I guess this is our life! (The Ups and the Downs...and the down downs).

As we are posting this from the future we know that this marks the start of everything going wrong.  The next few blogs will mark our hardest days on the road where as soon as we thought nothing else could go wrong, something else went wrong.

In this blog post are forced to be towed into Chile due to a failed fuel pump.  It is there we learn that our one issue, a is actually two issues, our engine thermostat isn't working properly causing us to overheat.

After thinking that everything is fixed we learn that the mechanic, which was highly recommended, improperly fixed our van causing our engine to be too cold causing throttle and engine issues.  As we raced to find a replacement engine thermostat a new issue presented itself, we needed new bushings.  Little did we know other problems were only days away.

Our new favourite hot springs
and camping spot

Unfortunately this is a long read but we wanted to make sure we documented it so in a few years when we need cheering up we can re-read it and smile about how overcame these issues.

November 24^th - We Can’t Believe This is Our Life

We woke up to amazing views of volcanoes, a beautiful lake, flamingoes and of course our own personal hot spring pool.  Paul woke up before Kendra and hopped right into the hot spring.  It was surreal looking out from our infinity pool hot spring to see Andina Flamingoes feasting. This is an image that is permanently burned into our memories because it had us constantly saying “I can not believe this is our life”.

The Sol de Manana Geisers,
(or maybe Yellowstone?)

While we were enjoying our morning swim another BC plated truck pulled in with travelers originally from Ukraine.  They originally had plans to just travel around Canada but after the war started they had no home to go back to so they just kept traveling.  It was so surprising to see BC plated vehicle way in middle of no where Bolivia.  We eventually parted ways with the Ukrainians and headed towards the geysers and a colourful lake on our little version of the Lagunas Route.

Our first stop was the geysers.  The short 20 km drive would take us almost an hour, since the roads are so bad. Washboard for kms at a time and loose gravel scraping the bottom of the van are just some of the many features of the Lagunas Route. We made it to the geysers and felt like we were in a combination of Yellowstone National Park and the Southwestern United States.  Bubbling water and mud pools surrounded by mars like landscapes.

The wildlife was curious about us

We made it!  Laguna Colorada

Next we continued on a worsening road for another 29 kms to reach the furthest away point we would travel to, Laguna Colorada.  This lake is known for its different flamingo species, llamas, vicunas, and the colours of the lake.  Again, we could not believe that “this is our life”, but every breath taking moment needs a dose of reality.  As we parked at Laguana Colorada we heard the sound of air squeezing it’s way out of a tire, we had a hole.  Now, we are always prepared, we have a full sized spare on the roof and a donut underneath.  However, we decided against fixing our fuel size spare when our rear tire got a hole at Toro Toro National Park. We were in what felt like the middle of nowhere with 2 flat tires and only a donut to use, which we didn’t think would last a minute on these bumpy washboard gravel roads.  Luckily it was a slow leak and there was a small town of under 50 people called Huayllajara 6 kms, or a 20 minute drive away and according to iOverlander had a person that could fix tires.

Just a normal day at Laguna Colorada

Rupert makes all the friends!

One of our favourite photos, we plan to print it and call
it the most expensive photo of our trip due to the costs we had to bare after this photo was taken

Trying to keep ourselves busy,
 not thinking about how we have two flat tires

We got to town and asked around for the tire person and we were directed to Don Luis’ shop.  We knocked on the Bar/Tienda/Shop/Multiservicio place and found Don Luis.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have just one hole to fix as we quickly learned we had a couple small holes and the tire patch we had got in Colombia had failed due to the washboard roads.  3.5 hours later Don Luis had cut apart the inner tube of a tractor tire, glued it into our tire so it would hold air, and patched the hole in our spare tire – we weren’t going to risk getting another flat. For $250 bolivianos- the equivalent of $50 cad, we had two tires fixed in the middle of no where and we were back on the road. Originally we had wanted to buy some beers, but we used our last Bolivianos to fix our tires so we will have celebratory water tonight.

We pulled back into the camp spot we had the previous night and watched the sunset from inside the van.  The altiplano has a habit of being windy from about 1 pm-11:00 pm, so it was too windy to sit outside.  We went to bed happy that we survived the lagunas route and we only have 50kms until the border with Chile.

Back to the hot springs!

November 25^th – Stuck in the desert

They say these are some of the worst roads
Overlanders attempt, we agree with that!

