Day 10 – The hard life

One thing I really wonder about is who the hell gets it into his head to come and live here?

The beauty of nature is one thing, but after a while, this  may even get bored.

You have to be carved out of special wood  to survive here in these difficult circumstances. Perhaps the free land has something to do with it. One who lives here for 30 years, will automatically get the land for free. Easy you think. But the Patagonian steppe only likes tough men and women that are not easily scared away. True survivors who can endure anything. Think of the cold, harsh winters with a huge mass of snow. And in summer, we would not actually call summers. There is a reason that people of Tierra del Fuego  do not have to pay taxes, and also on top of that draw an additional premium. Literally trembling money.

Today we transfer to Chile. The ride through the steppe takes about 3,5 hours. A drive through the wonderful and endlessly looking landscape of Patagonia where the gauchos drive their cattle and / or sheep. These animals graze in the steppe of slightly dried grass. High peaks of the Andes alternate with eroded mountains. Azure coloured  lakes and rivers alternate with a bare landscape. Rocks, one larger than the other, are reminders in the landscape of the glaciers that once were. These rocks  were swept away by the movement of the glacier.

Occasionally we pass an estancia (ranch), the one already larger than the other. Distances between villages are phenomenal here. Imagine yourself in a manner of speaking alone in the world. Yet there is still a dominant factor: the wind. I have already spoken several times about this, but you must have felt him to understand its impact. The wind blows constantly here at an average of 80 km / h with peaks of well over 100 km / h. Wind is not only uncomfortable, it is also downright dangerous to traffic. A gust of wind may be enough to get you off the road. We feel the minivan swaying  in the wind. Later it turns out that this danger is real: a car went off the road and landed under the fence on the site of an estancia. Luckily the car has not rolled completely down, because then it could have taken a while before anyone had noticed. The lady who  was in the car talks, but she has a head injury and possibly a broken leg. If you see the condition of the car, this is all in all not too bad.

We eventually reach without any mishap the Argentine border, where we leave the country (for a while anyway) and  arrive through no man's land at the border with Chile. Here our adventure really begins. The border appears to be closed due to a strike by customs. Fortunately for us it is just temporary strike and the border will open at 1.30 pm just to let everyone through. That means chaos. All in all, the delay remains limited and soon we can cross the Chilean side of the border. We stop for a snack, exchange money and continue our drive to our overnight stop in Puerto Natales. What strikes us immediately is that on the side of the Chilean Andes, it is a lot greener. The grass looks green, trees are growing and there are  more shrubs. We also see a lot more animals than on the Argentinian side. The reason is not far to seek. The rains continue to hang over the Andes of Chile. Or how Patagonia can be so different.