Lenca

December 19, 2019

We woke to a beautiful summer's day by Patagonian standards. The sun was out, the breeze was still and, at some point, the temperature was sure to breach the ten degree mark. However, rain was forecast for later in the day so we eventually packed and cycled down to the waterside to start our trek down the Careterra Austral.

The start of the Careterra Austral on the seafront in Puerto Montt.

We weren't in any rush. There was a fair amount of traffic to start off with but it got less the further we were from Puerto Montt. The road had a shoulder the whole way and the drivers were very considerate which is more than we could say about the busy ride into Puerto Montt yesterday. We stopped often to take in the views and do a bit of birding and have managed to pick up a great deal of the more common birds we saw on our previous trip here.

After about ten kilometers we picked up a dog, or rather it attached itself to us. It was friendly and quite confident in the traffic. So confident that it spent a lot of time trying to protect us, rather aggressively, from any vehicles which it thought got too close to us. At the top of the second of the three small climbs we would ride today a Dutch couple, Henny and Henri, caught up to us. We spent the next twenty kilometers leapfrogging each other and each time the dog attached itself to the lead couple. A great reason to ride a bit slower!

Sheltering from a brief shower in a parada del autobus with Henny and Henri. The dog is in the foreground.

We eventually lost the dog when we stopped into a roadside restaurant to buy some lunch. I ordered us a hamburger each - it turned out to be massive and we were so full that the next few kilometers to Campo Santy near Lenca were taken very slowly.

Campo Santy is where we camped on our first night out of Puerto Montt last year. We had decided that because we are not particularly fit, we will take it easy the first few days. Our only requirement over the next few days is to be in Chaiten by the twenty fourth of December because we have a room booked at a hostel there for two nights over Christmas.

Campo Santy still has its dogs and cats.

Since January last year the woodpile has got smaller, the shed has grown a bit and the truck seems in need of repair.

The shed as it looked in January last year.

Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 53 km (33 miles)

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