We woke up this morning to the same view we did yesterday.  We hopped into our private hot spring pool and watched the flamingoes slowly warm up and have their breakfast in the lake. We also met a man named Alfonsino who lived in the nearby house. He asked if we had any medicine for his son who has a bad cough.  We offered him our half bottle of Nyquil which he gratefully accepted.  The instructions were all in Spanish for the dose to take, but he could not read.  It is truly eye opening how lucky we are to have been born in a country where illiteracy is extremely low.  Next it was time for breakfast and to finish off all our meat and eggs we had brought in to do the Lagunas Route with, since Chile is strict about what products you can bring in (it’s mostly the same things as going from Canada to the USA- no fresh fruits or vegetables, no meat or dairy products and other things must be in their original packaging). 

The Dali desert is known for the unusual rock
formations you can see in the background

We hit the road and made our way towards the last few places we wanted to see.  The Dali Desert and Laguna Verde and Blanca.  After the Dali Desert, when we were 8 kms from Laguna Verde and 10 kms from the ticket booth, our van did something we have only experienced once before.  We lost power, but not electrical power, power steering.  Paul thought this sudden loss of steering was due to a flat tire so we safely pulled over only to find that all our tires are inflated and holding strong.  When we happily got back in the van, it wouldn’t start.  It sounded like it would start, but it just wouldn’t. Nothing was smelling, leaking, or overheating so we began to troubleshoot in what felt like the middle of nowhere. 

After 10 km of hiking Paul made it to Laguna Blanca
 (White lake) he wanted to enjoy the sites but it was hot and windy
and he was sunburnt and exhausted.

We’re thinking it was bad gasoline because that is what happened when the van had a similar failure in Mexico. We added some fuel cleaner we had purchased in Peru and rocked the van back and forth to make the 30 litres of gas that we have slosh around, no success.  We banged out the air filters, being at 4470 metres above sea level- maybe the engine isn’t getting enough air, no success.  Kendra read the owners manual which is not useful at all unless you have a fancy van with electronic systems (ours doesn’t). We checked all the fuses and made sure nothing in the engine bay is loose.  It seemed that no matter what we did the van would still not start.

This was a big problem; we were in the middle of no where with 2 litres of water and barely any food.  Very few people travel this road and fewer still will be able to help us.  We needed to act and quickly before the heat of the day starts or wicked wind starts to below.

Alas, since chivalry is not dead and because chivalrous people would need to speak and understand Spanish Paul made the valiant 10 km trek in the middle of the Sud Lipez Desert to get to a place where he would have cell service a customs office/Bolivian Military base. He had his backpack with water and granola bars while Kendra and Rupert stayed at the van trying to start it.

We wish we got a better picture of the
ratchet strap tied to the van 

After 2.5 hours he returned with two Bolivian Parks people and a tour operator driver to look at the van. They tried everything we did and figured it is our fuel pump being gummed up from bad gas.  They also thought we could have diesel in our engine too but since we added fuel cleaner they figured that’s what the smell may have been.  After looking at the engine, trying to start the van, checking the fuses, and crawling under the van they came to the same conclusion we had…the van is dead but this time in Spanish. Since no tow trucks will come into Bolivia from Chile and the next nearest mechanic in Bolivia (other than Don Luis from yesterday) is 250kms away, about a 8 hour drive on the rough washboard roads our only option was to get towed with a rachet strap.

After a 10 km bumpy ride we arrived the customs office/army base. We had hopes to continue our tow right to the Chilean Immigration/Customs building; however, our rescuers said they would only drive us to Bolivian immigration office 8 km from the Chilian building.  When we pleaded they said it was illegal for them to enter any part of Chile even if it was before the Chilean immigration building.  At first I thought they were joking when they said the Chileans would shoot at and arrest them but when every person in the area said the same thing we knew it must be true.    

The van is at the Customs building!

We decided to take their offer to bring us to the Bolivian immigration office so canceled our TIP for Bolivia and waited until they were done their dinner.  Surprisingly right before hooking our vehicle back up to the Bolivian Land Cruiser we decided to try to start the van one last time.  IT STARTED!!! 

Camping in the cold in the middle of the desert between two borders

Paul did a few laps around the parking lot and we thanked our rescuers with a bit of American dollars (because we spent all our Bolivian money yesterday on tire repairs). We did not stop the van and we drove away from the Bolivian customs office.  It was only 12 kilometres to the Chilean immigration/customs office where we could get a tow truck from (and only 5 kms to get to the Bolivian immigration office) our hopes were high.  300 metres after the Custom office (4.7 km from the Bolivian immigration office) we hit some washboard and the van died again. We are sure it must be a connection with the fuel pump that is being jostled around by the rough roads.  So here we are, technically in Bolivia with a van that has been exported, waiting for the tour operators to tow us to Bolivian Migration in the morning.  We don’t have much to eat and the cold and dark is descending upon the desert.  Although we are in a better situation from earlier today we are still feeling pretty grim.

