Tapi Aike: Not every kilometer is equal

February 19, 2018

It was a beautiful morning when we woke with the sun rising over the bleak parking lot. Victor and Jose had somehow managed to get their tent into the covered area at the entrance to the AGVP. I guess speaking Spanish is a big advantage. Claudio had told Victor that the ripio between El Cerrito and Tapi Aike had some good and some bad patches. When I mentioned that it was less than than seventy kilometers, Victor's response was that not every kilometer is equal.

There were two kittens that spent a lot of time with us. Making the morning coffee was a bit difficult because they kept getting involved.

The cold morning meant it was a struggle to get Leigh out of bed

The first thirty kilometers flew by. The surface was smooth and there was no wind of which to speak. At about the halfway mark we hit some really rough stuff and I got a flat rear tyre, I think from a burst tube because it was quite sudden and I couldn't find anything in the tyre that would have punctured the tube. I swapped tubes and we carried on, much more slowly now. At various points we leapfrogged with Pierre, Victor and Jose but as the afternoon drew to a close and about ten kilometers out of Tapi Aike we were the back markers for the day. The road mostly quite rough and a headwind picked up as we approached Tapi Aike. About five kilometers out of Tapi Aike the road passed through a magnificent wetland full of ducks, geese, flamingos and other waterfowl. We spent about three quarters of an hour there soaking up the birdlife.

The old p[olice station twenty kilometers from El Cerrito. It would make a great place to camp.

Lots of road kill. Hares, skunks, armadillos and lots of birds. This hare was being eaten by by two Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus). I'm not aware of them eating carrion and they were hundreds of kilometers from the coast at this point.

By the time we got to the AGVP station at Tapi Aike, Pierre was all setup in his tent and Victor and Jose were getting ready to ride on a bit further before they camped. Apart from the AGVP, there is also a police station and a petrol station with a small shop selling cooldrinks and snacks. More importantly, it also has a toilet which means we might stop off there before we leave tomorrow morning.

The police station and the AGVP sit cheek by jowl with a pig sty and while we were there staff from both offices had great fun slaughtering a young porker. The yard is also full of chickens (clearly not their for the eggs otherwise they would be in a coup) so I guess that a bit of meat gets eaten around here. Our supper was tuna pasta so maybe we arrived a day or two too early.

Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 1,659 km (1,030 miles)

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