We were sorry to leave Chile. We crossed the border back into Argentina and shortly after we reached the Straits of Magellan. We drove along the northern shore and saw these two ships stranded on the beach. You can just see the yellow Buick of the Marklands ahead of us on the road.
We drove to San Sebastian and were very windswept as we waited for the ferry. Behind us in the queue came Joanna Brown, William and other HERO support people, including 2 from Uruguay. We went inside for a coffee and Tim had a discussion with Joanna about the accommodation problems.
The ferry took half an hour and we saw black and white dolphins (tortinos). Looking back to the landing jetty on the north shore from the car ferry.
Refuelling after arriving on Tierra del Fuego, with the Straits of Magellan in the background.
The wind was stronger as we arrived in Rio Grande, a godforsaken place. Luckily, we had a very acceptable hotel, the Posada de las Sauces, and we checked in and then walked to the Malvinas War Memorial with Yvonne. It was very cold and bleak and we were saddened to see that the memorial was not well-kept. We were told later by the hotel receptionist, who spoke excellent English, that the majority of the victims of the Falklands War, including the General Belgrano sinking, were poor conscripts from northern Argentina around Jujuy.
We saw the Robinsons' hotel for tomorrow and it did not look good! We had an excellent dinner back at the hotel and Paul gave us stone penguins to remind us of our time together.
Total driving distance - 344 miles.