 

November 26^th - “We are going to Chile today, no matter what!”

Paul awoke optimistic and promised Kendra and Rupert that we would make it to Chile today.  We woke early after a terribly cold night sleep.  It got below freezing outside and the condensation on the windows in the van even froze.  It was the coldest night that we have had since last November in the USA.

The van is "kind of" in Chile!

The reason we needed to be up early is because at 7:30 am is when the tour operators make the trip from the park entrance and Aduana office to the immigration office to drop tourists off and pick up new tourists. Paul decided to walk towards the Aduana office and was able to flag down the first vehicle that came by. The man wanted to check that the van would not start and looked around the engine a bit before agreeing to take us to “the frontera” aka the border. We did not clarify which border but since he had Bolivian plates we figured he would take us to the migration office. With our ratchet strap attached he warned us that he would not take us along the main road because it is bad, but we would take some off road side tracks; at this point we figured things couldn’t get worse than the van not starting.  After a bit of a stressful tow, we arrived right at the border signs at the Bolivian Migration office.

He told us to wait to get stamped out of Bolivia because the line was too long and he would try and contact a friend who is an electrical mechanic to help us because he thought we had an electrical issue.  During this time, we became quite the topic of conversation for the Bolivians and Chileans transferring tourists between the border.  Everyone seemed to want to help and offer their opinion.  In the end everyone reached the same opinion.  Leave the van here, go to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile and return with a tow truck.

Everyone was so willing to help, but eventually they
all agreed, there was nothing that could be done here

An interesting thing about the border between Chile and Bolivia is that there is almost 8 kms between the two immigration offices, and Chilean’s  do not cross to the Bolivian side and Bolivians do not cross to the Chilean side.  We weren’t sure what our next steps would be, but Paul decided we would see if all three of us could get a ride into San Pedro de Atacama and see if a mechanic or tow truck could come and help. We loaded into a sprinter van with mostly French tourists and made our way to the border.  Paul sat shotgun with Rupert and assured the driver that we had everything we needed to get Rupert across the border; which we did with additional copies and the assurance from the SAG person at the border that Rupert would be allowed back in.

We made made it legally back to Chile!

Rupert was greeted warmly by the SAG officer who remembered him from a few days ago and she ushered him and his documents to the front of the line and got him in with a few extra pats on the head.

Next we had to wait for our bus loads turn. The driver turned in the list of passengers and then we were officially stamped into Chile. It was almost an hour drive to the city of San Pedro de Atacama and while Paul was talking with the driver he learned the driver had friends with a tow truck who could help us (even though it was a Sunday).  So as we arrived in the city, the tow truck arrived to take Paul back out to our van.

At this point Kendra and Rupert went from hotel to hotel asking about accommodations for the night, but all were not pet friendly.  And to top off the sting of the rejection, Rupert scratched off a scab and now has an open gaping wound on his back that we will need to take care of. With a dying phone she found a place a little out of town but close to where she thought the mechanic was located and sent Paul a quick message hoping somehow he would get her final location.  We did have a back up plan, sort of.  We made plans to meet at the town plaza at 5 if Paul couldn’t find Kendra and Rupert.

The van is getting loaded up 

Obviously, Paul was emotionally and mentally exhausted and retrospectively this could have been a terrible idea jumping into a truck with strangers with our cash and his passport in his hand but he didn’t care.  He wanted everything in Chile, today!  The drive was relatively uneventful, Paul chatted with the drivers and tried to stay awake.  After an hour and a half, he was back at the Chilean Immigration office where we had to wait for 30 minutes to start the immigration process to leave the country and export the tow truck (even though we weren’t actually going to officially leave Chile).  In the tow truck driver’s boredom, he started trying to “crack” the password for the Immigration offices Wi-Fi.  After 10 minutes he learned the Wi-Fi password was 1122334455.  This was such a stroke of good luck as Paul connected to the Wi-Fi and learned where Kendra was able to get accommodations.

A celebratory drink, we are all,
including the van in San Pedro

After exiting Chile, we reached the official border marker where the van was located.  After a few pictures of the tow truck drivers at the border the van was loaded up and we made our way back to San Pedro.  Re-entering Chile was quick but resulted in Paul getting his 4^th immigration stamp of the day, one for leaving Bolivia and three for entering, leaving and re-entering Chile.  Even with the van on a flatbed trailer we were able to get our TIP for the van to legally drive in Chile.  It seemed like a long drive back to San Pedro as the goal of the day was complete we all made it with all our stuff to the nearest community to start the process of fixing our vehicle.  The van was dropped and Paul paid a reasonable amount for the distance and time traveled via a tow truck and surprisingly the van started up and we drove it into the secure parking lot of the hotel.

