Still in El Calafate

Back from the awe-inspiring glacier, it was time to get the bike ready for the last southbound leg of the trip - southern Patagonia. The preparations entailed cleaning the air filter, reversing the rotation of the front tire (to improve wear) and replacing the rear tire. This would all be done in the hostel courtyard, with hand tools, and then we would stop and buy oil for one last oil change when we got a chance.

2000 miles of bugs and debris in the air filter; the pleated portion is supposed to be bright pink. 

One more $250 rear tire for the upaved, Chilean portion of the road to Ushuaia

Almost done! I would really like to thank the designer who put the air filter under the fuel tank. 

That night we met up with Bernard and Annemarie, the Belgian couple who built and piloted "Brutus" the monstrous RV pictured a few posts back...

Over the last few years, Bernard and Annemarie built Brutus from the ground up, starting with a used 10 ton 4x4 industrial truck chassis and an insulated delivery truck box. Bernard designed, built, and wired the entire thing himself, with much of the interior woodwork fashioned from wood he felled and aged specifically for the purpose. It was an incredible machine, fully self-contained and capable of traveling on any type of road (or lack thereof) in any weather conditions - from the arctic to the desert. They are currently traveling on an open-ended tour of South America, and were some of the kindest, most welcoming people we encountered.

We shared dinner and drinks, and the next day we were off our separate ways again, Jill and I reassured that  there are new friends around every corner, and that there will still be exciting travel in store after we no longer want to sit on a motorcycle all day.

ONWARD! To Tierre del Fuego!