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As we have this enforced rest I have decided to rewrite the letter that has been lost. It was written in Puerto Montt and told of our journey from Puyuhuapi onwards. You'll remember that we stayed in a hospedaje in Puyuhuapi, it was shortly after the fjord disaster and we wanted to dry out things properly. The horses stayed in a field belonging to the Carabineros in the middle of town. We rode from there on the 22nd May and reached a nice grassy clearing for the night. It was quite late when we stopped and we were a bit worried that we wouldn't find anywhere to stay as the sides of the road were all wooded but it was a nice clearing with lots of grass.

The horses were becoming a lot fatter since we had set off and looked really well, so did Brown Dog; he really was a fit looking dog, people often said so - they called him fat, but he wasn't overweight; it's just that dogs here are often very thin. He was getting to be in great shape.

The next day was sunny, a great relief and we stayed the night at a lovely section of grass, so lush we couldn't pass it although it was early; we had a fire and the night was very clear and frosty but we were as snug as anything in our tent and the horses were fine; they fluff their coats out for the cold and looked like teddy bears in the morning.

We rode into the town of La Junta that day; it was a small place and we did some shopping. I waited outside with Brown Dog and the horses while Pádraig was in the butchers and chatted to a lovely old man - he was quite impressed by how far we had come, but most of all by the fact that Brown Dog had come all the way with us; he thought he was a lovely dog which he was of course. We then went to the Supermarket and chatted to some boys who were getting their horses shod. Again very friendly.

We rode on out of town and had lunch near a very big bridge (having crossed it first); the horses are getting better at bridges all the time; we've met some horrors.

That night we camped at another nice verge; a lovely man on a dun horse came over to chat; he was taking some cattle to the feria ready for the next day's market. In the morning we saw lots passing on their way. That night we found a lovely big area near a river to camp; just as we were setting up 2 horses came over to see our lot - we'd left ours free to wander around for a while and were very surprised as Rupert come over all manly and protective of Salsa, his mare! We laughed to watch him arch his neck and point his toes as he marched over to see these 2 strangers, snorting as he went; there were a few squeals and stamping feet but nothing serious - we left them to it - Brown Dog wouldn't leave them to it though and kept barking trying to chase the other horses away from his charges. He was so good at guarding us and our stuff. Unfortunately these horses stuck around all night and we were disturbed by squeals now and again. The mare had decided she quite fancied the handsome bay horses, which rather bothered poor Rupert who was tethered nearby, so there was lots of tail swishing and squealing. We didn't sleep well but it was worse for poor old Brown Dog who thought it was his duty to go and sort it out - he was up and down a lot that night - we felt sorry for him although we did laugh to hear him. He'd found a nice dry bed under a log near the front of the tent and at every new bout of squealing we'd hear his gentle snores stop with a snuffle and a groan and a sigh as he got up again and stiffly walk past the tent with a squeaky little fart as he went, a few well chosen barks to show how displeased he was and then back to bed with a humph. He was such a sweetie.

The next morning he really had his work cut out as a group of pigs invaded our camp site. They really played games with Brown Dog and as he was a little frightened of them, it was quite hard for him. The pigs took it in turns to appear round bushes and try to reach our stuff and while he was busy with one lot, another lot would attack from the rear; it was quite hilarious, I would go and help him now and again, although we were busy packing up and he thought that was great because they didn't always run away from him but if I went too then they'd run fast which was tremendous fun. If they stopped running and turned round he didn't know what to do.

He was quite funny with cows as well - we often met a herd of cows on the road and he would try and walk passed without showing he was scared, but you could see his eyes flicking from side to side from the cows to us. He usually suddenly smelt something really interesting on the other side of the road so he could then pass with us between him and them, but if they were on both sides he wasn't at all sure and would creep behind us looking from side to side and if one of them moved he'd run like mad. If they ran away from him he was very proud and would trot along wagging his tail and looking around to check that we could see that he wasn't frightened of them and that they were moving away from him! He really liked sheep, they never turned round and stood their ground but always ran away. He had a slight urge inside to chase them but managed to suppress it. He was very good at coming when called. Considering he hadn't been our dog for very long he was well behaved and looked to us all the time.