Once we were reunited it was time to debrief with some locally brewed beer and burgers.  We spent the night calming down from our recent excitement hoping that the mechanic can look at our van tomorrow and fix it for a fair price.  This town is known to have its own sort of “tourist tax” where everything costs more than any other places in Chile similar to Banff or Whistler, so we hope it won’t cost too much.

 

November 27- Anxiously Awaiting

I (Kendra) don’t know about you but I feel ill anytime the van is broken or needs repairs, pretty sure this trait comes from her mom’s side seeing as some of the Duquette’s can get emotional over almost anything so I let Paul deal with fixing the van because he speaks Spanish but he also doesn’t seem to be on the verge of tears when discussing the problem.  So this morning we woke up and Paul drove the van to the mechanic…at least he was going to attempt to drive it.  I offered to go with him in case he needed it pushed (I’m getting pretty good and pushing the van) but he said I could wait with Rupert.

A message from Kendra's Uncle John and Aunt Edna (not even directed towards us)that resignatrd with us. No matter what you are going through, it is always an adventure. 

Now this alone time (which is relatively rare) is usually when I update Instagram, but Paul needed my phone so I was able to get caught up on Youtube. About 30 minutes after Paul had left the hotel in the van that started but could die at any point in time, I got the dreaded message. The van died.  Luckily for Paul it made it 5.4 kms and died 50 metres from the mechanic’s shop. So the mechanic hooked up the van and towed it into his shop.

We don’t know about you, but we hate when you go to the mechanic or even a doctor with a problem and they want you to recreate the issue and you can’t, so we feel that the van died at the perfect time.

Exploring San Pedro

Since we would need to wait to hear back from the mechanic we decided to spend the day in the city plaza. We went for coffee, ate empanadas and tres lecehs cake from a street vendor and watched the day go by.  We had some craft beers from a different Chilean brewery with lunch and did some more waiting to hear back from the mechanic.  

At 5:30pm Paul got a message from the mechanic asking him to come to the shop.  This did not seem like an optimistic message, so Paul made the 5.5 km journey from the hotel to the mechanic shop while Kendra continued to write in the blog. By 6:30pm she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and messaged Paul.  The fuel pump was faulty/broken, basically exact thing Paul thought was wrong (well almost the exact thing; the first thing he thought was wrong was bad gas).  But the van was also overheating a problem that we didn’t really think was a problem.  In Mexico Paul noticed when we were idling the engine temperature would rise, but that was the start of the really hot part of our trip so we just assumed it was related to the heat, or the humidity, then in cooler temperatures we brushed it off as being related to the altitude besides it was only a problem if we idled and we are good environmentalists and minimize that when we can.

Enroute back from the mechanics

It turns out that this issue could have been the cause of our oil leak that we spent a pretty penny on getting fixed in La Paz, Bolivia. Now it could be a radiator fan issue or and engine issue, but we figured we might as well get it looked at now before it could cause a catastrophic failure in our engine.  At this point all we knew was that the fuel pump would arrive and hopefully be installed tomorrow.

 

November 28^th – A switch for the better

The famous church of San Pedro

The hotel that Kendra selected when we first arrived in San Pedro de Atacama was a decision made when she was emotionally exhausted.  The hotel met all our needs but it was expensive for what we got.  We knew there was a chance, be it a small one, that the van would be ready today as supposedly the new fuel pump would arrive but didn’t know when exactly the vehicle would be ready or when exactly even the new pump would arrive.  We didn’t want to commit ourselves to staying in the same hotel for another night, but we didn’t know what other options we had, we also hoped that we would receive the phone call were dreaming of; notic e that the van was operational again.  So, instead of committing to another night at the same hotel, or booking anything new we decided to pack up our bags, have the hotel store them and explain that we may be back to book another night. 

Kendra loved these rules because not
only could Paul not make annoying noises
 in the pool he couldn't make corporal downloads

We spent the morning and early afternoon in the area of the town square.  San Pedro de Atacama is a massive tourist town with most of the downtown location only accessible on foot.  It reminded us a lot of Jasper/Banff/Whistler, but obviously in the desert.  Everything was expensive but there was also always something, or someone, to watch or listen to.  We walked from café to café until it become obvious we needed to book another hotel for the night as the fuel pump had still not arrived to the mechanic’s shop.

This time we had the luxury of time and a positive mental state to properly research and find the right hotel for us which after an hour of research we found.  A far nicer hotel with free breakfast and a pool for less that what we were paying previously.  As soon as we checked in we knew this was a switch for the better.

