A 25,000 kms drive around South America - Oct/Nov 2001

Starting and finishing on Copacapana Beach, Rio de Janeiro. Driving 25,000 kms through six countries: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Uruguay. One hundred cars: fifty classics and fifty 4x4's.

Day 29 - Marbella to Temuco

We were quite tired in the morning and we had to leave at 6am to drive the 850 kms to Temuco. We drove round the Santiago ring-road with Colin at the wheel and then Tim. I drove until the lunch-break at Salto del Laja, quite an impressive waterfall, where we had a good lunch (trout).


We arrived in Temuco at about 5pm. There was the usual pandemonium checking in at the Hotel Frontera. Our rooms were OK, but we discovered others were not so pleased about the problems with the hotels and so on and were planning to break away from the Rally for a few days to go on a boat through the Chilean fjords. The Marklands and the Moffatts had already booked cabins on the boat, so we immediately rang the boat company and booked places and cabins for the 3 of us and the car. We secured the last 2 double cabins on the boat! We are now committed to 3 nights on an unknown vessel! We had a drink in the hotel bar over the road, then a very poor meal with Greg, Malcolm and Tiffy and walked back to our hotel for coffee. Paul Markland was arranging a trip to Antarctica from Punta Arenas and we said we might be interested. I am not sure as it would not be a very large plane!

Total distance 525 miles