That day we rode on quite a long way and found an OK campsite at the side of the road. It was a bumpy verge with lots of hills and hollows but the grass was OK. We put our tent up near one of the huge fallen trees, Brown Dog found a good dry bed and we had a fairly peaceful night and could all sleep without disturbances. The morning however was different. We woke to a very misty morning really quiet and eerie. We had a fire to make the porridge and were packing our sleeping bags when we heard a couple of shots in the distance - very odd at such an early hour. It was quite dark and misty. Pádraig said 'they shoot ducks and geese at dawn' so we put it down to that. We were about to serve up our porridge when a couple of soldiers came over to us. Quite a surprise in the middle of nowhere. No farms around here and we hadn't seen a vehicle. They were all dressed up in camouflage gear with make-up on their faces - green and brown splodges. They were very friendly and shook our hands and asked the usual questions of "Where are you from, how far have you ridden?" We had a nice chat then they said that there would be some shooting later and that we weren't to be frightened - "Oh yes, we heard the shots, no problem to ride along the road?" we asked. "No, no they said and pointed up to the mountains so the exercise would be up there in the hills we thought. So we said our goodbyes and went back to our breakfast and all was quiet and peaceful. Brown Dog was snuffling around and the horses were grazing and so we were all taken by surprise when 5 minutes later war broke out.

With no warning a very loud shot went off right behind Rupert and the mare. I nearly swallowed my spoon as well as porridge it was so close and so loud. I immediately ran over to Rupert and the mare and Pádraig went to stand with Alazán. Brown Dog ran around not knowing what was going on, barking like mad. This shot was the start of bombardment, it was quite incredible but there we were in the middle of it all, hundreds of soldiers ran through our campsite shooting rifles and machine guns and throwing themselves to the ground. It was just like the real thing only there we were ruining their exercise! Some of them did quite well to pretend we weren't there at all, but some did falter as they came charging over the hill and saw our campsite spread out below them!

One chap, obviously a young lad from the country, slowed down and said "sshh sshhhh" gently to the mare as he went passed, not to frighten her - I could imagine him being told off later by his sergeant major "So when we're at war, lad, and there happens to be horses on the battlefield, you'll be busy comforting them will you, son, while we're busy fighting"!

It was an amazing scene, we couldn't quite believe it was happening - neither could the horses, they were so incredibly well behaved considering that these soldiers were charging out of the mist and running in between them, between the tent and the fire, round the tack and ducking down behind bushes and lying on the ground - the gunfire was deafening, they would fire right next to us - the guns blazed in the gloom - you could see the fire. Of course the horses didn't know they were blanks or just pretending, but then I didn't know they would understand a real war either.

They all stood stock still and were frozen in shock; I stood with the Mare and Rupert; I had my arm over Rupert's back and cuddled close to him and he squeezed back! In my other hand was my bowl of porridge - steadily getting colder. I didn't hold his rope or need to, as they seemed to know there was no point in trying to run away and so stood very still and only lifted their heads with each new round of fire. Brown Dog on the other hand wasn't still for 5 seconds; he was very busy running everywhere; he didn't know what to do trying to look after us all - our campsite - he didn't like it if anyone came too close to it, unless we said hello and chatted to them - then he'd be the perfect gentleman and welcome them, but if anyone walked up without warning, then he'd growl to let us know and them know that he was there. Here he was with hundreds of men running through his camp! But there was another side to it - he really liked soldiers - he remembered that the really nice men in the lorry that we'd met a few days before and had shared their pack lunch with him, had had the same uniform on, so he spent his time running around wagging his tail, going up to everyone he could and checking for sandwiches and then barking madly and telling them off for firing their guns when they did. This I don't suppose helped the soldiers either!

It went on for about half an hour or more - that they were passing through our campsite but then the noise died down and they moved on - phew, what a strange morning! We finished our cold porridge and packed up to go. We only rode for a couple of hours to reach the town of Vila Santa Lucia, a small town but home to a huge Army Base! So that's where they'd come from.