Paul ended up walking back to the mechanics shop in the afternoon to pick up some clothes and some food for Rupert and get a bit of an update on the situation (the mechanic was a horrible communicator).  After that we tried to allow ourselves to relax finding a couple bottles of wine and going out for dinner. 

 

November 29^th - …still not ready…

Its hard not to have some fun when
your room is beside a pool

The free breakfast at the hotel was top notch and the pool was exactly what we needed to complement the heat of the desert town.  For a small time we forgot the problems we were having with our vehicle and the concerns associated with getting to southern Patagonia while the weather is hospitable.  It felt like we were in a resort in Mexico and we treated ourselves as such (i.e. drinks and food by the pool).

Obviously we had hoped that the vehicle would be ready but after another walk back to the mechanics shop Paul, in the mid morning, was told that tomorrow it would be done, at least we didn’t have to wait all day hoping for different news.

With the cost of things in Chile being at least 3x more expensive than Bolivia and almost 2x any other country since Belize we didn’t really leave the hotel as we didn’t want to spend any money.  Only after the sun set and our stomachs were grumbling did we venture out to a small restaurant with some live music.

 

November 30^th – Heart break

So happy to be doing things again!

Once again we spent the morning dragging our feet.  There was a very good chance that the vehicle would be ready today and we knew the second it was ready would we leave San Pedro to drive south.  After another delicious breakfast and relaxing around the room and pool we still hadn’t heard anything, but we decided to act as if the vehicle was ready.  We would pack up and Paul would walk the 5km to the mechanic for the last time.  After almost an hour of walking and when he was maybe 200 metres away from the mechanic shop he got the message we were hoping for.  The van was ready!

After a test drive with the mechanic and paying a couple days budget for the work Paul triumphantly drove into the parking lot of our hotel.  Our smiles had returned and we couldn’t wait to hit the road and continue the road trip.  We hoped that the problems with the vehicle were behind us.

Our van will not be stuck forever in the desert like this bus!!

Our goal was to drive the 300 km to the coastal city of Antofagasta.  We only stopped three times on this journey.   The first was to see a famous bus that, like us, stopped working in the middle of the desert and has remained there to this day.  The second was to Walmart, a first since leaving Costa Rica, in the community of Calama for groceries.  As Calama is known for vehicle break ins especially for vehicles with foreign plates Paul stayed near the vehicle changing a tire and organizing the van while Kendra did some grocery shopping.  Our friends Katharina and Michael had a window smashed on their truck only a week earlier. The third stop almost broke us.

As we started our final descent from the mountains into ocean the van did something odd.  It didn’t make a sound and the handling did change but the motor and the vehicle seemed to communicate something wasn’t correct.  A split second later the check engine light and the throttle control warning light illuminated while the engine temperature gauge went to zero.  We pulled over turned off the vehicle and felt our despair grow.  We were happy that we were able to start the van again, and although the throttle control warning light did not come back on the check engine light did and seemed to be permanently illuminated.

The first time seeing the ocean since central Peru

We did drive the remaining 30 kilometres to our camp spot on the coast where we once again started to research mechanics and possible reasons for the vehicle’s behaviour.  We just couldn’t believe that we had another issue with the van that we had to fix after only 5 hours of having the van “fixed”.

What a place to camp!

We spent the night feeling defeated and moping around on a beautiful oceanside cliff. It’s hard to feel down in beautiful places, but we were not able to have the celebratory evening of having the van back that we had envisioned.

 

December 1^st – Forced to play the waiting game

Our plans before the check engine light came on were to go to Antofagasta to get an export certificate for Rupert so he could legally leave and re-enter Chile.  Most overlanders can get this certificate for 30 days but we had read that if you ask very nicely the officials may give you this certificate for 60 days.  We had also read that if you already have Bolivian documentation that is less that 2 weeks old that they will accept this documentation as proof that the dog is in good health negating the requirement to visit (and pay for) a new Health Certificate prepared by a Chilean vet. 

We arrived to the SAG office (an agency of the Chilian Ministry of Agriculture in charge of livestock) who is responsible for preparing the export document.  Paul walked in with all our documents but returned quickly.  He was not given the news we had hoped for.  He was told that they would not recognize the documents from Bolivia, that we needed documents from a Chilean vet, that they were unsure if we could get a sixty day certificate and that even if we had the vet paperwork today the certificate would not be ready until Wednesday (today is Friday). 

There was a vet near the SAG office, but for the first time since the United States we couldn’t just walk into a veterinary office, we needed an appointment.  Thankfully they could fit us in just before they closed for the day (around 5pm). Meaning that by the time we would have our health certificate the SAG office would be closed.

Our next stop was a mechanic, one that we had read spoke English. Unfortunately our disappointment continued when we once again were told that the mechanic didn’t have time to look at our vehicle so we made another appointment for 8:30am Monday to get the vehicle looked at.

