto Williams - Being in Ushuaia, "the southernmost city in the world", in Argentina, I decide as well to take advantage of the opportunity that presented so to go to Puerto Williams, "the southernmost village in the world", located on the other side of the Beagle Channel, on the chilean island of Navarino. For this I embarked on the French sailboat Basic Instinct for a navigation of around 4 hours and there I was lucky to be welcomed and to be able to stay on another sailboat, moored at the legendary cargo-pontoon and nautical club Micalvi to discover this charming village lost at the end of the continent.

Back in Ushuaia and big start - Returning from Puerto Williams to Ushuaia, I took leave of my friends Graciela, Aymar/aacute; and Frida (the little dog) before getting on my bike to definitively begin my big journey to the north: a great moment also full of emotion, of course, leaving the first friends I made on this continent.
Quite a hard first day pushing the bike for almost 5 hours on a magnificent path along the Beagle Channel: just what was needed to get me into the swing of things from the start! The next evening I slept at the bottom of Garibaldi Pass in an abandoned hotel, where I met other travelers. Then I arrived in Tolhuin, where I will prepare for the road to Porvenir, and join Punta Artenas on the other side of the Strait of Magellan, again in Chile.

Tolhuin - Porvenir: back to Chile - I was really lucky with the wind, as it was mostly coming from the south and southwest up until Passo Bellavista, so I took advantage of it by doing long days on the road. I was fortunate to spend a night at Yoni�s, a farmer living 100 km from Tolhuin, who kindly welcomed me when he saw me arriving � I didn�t even have to ask, he offered on his own :) Then, I spent a night at Passo Bellavista with the Argentinian gendarmes, who made me a pizza. The rest of the route was beautiful despite the headwind, and I spent the following two nights in shelters along the road. These shelters are there because the wind along the Strait is quite strong but, above all, very consistent.

Crossing to Punta Arenas - After that, I took the ferry to Punta Arenas. Onboard, I met Phillipe, a 51-year-old man from Valais in Switzerland, who was also starting a bike journey to Santiago. He invited me to stay in the apartment he had rented. I couldn�t refuse. Still, I needed to take a bit of time for myself, so I did a short stay at a campsite to do some laundry and recharge my batteries before setting off again for El Calafate, again in Argentina, and then Puerto Montt, in Chile.

Puerto Natales and Torres Del Paine - It was starting from Punta Arenas that I really experienced the Patagonian wind. I needed two days to cover the approximately 200 km that separate Punta Arenas from Puerto Natales. And I didn't know it yet, but it was nothing compared to what awaited me. I actually had one of the most incredible camping spots thanks to the advice of Bart (met in Punta Arenas) on the edge of Lago Blanco. In Puerto Natales I met two Italians (Chris and Elisa) whom I had met on the ferry to Punta Arenas. And we cycled together for a few days to visit the Torres del Paine. .

From Torres del Paine to El Chalten - Shortly after Torres, just after crossing the border to return to Argentina, my path separated from that of Chris and Elisa. For my part, I continued my route towards El Calafate because I really wanted to go see the Perito Moreno glacier. It was a bit strategic but I had to camp near the entrance to the park and enter very early in the morning to avoid controls. I then returned to El Calafate, where I restocked, before hitting the road again for El Chalten, where the famous Mount Fitz Roy is located. The first half of the route was uneventful, but the last 90 kilometers were really tough. At the edge of Lago Viedma, heading due west, it took me 15 hours with 60-80 km/h headwind to reach El Chalten.
However, it was on this road that I met Franco, who was in the same trouble as me and with whom I finally spent Christmas at the Casa de Ciclista campsite. It did me good to find mountains and diverse nature after quite a few kilometers from Pampa.

		Carretera Austral (from Villa O'Higgins to Puerto Montt) - I left El Chalten with a head full of memories, after spending 3 magnificent days there. After a good long walk around Lago del Desierto and 2 days waiting for a ferry at Candelario Mancilla, I arrived at Villa O'Higgins just for New Years. After celebrating with the locals in the party room and in a appropriate outfit (sliders and socks), I took the road to Puerto Montt. I then found myself in an infinity of valleys, lakes and rivers, each more beautiful than the last. Here the wind was no longer a torment and I even swapped my bike for a kayak for an afternoon, just to visit the Marble Cathedral. It was after almost 500 km that I finally found the asphalt and stopped eating dust :).
Around Coyhaique I met Simon and Eva, a French couple with whom I spent almost a week cycling and always looking for the best spot to fish. I also met Brian, a local Chillian who kindly invited me to his home in Puerto Montt. Between sea and mountains, humid forest, almost tropical or almost desert, volcanoes and plains, a little over two weeks have passed in the snap of a finger. I now understand why so many cyclists and travelers of all kinds come from all over the world to do this route. And I also wholeheartedly thank Bernardo, a truck driver who helped me take the ferry between Caleta Gonzalo and Hornopiren without having to pay the passage tax.