I only needed one photo from today because the scenery never changed. Just hold that one up in front of your eyes for five or six hours and you will get some idea of what my day was like. 

The only thing that kept me awake was the frequent herds of guanacos. I don’t know why they insist on standing right on the edge of the road when they have millions of acres of range land. Their wheat-colored coat blends perfectly into the landscape. Often I would catch only the silhouette of a curved neck and I would start slowing down. As I approached I would realize that there were actually15 to 20 of them that I didn’t see. Generally they stand their ground or take a few steps away from me as I go by. Every once in while, however, they unexpectedly decide to cross the road especially if a mother is on one side and her young ones are on the other. I tried several times to get photos but as soon as I would stop, they would immediately run off, jumping the four foot range barrier fence with ease. I eventually gave up.

I could see that they sometimes do get hit by vehicles because there were periodic carcasses in varying states of decay along the road. They are much taller and heavier than a deer so I wasn’t eager to have any close encounters at speed. This made my day a little longer than it should have been as after a while I started seeing imaginary guanacos in every shadow. Later in the day it was a mix of guanaco herds and small rhea flocks. Talk about a strain on my concentration. My brain is not programmed to pick up flightless birds the size of large dogs. Their colors also camouflage them very nicely (of course).

Giving me some relief, the road eventually came out to follow the South Atlantic coastline. It wasn’t the nicest of days but I stopped to wander along the rocky beach in order stretch my legs and loosen my neck muscles. At least it wasn’t raining today. 

I found a simple municipal campground in the town of Rada Tilly which looks to be a small but rather upscale beach town. Complete with lots of fancy stores.