We had decided to stop there as Alazán needed shoeing and we thought maybe we should take a bus over the border to renew our visas. The town of Trevelin in Argentina was very close to a Welsh speaking town or rather has a number of families who still speak Welsh. So we stopped at a little shop to ask if there were any Carabineros in town, but there weren't we'd thought they could have helped by housing the horses for us, the lovely young man in the shop told us about buses to Trevelin and understood our problem with the horses and so offered us his brothers garden - the house wasn't finished but we could keep our tack in there and the horses had the garden, luckily there was a shed for Brown Dog to shelter in. We shod Alazán in the afternoon, he was quite well behaved and we seemed slightly better at it than the first go, although I did end up with a big gash in my finger from one of the nails! The bus was supposed to arrive at 6 pm so we packed a rucksack as we'd have to stay the night at least and said goodbye to the horses, there was plenty for them to eat. We left our plastic sheet and a sheepskin in the shed for Brown Dog so he'd feel he had something to guard; he used to stick to our stuff like glue when we first stopped in a town, as he was unsure and knew we wouldn't leave without the tack and packs. So he had a nice bed and we left his red plastic bowl; we knew he wouldn't starve as he was used to foraging for himself before he met us, but it wasn't nice to leave him; before we left we cut up the rest of the meat we'd bought in La Junta - it as beautiful beef but we couldn't take it as we thought we'd be staying in a hotel or hospedaje that night and it was nice to give him a big meal. We waited while he ate it up - he wolfed it down and then stood looking concerned - he knew something was up and so we said he was a good boy and he was to stay with the horses and that we might be gone a couple of days but that we would come back. He stood in the doorway of the shed watching us as we walked across the garden and out of the gate; he looked very sad and we were too - I really didn't like leaving them at all, we took the key back to our friend in the shop and then went to wait for the bus; it was jolly late and when it turned up it was full and we couldn't go. I was really pleased - we could go back to our gang and didn't have to leave them - we'd been told that it was possible to extend visas in Puerto Montt and so we decided to do that. We'd carry on the next day.

We went back to our friend in the shop and explained and asked if we could camp in the garden with the horses; he wouldn't hear of it and said we must sleep in the house with the tack. It was lovely to be clean and dry and so nice to be back with our lot. Of course we ended up eating soup and pasta, there was no butcher in town, none of the shops had fresh meat and Brown Dog had eaten best steak!

When we walked back to the shop we met the Army Exercise coming home, they apparently had to make it into the barracks without being shot. As we walked passed the garden with the horses in, we heard Brown Dog barking his annoyance, at the shots, from the shed doorway - it made us laugh. We didn't call him then and as it was dark the horses didn't see us walk passed; they whicker when they see us coming usually, unless they are very full or free. So when we walked back to the house chatting to our new friend, Brown Dog must have heard us and so was waiting at the gate and we got such a welcome! He didn't used to jump up (unless we were playing) but I'd never seen him looking so happy and relieved. He had obviously understood we weren't going to come back that quickly and was delighted to see us and us him; he was a lovely dog.

We decided to ride on the next day although we were told there were more buses to the border this day and we should stay and try again, but we wanted to carry on, of course now we think maybe if we had Brown Dog wouldn't have been killed, although that's silly to think. I do wish he was still here, we miss him lots.

We rode on over a high pass that day, the highest point on the Carreterra Austral. It rained pretty much all day but we found a nice campsite by Lago Yelcho. Unfortunately a nasty dog ran up and bit Brown Dog's bottom that day. He hadn't even realised he was there - horrible dog bit him really hard and made him limp and frightened him a lot. He usually was very good at standing up for himself but this was a nasty crazy dog that wanted to attack him. Alazán and I rescued him by charging at the nasty dog and chasing him off. That night we inspected Brown Dog's wounds and found quite a hole from a tooth in his right buttock. He lay very still on his back while we checked him over and was very brave. We put some wound powder on his bottom and then let him get up and told him he was a good boy - he went wild, he was delighted with himself and so we think wasn't too upset with his nasty experience, although he was quite shaken as we could tell by the way he behaved with dogs the next day.

The next day we rode over an enormous bridge - it went across the river at the end of Lago Yelcho and was huge; it was like a harp with lots of uprights - we said this marked our l000 Kms as although some of the sign posts disagreed we were sure it was that day that we had completed the magic figure and it seemed like a good landmark - shortly after this bridge we reached the very small village and Puerto Cardenas - it had a Police check post and road block, so we were very happy to stop and show our 'Guida de Transito' for the first time; they were pretty impressed with our journey, we also showed them our 'papers' for the horses although we are not quite sure what they say - they seemed to think they were OK.