At least one issue is fixed, we got new tires!

We did have one more task for the day and although we considered not attempting it in fear of more disappointment we persevered and purchased new tires for the van.  Our tires were well worn and seemingly prone to becoming flat.  It was during this process we received our first bit of good news.  It was the opinion of the tire/suspension shop that we did not need a new steering knuckle that although a bit loose it was fine.  The good news continued when we got the bill for 4 new tires, a balancing and an alignment.  The cost was a couple hundred dollars less that we expected.

To celebrate this win we decided to treat ourselves to some craft beer.  It wasn’t the best we’ve had but it wasn’t the worst, and it gave us time to talk and reflect on the challenges we’ve been working through lately. While we were sipping our beers Paul noticed a car back up into our van while parallel parking on the street. We just can’t seem to catch a break these days!  Luckily Paul went down to investigate the damage and all that happened was it bent our front license plate a bit back on one corner and it sort of fixed the bend in our license plate when it got hung up on some barbed wire and got bent forward, so there were not any new scratches on our van.

We need to force ourselves to celebrate any "win" we get right now

The memory of the pleasant surprise with tire costs and a decent beer didn’t last very long as on the drive back to the vet the throttle control warning light once again turned on and the engine temperature gauge went to zero (obviously the check engine light has been on since it initially illuminated).

The vet appointment was fine, Rupert got new medication for the dermatitis on his back (she laughed at the old fashioned stuff we got in Bolivia) and we were told to return on Monday for our certificate.  It appeared we were forced to hang around Antofagasta for the weekend, at least we wouldn’t be forced into a hotel.  We returned to the camping spot we had stayed at previously and were treated to a nice sunset.  Hopefully a good omen for things to come.

How could we not return back to this campsite?

 

December 2^nd – Trying for a good day

The goal of the day was to try to have a good day; to do something positive that we could write/talk about so we conceived a plan.  We could do check out a natural arch that Antofagasta is known for and then purchase some meat and charcoal and have a BBQ beside the ocean.

The natural arch, known as La Portada, was only a 5 kilometre drive from our free campsite and enroute to a Walmart where we planned to purchase everything we needed for the BBQ.  The arch was nice and was complimented by the Antofagasta skyline.  However, after 10 minutes and a few pictures there wasn’t really anything else to do in the area. 

We were surprised to see fossils by the arch

BBQ and beer always seems
to make us feel better

After a relatively quick shopping trip Paul returned to the van with everything we thought we’d need.  Ground meat and burger buns, sausages, some beer and some new condiments.  Instead of our regular camping spot of the last couple days we decided to drive further north to the other side of the Bay where we had a view of an island.  For some reason we envisioned an island with trees that would command the skyline, but what we found was a barren area (similar to much of the coastal area of northern Chile) and a flat landmass just off the coast.

We set up the van in a way to block the wind, collected a bunch of rocks and made a little fire pit/oven and lit some charcoal with the help of our propane stove.  We didn’t know how well we would be able to follow through with this idea but after an hour we had a great coal base and started cooking our food. 

By the time the sun set we were stuffed and feeling okay about our situation.

 

December 3^rd – The tropic of Capricorn

We had enough food and water to last us a couple days and had no interest in spending any money so we spent the morning watching an entire season of Better call Saul before packing up the van and heading to the monument of the Tropic of Capricorn located a couple kilometres away.   This is the furthest south the sun can be seen directly overhead on December 21, past this point it’s arch never reaches completely 90 degrees overhead.

After a quick drive we grabbed some ice cream and returned to the campsite we had when we first arrived to the Antofagasta area and settled in for the rest of the day.

 

December 4^th – Water Issues

We arrived to the mechanic right at 8:30am as the doors to the shop opened up.  We were only a 15 minute walk from the ocean so we decided to head to the water in hopes of finding a little seaside café, unfortunately the ocean front area of Antofagasta is dilapidated with a lot of unhoused people. It was not an area we wanted to spend a lot of time in.

We continued our walk to the central area where we wandered artisanal markets and the large pedestrian walkways where we were finally able to find a café which was only serving instant coffee due to a water issue facing the community.  Unfortunately, for us we quickly learned that this water issue would impact us more than just forcing us to have instant coffee.

There were COVID themed stop lights, Red were germs

Green was wearing a mask

or Green was washing your hands

The mechanic contacted us and informed us that we had an issue with the engine thermostat that it was stuck open.  He also said that the part may be in Antofagasta but it was also something we may only be able to purchase from a Dodge dealership.  There was one autopart store he thought may have the part but due to these water issues the shop was closed.  He said he could order the part in from Santiago but that it may not arrive until next Monday.  Since we had to wait until the afternoon anyway for the new health certificate to be complete for Rupert we decided to spend one more night in the community and hoped that the autopart store would be open tomorrow.

