I was a sad sight by the time I arrived in Rio Colorado. I knew the road out of Bahia Blanca would be hard but I didn’t know it was going to be this hard. The wind, ash, smoke, and fire made me suffer like few times on this Long Ride. But once again we rode out safe and sound.
Filthy, tired, and sore I rode over the Rio Negro and into Patagonia. I wish I could have been excited to be entering this majestic and rugged land I would follow all the way to Tierra del Fuego, but exhaustion is all I felt.
A police officer stopped me in town to snap a selfie and chat. I put on a fake smile and answered his questions before continuing to the Molina brothers ranch.
“Filipe, welcome to Rio Colorado,” one of the brothers said to me as I rode towards his home.
Two brothers, who were raised in the saddle, welcomed me to Patagonia with so much generosity. We shared a delicious BBQ and beers on my first night in their town. They asked many questions about the journey and told me stories of their own trips on horseback.
“We love riding off for weeks straight, hunting and fishing along the way and sleeping in the woods,” Hector Molina told me.
The next morning I took a bus back to Bahia Blanca to pick up the support vehicle. I looked out the window imagining myself riding through this exact land a few days earlier. What took me 5 days on horseback, amounted to 6 hours on a bus. Insane!
The van was in the shop being fixed so I ended up having to sleep in Bahia Blanca before driving back to Rio Colorado.
When I arrived back at the Molina Brothers ranch, they gave me amazing news. Caro Molina’s son in law, would drive the support van for me during the next stretch to Choele Choel.
“There is literally no water in the next 120 kilometres Filipe so you will have to carry water in the support van,” Caro said to me.
It was going to be yet another hard stretch of the journey, but with a partner to drive the van, I felt a lot better about getting back on the road!