They were really nice policemen and we had a great chat inside as it was raining; Brown Dog came in too to be introduced and praised for being such a loyal companion for such a long journey. While we were inside we'd left the horses loose to graze outside and as we came outside to show them the horses we found one young policeman putting their TV aerial back up as Alazán had managed to pull it down! We stood and chatted a while. Pádraig stood and chatted on the steps with a very friendly policeman while the young policeman and an older more senior policeman stood by Alazán; they admired the horses and I was saying how good they were and how much tamer they are now as they used to be a bit frightened of traffic at first, but are so much better now. Just then a minibus pulled up and the older policeman excused himself to go and talk to the driver; now the horses hadn't moved when this pulled up but I think they must have been too busy to notice because after it had been stopped for a minute and the driver was chatting through the window to the older policeman, they suddenly spooked, Alazán and I were standing away in front of it and so had no problem but it had pulled up and parked next to Rupert and the mare and it was she who started it, most unlike her, she's normally the most steady of the three, but she jumped and so any excuse for Rupert to run; he shot forward but almost instantly stopped as he was between the minibus and the fence. The older policeman had kittens, he didn't know which way to run; I thought for a second he was going to dive through the window head first - it was absolutely hilarious to watch - what was even funnier was Rupert's expression, he just stood and stared at this man - "he's even more scared than I am" as if to say!

In the end the man ran in front of the minibus and stood panting - I think he felt as silly as everyone including the horses and Brown Dog were staring at him - poor man, he'd been hiding his fear well until that happened - it reminded me of Brown Dog with the cows, one move and he was gone. Luckily no one laughed, I think I was too shocked and felt a little guilty. The young policeman with me said "So they're still a little frightened of traffic then". I apologised and led the horses away a little, it didn't spoil our friendly chat with them and we had lots of good wishes and goodbyes as we rode out and luckily waited until we were well down the road before bursting out laughing, he did look so funny.

We stopped for lunch a bit further down and were so busy making cheese and cracker sandwiches that we didn't notice the horses wandering off; Brown Dog was too busy watching us make our sandwiches and waiting for the cheese rind, to notice either. Luckily we heard Alazán's hoof beats on the road and so we looked up; he was heading off back to Puerto Cardenas and Rupert was way in the distance and there was no sign of the mare; we ran after them and found Salsa grazing another patch of grass further back - she obviously didn't think we'd picked the best patch for them, little monkey. Just as we were chasing them down the road the very friendly policeman came driving up so we looked right idiots!

We rode on and found a patch of wet grazing in the bamboo with lots of leeches - it poured rain all night - yukky - we managed to have a fire but it was hard work. It wasn't a very nice night but the next morning we rode on all optimistic to reach Chaiten that day - it rained a lot, we were all excited at the prospect of staying somewhere dry for the night and trying to catch the boat to Puerto Montt as I told you in the letter from Chaiten. Poor old Brown Dog didn't make it, such a shame as we still miss him lots - it was much better with him around.

Our time in Chaiten was hard, we were so miserable about Brown Dog and then we couldn't leave as all the lorries were full of cattle. We were told we could leave the next Monday evening which meant we had to stay l0 days; it rained for most of the time, really heavy rain, only one afternoon, in l0 days, was clear. We rode around the town in the sunshine and went a bit further out and got a lovely view of the volcano that we hadn't even realised was there.

We stayed with a lovely family who looked after us and helped us so much, the father, Pepe, was in the Carabineros and was so good to help us and try to get us a space in a lorry for the Monday night.

While we were there the horses grazed in the garden but when that had been used up they grazed another policeman's garden and then moved to the garden of an old derelict house, it was full of rubbish but had lots of grass, we cleared up but obviously not well enough as Salsa found something to tread on which punctured her sole so her foot became infected. We gave her antibiotics and a lovely vet called Guillermo came to see her; he was such a nice man, he worked for SAG, the Ministry and confessed to not knowing much about horses but was so kind and helpful, it was he that told us where to go to buy better drugs in Puerto Montt and he sorted out that we could tether the horses with Conaf for 4 days or so, which as you know turned into 3 weeks and they put us up as we;; - so lucky!

We met him again in Puerto Montt as he was on business there - really such a nice chap.

Anyway poor old Salsa wasn't getting much better, we were really hoping as soon as we could get stronger antibiotics in Puerto Montt she'd have more chance. We were also keen to get going; it was strange being stopped after being on the go for so long and we really wanted to get to Puerto Montt for the post and we were told the weather would be better north of Puerto Montt - huh!