There were some cool sea loins to watch

We were slightly annoyed when we arrived at the vet’s office.  We learned that they were missing some information from us and that they wouldn’t be able to give us the certificate until tomorrow.  We gave the vet the information they needed and left for lunch where we decided to have some comfort food.  We decided to go to McDonalds.

Although we considered doing something touristy after getting a pretty good BigMac we decided to just head to a camping spot for the day.  We chose a new one, south of the community where it was a little less windy and closer to the mechanic/vet. 

 

December 5^th- A long day of driving and a new problem

As soon as the mechanic shop was open Paul phoned the mechanic.  The water issue is set to continue, possibly until the end of the week so there was no way for the mechanic to know if the part would be available.  As the issue was related to our engine being too cold he felt we could drive to Santiago and get the part there.  As we had grown tired of Antofagasta that is exactly what we planned to do until we realized that Santiago was over 1300 kms away.

Probably unbeknownst to the mechanic, but what we learned after a bit of research is the northern most Dodge dealership in Chile was only 850 km away in the community of La Serena which also seemed achievable to drive to in one day.  Better yet there was a SAG office in La Serena meaning that we could get Rupert's export paper done there instead of in Antofagasta.

After a quick stop at the vet to pick up Ruperts new health certificate we started our drive south.  After 9 hours of driving, we arrived 40 kms north of La Serena just to watch the sun set over the ocean.

This monument in the desert seems to be a
right of passage that everyone overlanding
South America seems to stop at

On the drive Kendra had wanted to stop at a few places. We took photos at the Hand of the Desert, since it’s so stereotypical and iconic and Kendra had also wanted to stop at a mine.  Unfortunately the mine visitor centre would not be open when we got there and Paul did not want to stand at a look out after a 2 hour detour to see where the Chilean miners were trapped in 2010, so he vetoed that decision.  The day was a long drive through the Atacama Desert and then through Chile’s olive growing region.

During the drive we came to two realizations, the first was that we had a part of the world with potable tap water.  From this point until the end of our trip any time we open a water tap it will be potable. We haven’t had consistent access to drinkable tap water since we left the USA almost a year ago.  The second realization was a little more soul crushing.  It became very evident that we had an issue with our rear suspension.  Anytime we hit something we heard an unusual knock sound.  It just feels like we can’t catch a break!

 

December 6^th – THE PART IS (UN)AVAILABLE

On the drive to La Serena the van seemed to want to remind us that we had an issue with our engine thermostat as ever 20 kilometres warning lights would flash on the dash but we had hope that this would be one of the last times this issue would present itself.

Our first stop was the SAG office where Paul entered with all our documents and once again pleaded to have a certificate that would allow us to leave and enter Chile freely with the dog for 60 days rather than the typical 30 days.  This interaction was far more positive than the previous one in Antofagasta as the SAG inspector implied that we did have good reason to have a certificate that would be valid for that many days.  However, he was clear that the document would probably not be available until Friday (today was Wednesday).

To solve Rupert's dermatitis he needed a bath every two day with special shampoo. Here he is getting a bath at a gas station. 

We arrived at the Dodge dealership hopeful that they would be able to get the part but somewhat pessimistic at our chances due to our luck from the last week or so.  Thankfully the part was available in La Serena they just needed to retrieve it from another building.  After paying for the part they let us know it will be at the dealership the following morning.  Obviously this was great news!

Our next stop was a gas station where we can purchase a shower for the equivalent of $1.25 CAD.  The showers are clean and warm and well worth the cost, especially since we hadn’t had a shower since leaving San Pedro.  Rupert even had a shower where he we used a new Medical Shampoo the vet in Antofagasta gave us to help clear up his dermatitis.

Our final stop was to a mechanic to see if they were available to replace our engine thermostat and to determine the cause of the knock we hear in the rear of the van.  We pulled up to the drive shed of a potato farm and met the mechanic. The mechanic seemed competent and confirmed that we had an issue with our engine thermostat.  He also found the issue with our rear suspension.  We needed new bushings on our rear driver’s side; the rubber had a hole in it causing metal on metal impact whenever we hit a bump.

Maybe God can help us find this part!

We spent the rest of the day searching for the bushing we need by going from the dealership to almost every auto part store in the entire city (~10 places).  Our excitement about being able to find the engine thermostat disappeared when we realized that the bushings are not available anywhere in La Serena.

