The wind continued , a relentless blast from the right , not 90 degrees , more from the front , a head wind , a side wind . Fuel economy took a massive strain , the combined winds and an insistence on riding at around 130 kilometres per hour saw fuel disappearing at a rate that would ’ ve seen the owners of the Exxon Valdez proud . I chuckle to myself as another Guanaco watches us pass by , these camalid animals , closely related to Llama , are everywhere roadside , very rarely straying into the path of oncoming vehicles . Oh , for the opportunity to just stop once for a photograph .
The guanaco isn ’ t the only wildlife along Ruta 3 , there ’ s an abundance of large flightless birds , and although they have a resemblance to a small emu they don ’ t seem to be hellbent on creating havoc on the roads like the Australian bird . These are ñandus , obviously of the Darwin species , they are too abundant to be
the endangered ‘ greater ’ and puna species . Another photo opportunity lost .
I ’ d laughed earlier in the day when a police officer had pulled us into a checkpoint . Very friendly , he had just wanted to warn us of the impending danger , I ’ d been able to roughly translate his Spanish into my English , “ be very careful of the wind and the wandering animals ”. I wish my grasp of Spanish was enough to convey that he should visit Australia where we have larger animals with smaller brains . I was only able to say , ‘ thank you ’, although with my ascent it probably meant something entirely different .
Rio Gallegos is just another hotel room after a day of riding long distances . There ’ s a town here but I wouldn ’ t know , we arrive late and leave early . An opportunity lost .
The number of bikes on the road increases significantly , it ’ s becoming obvious that although riding this road
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