This is where we landed yesterday after our 42 mile paddle out of the Magellan Straits – well, we landed at the gap in the cliffs a mile or so behind the buildings and walked up to the Cabo Espiritu Santo Lighthouse. The building with the blue roof is in Argentina and the red tower is in Chile. The fence between them is the border between the 2 countries. I took the picture from a lighthouse in Chile, after I climbed over the fence!

That isn’t as disrespectful as it might sound!  On top of the hill are 2 lone houses where representatives from the Chilean and Argentinian navy’s live. We had to talk to both of them to say that we had passed from Chile to Argentina by sea and we would now be continuing our journey in Argentina.  Both buildings are more like houses than offices, with a room full of  technology dedicated to their work, and the rest of the building is their home. We were welcomed into both houses and offered a drink and some food, while the formalities of crossing the border were very quickly dealt with.  We were treated to home made empanadas in Argentina and tea, biscuits & cake in Chile. It was nice to chat to the 3 guys who man the building for 30 days in Argentina and the family who run the Chilean side. Coincidentally, an Admiral in the chilean navy visited their building by helicopter while we were having tea so that was interesting.

Monica & Marcelo from Rio Grande ( the next town we will kayak through) drove up to see us at Cabo Espiritu Santo which was a lovely surprise as we have talked a lot via email and facebook but we have never met. In the end, we asked if we could come back to Rio Grande with them for a few days because Barrys wrist got worse towards the end of the crossing and it is painful and swollen again. It needs at least a few days rest and it will be much nicer to rest while getting to know Monica & Marcelo, plus we can do some of the jobs that we would have to do in Rio Grande, like visit the Prefectura & do some shopping.

Notice how far the tide goes out in the top photo. This was at mid-tide so it goes out about twice that far!  It´s like that all along the east coast so we will try very hard not to land or launch at low tide. It will be a very long walk with the kayaks , even with the trolley that we have!

Gianfranco Sergio Maria Liotta  is translating all of our blog posts into Italian on Facebook.

Gianfranco Sergio Maria Liotta   traduzione del post en facebook en Italiano per gli amici che non parlano inglese

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