We had originally hoped to camp near an old fort on the outskirts of the next town over, Coquimbo, but after seeing the neighbourhood it didn’t pass our vibe check and for the first time in months we left searching for somewhere that felt safer.  There aren’t many spots in La Serena and Coquimbo to stay so we ended camping in a beachside parking lot between to very new condos overlooking the ocean with little to no privacy, but at least it was safe.

At least its safe and beautiful!

 

December 7^th – More delays

We have the new thermostat!

Although we had hoped that the mechanic would be able to replace our thermostat today he let us know that he was too busy to fit us in but could do the work tomorrow (Friday).  He also recommended that we purchase the bushing online as he thought it was very unlikely we would be able to purchase the bushing anywhere in South America.  The only issue is that it would take at least 5 days for the part to be delivered in La Serena.  When Paul asked if the bushing could be found in Santiago, he said, maybe, but it’s unlikely.

After a quick grocery shop we sat for a couple hours talking and planning.  We decided that we would take the risk and drive with a bad bushing to Santiago and try to purchase/order one there.  Our goal was to be in Santiago at dealerships for when they open Monday morning.  This issue we couldn’t agree upon is how we would get to Santiago.  The SAG office had phoned Paul this morning letting him know that our export certificate was ready (a day early) meaning we could drive to Argentina after getting a new engine thermostat, enjoy the wine region of Mendoza before returning to Santiago.   This drive was through a rural border and consisted of 100 kilometres of gravel road.  After the Lagunas route of Bolivia and with a bad bushing Paul did not want to take the risk of further damage to the van.

Waiting in line at a bank, we needed cash!!

After picking up the export document for Rupert and verifying that it was valid for 60 days we ended up driving back north 30 kilometres of La Serena to the nicest camping spot we had found in the area where after Kendra had a long nap to process things we agreed we would fix the bushing before we think about driving any roads that are not a smooth highway.

 

December 8^th – Donde es mi termostato? Where is my thermostat?

Rupert supervising

We reached the mechanic’s shop just in time for our morning appointment.  The repair was quick, around an hour, and we learned why we were having so many issues, the tubbing where the engine thermostat should be was empty.  We didn’t have an engine thermostat!    Our best guess is that ours had gone faulty causing us to overheat and the mechanic in San Pedro just removed it without telling us, even though he said he replaced the relay and gave us the old relay part, he did not give us our old thermostat.  We didn’t know whether to laugh about the situation or yell angrily. Luckily as a few more workers showed up to the mechanic they had a good chuckle about our thermostat having no thermostat and told us how lucky we were that the poor silicone job to hold the housing on didn’t enter our cooling system which would have seriously damaged our engine, so we can count ourselves lucky for our poor situation.

We explained our plan to the mechanic to drive to Santiago and purchase a bushing and anything he was hesitant but he confirmed that as long as we drive only on good highways we should be okay; however, he made it very clear he did not feel we could find the bushing in Santiago and it was best to order the part now.  After contacting another mechanic in Santiago who also recommended we purchase the bushing online we sat down and ordered the part, sending it to the mechanic in Santiago. 

Guess we know why the van was too cold

Since we were sending it to Santiago it would arrive a little faster than if we had ordered it to La Serena, but it still was not set to arrive until next Wednesday (today is Friday).  Since Rupert’s health certificate is only valid for 10 days we ideally have to leave the country by (next) Friday.  If we don’t leave by Friday we need to go back to a vet and purchase a new health certificate for the Argentina authorities.  This could be cutting things close.

Since we no longer had to be in Santiago until Wednesday we decided to go to the wine/pisco region of Chile, which started 60 kilometers east of La Serena down a proper highway.  The area is known as the Elqui Valley and it is famous throughout Chile for Pisco.  Due to its climate and altitude, it is the most hospitable place for pisco production, and if there’s pisco it means there are also wineries (since Pisco is more or less distilled wine).

Our first stop in the Elqui valley was Vicuna the hub community of the area where we purchased some fresh olives and cheese and learned where the nearest Pisco manufacturer was.  Before we knew it we were doing a Pisco tasting and walking out the door with three bottles for later.

One less issue!! time to celebrate

Our next stop was at a brewery in a small town just east of Vicuna which was slowly building a reputation across the country as being one of the best breweries in the country.  We can attest that if you are in the area, Cervaceria Guayacan in Diaguitas is well worth the stop.

Our camping spot for the night was 200 metres away from the brewery down by the river.  It was a local hangout and very busy, but we didn’t care.  The breeze was perfect and the water of the river was perfect for swimming.  It was easily the best place we had camped since leaving Bolivia.  We started to enjoy ourselves so much we didn’t’ notice how quickly the contents of our bottle of only pisco was disappearing and before we knew it we needed to go to bed.

The perfect place to relax