Day 28 – Monday, February 23, 2026

A few words about last night, technically today. I arrived at my very spartan accommodation at 11 pm, having ridden a century and as such, was full of adrenaline. At a neighboring bar, I had two beers and a bite to eat, it was around 1 am when I finally got to bed. For whatever reason, I slept not too well. From the long ride and the short nite it was only around 9:30 by the time I got ready- having "enjoyed" my breakfast of one slice of ham, ome slice of cheese and two rolls. And half a butter. Tocoplla failed to impress me (please see first reel). A higllighr was the small baby with the mustache pacifier (second piic), then set off in the direction of Iquique, some 220 km away. At the edge of the town, I realized that I failed to fill up my supplies at the last supermarket for 220 km, so I circled back. It was not a good decision time-management-wise. There were road works and the flagged told me I'd have to wait. For how long? Roughly two hours. Darn. And two hours it would be. At one point, all vehicles left the work site and drove up the hill where I was with the flagged. They alll took theit cellphones and - BANG! Yes, I witnessed a controlled explosion. A. hour later, all the broken rocks were cleared by simply dumping them in the ocean, then the "all clear" signal came. It was then, however, that I started chatting with a motorcyclist, an elementary school teacher from Antofagasta - one of the things he told me there would be absolutely no populated areas for the next 200 km or so. It was quite an interesting area. I suddenly saw a bunch of eagles, apparently protecting something. Then I discovered what is was - the remnants of a whale. There were indeed signs of settlements. First, I found a kiosk and bought some supplies, then there was a sign to a restaurant at a small seaside village called Caleta Urco.Little did I know rhat this place would be m my final destination for the day. I did not find a restaurant, only a home selling freshly made empanadad.. I was warmly welcomed, offered a seat while it was getting ready and a glass of cold Coke. I paid, wanted to leave - then I understood what they had been implying. TBC

you looked at the video, they invited me to join the youngsters to a boat outing. It was do tempting, I could not say no. And soon there we were navigating the waves. The best part came: most of us jumped in for a refreshing swim I told them about the whale cadaver- oh yes, there are plenty here. We almost hit s sea lion when leaving, well, I guess it was curious. They were friendly, funny and in a great mood - we spent close to two hours out there. Next to the beach are tents similar to the Hippie Beach- and I felt real.good here, so decided to pitch my tent here. I am not going to admit that I rode just 50 km today. The boat ride, though, was priceless... What a country this is...