Pos: here
Loc: behind Cabo Vigia
Acc: tent
Dist: 0 km

No paddling today, forecasted were around twenty knot headwinds. At 5.30 am, my usual wake up time, it was still dead calm like last night, but I decided I’d like to trust the forecast and turned around again. At 6.30 am gusts started to come in, and at 7.30 am my tent was shaking that much that I soon decided to get out and to check the tent pegs and straps.

Up to 11 am, I think I got the strongest wind I have experienced so far in this country, it must have been minimum 25 knots, and some gusts around 30 knots. I had my tent secured with all means, heavy rocks on the large sand pegs, the straps and loops are checked, I had shoveled gravel on the bottom o the tent walls to prevent the wind getting under the tent from there, the hooks of the top flap additionally knotted to the tent (the plastic hooks can’t withstand such strong wind…) and on the wind side I had attached another strap to the top flap to hold it down. All looked good!

No way there would be any shelter anywhere. Just one narrow v-shape gap in the cliffs where in wet times some river may come down, but that would be only an emergency shelter with no flat surface at all. But my tents holds up! I just didn’t dare to leave it alone to go for a walk…a horrifying thought of my tent with all my belongings flying along the beach. I even attached my kayak to the ground, you never know…when empty, it would be easily rolling along the beach on a strong gust. I’ve seen kayaks doing that! But it was in the lee of my tent, vertical to the wind, so chances were quite low for that kind of performance.

What to do on such a day? Well, reading my e-book is one thing, but if there are no really necessary gear check ups to do, it becomes boring quite easily. Besides, the horrible amount of flies waiting to suck on me outside the tent flap…you can stand being outside only standing in the full wind which blows them more or less away, if they don’t find a lee worth to suck on you on on your body….

Today I’d not have minded a Prefectura visit for distraction! 🙂

I fell asleep at some point, but woke at noon from suddenly hearing NO wind any more! This can’t be! I sat upright in my tent, grabbed my clothes and walked outside. But soon again it started to blow again, with maybe “only” 20 knots now, but enough to get me off the strange idea I may paddle today…

But I felt if my tent had been withstanding the wind for now, all looked good, and I could make a walk to the salt lake I saw on my map.

I took a long sip of water, ate a banana, and felt ready for a walk into the desert. Better would have been, I’d have taken some water with me, as my walks, when some things seem to be interesting, are getting longer and longer…and this *was* quite interesting!

The landscape was totally flat once I climbed the steep cliff behind the moderate steep/ flat beach. I saw something shimmering in the distance, but couldn’t really tell if this would be water, or just a mirage again, and how away far it may be!

It was blowing on top of the flat as much as on th beach, but here it was feeling even more like *hot* desert wind, and felt even more dry than down there. I kept on walking in the direction of the “water”, eventually on ground which looked like it had been muddy some months ago.

I had to climb a low long hill line, and there it was, which was almost hidden before and shimmering only in the last end in the far distance – what a surprise! Really a lake, not just a mirage! It was quite a large area, maybe one or two kilometer square, with yellow colored, muddy looking, very shallow water. If this one would be filled up in rain times, the hill line I had to walk down would have been the top of the lake, I assume…

I was not sure if it was a salt lake or, like the name on the map says, “Lago Dulce”, means sweet water…I couldn’t get all the way to the water’s edge to try it, as it became soft on the last 5 meters. But plenty of animal traces around the lake showed those guys were quenching their thirst here!

Plenty of pink flamingoes were standing everywhere in the shallow lake, nice view! But no other animal to spot now, in the heat of the day.

I’m just reading on my e-book a travel report from 1880, some explorer describing the first travels with lots of flowery words (I could learn a bit from him!) into central Africa. He was writing about such water holes as well, but the landscape there was FULL of wild animals of all kinds! I  later spotted only a flock of guanacos. I got quite close to them this time, all down wind, but I guessed they have good eyes?

But maybe I was quite happy I’d not have to expect a wild buffalo herd running over me next, or a lion chasing the many antelopes around…are there actually snakes in this country? I have sometimes thought about it when I was walking cross the bush, but haven’t seen any…

My way back went past a couple of skeletons of guanacos and sheep, walking comfortably on a wheel track from a nearby estancia through what I almost would call a flower garden (low bushy area) now after the walk through *nothing* to the lake!

I was quite happy to get back to my tent on the beach after two hours of hot desert walk, to find my small spot of civilization in the wilderness, with my life saving resource of now 12 liters left of fresh water…and a fly free place in the tent plus some shade and wind protection – what else do I need? yes, my means of transportation to get away here again at some point…

And yes, I’d not expected to be met by such heat this far south in Argentina!