The grazing ran out and we were buying bales of hay - it was a very good and reasonable hospedaje but we weren't used to paying for meals and accommodation so for l0 days it added up to the price of one of the horses! This was running down our reserves and the Bank in town (again the State Bank of Chile) didn't deal with credit cards. Lots of reasons to want to leave Chaiten.

Monday came and we were all excited we packed up and settled up; we were given a special 'once' as we were leaving as a present (it's the tea time meal - I think I told you about it). We took the horses out of their field and down to the main street to lead them - not at all sure how they'd like this as it was possibly the first time any of them had been in a lorry. It was dark and rainy as well - the lorries here don't have ramps so they reverse up to a bank and we had to make the horses jump in.

Alazán went first with me and bless him didn't even hesitate but jumped up behind me into this dark lorry; the wooden floor was wet and he slipped, poor thing. Then came Rupert, he did quite a bit of hesitating and I can still hear dear Pepe copying us and saying "cam on Rupat - cam an!" He did jump in as well and then came poor Salsa, she had to jump up on her bad foot, but did so very well, so she landed lightly with most of her weight on the good one.

We then drove down the road a bit and stopped, we were standing in the back with them, their poor frightened faces in the streetlights as there was no roof on the truck. We then stopped and Pepe told us this wasn't the lorry we were going in but that we'd swap them into the right lorry - we didn't understand this at all! Then we heard the lorry we were supposed to be going in was full of cattle and couldn't take us - 'on dear'. The evening then got quite panicky with Pepe running around like a headless chicken saying "tranquilo no mas". It's something they say a lot here and always makes me want to shriek - it means "calm down".

We went around town about 5 times and asked everyone if there was space for our horses but all the lorries were full of cattle. We were groaning inwardly and probably outwardly as people started talking about next Monday's ferry! Another week in Chaiten - we didn't have enough money and the horses didn't have enough grass and we so wanted to get to Puerto Montt and make Salsa better as she wasn't improving fast enough. Oh dear it was a difficult time but Pepe wouldn't give up hope, although we were sure that there wasn't a chance.

It was getting later and later and we were sitting in the house with the children (a really lovely family, a girl of l4 and triplets of 9 - 1 girl, 2 boys - and they had a 16 year old girl staying as her school was in Chaiten and a boy of about 18 - he was lovely too, from Villa Santa Lucia). Mum (Anita) had to go out and Pepe was supposed to be on duty although he was running around for us most of the time. When it was nearly 9 pm. he said we'd go to the boat anyway. It was to leave at 10 pm and when we got there the vehicles were being loaded. I sat in the car with the three kids and Pepe and Pádraig went down to the ship; after a while they came running back saying the Captain had said we could go without a lorry (we'd been told by the Captain of the port that this wasn't allowed!) but that it was at our own risk - we readily agreed and then rushed off - the horses had been left in the lorry so we unloaded them. Pádraig was left to lead them to the boat and we went back to the house to collect our things - all a mad rush, lots of goodbyes at the house. Pepe drove down to the boat and Anita and two of the triplets squeezed in, also the boy from Villa Santa Lucia who jumped out and helped us lead them when we caught up with Pádraig.

Everything was on the boat, we were last! We ran back and forward with our things after loading the horses - they were very good to walk on to this huge brightly lit ship with people everywhere and lots of noise - chains clanging - they had to walk in between the lorries and stand tied to the rings on the floor that the lorries are chained to, they all stood together very surprised looking but very well behaved; we had lots of lovely hugs and kisses and goodbyes from our family. Anita gave us a bag of her lovely home-made bread and we waved out the back of the ship.

All the lorry drivers and ship workers were surprised to see us and came to see, one of them very kindly brought us a bucket of water for the horses and gave them the bale of hay we brought on board. We were desperately cutting our sheepskins up and bandaging them onto their feet as slippers as the floor was metal and they might slip on it. This was as the ship pulled out, all very last minute. By the time we'd finished everyone had gone and we were left alone, so we spread our things out on the floor of the ship and made a bed on the plastic with our saddles as pillows - wouldn't recommend it - I don't know how the cowboys managed, they mustn't have slept very well. We had terrible cricks in our necks the next morning.

We were behind the horses and so every time we woke or turned over, we could look up and see them. They'd finished their hay and cuddled together to snooze. Luckily it was a very calm sea and so a smooth crossing and they coped with it very well. It was 10 hours so we docked at about 8 in the morning.

Of course, having got on last we were at the back but luckily our row went first so we didn't have to stand in the fumes for long, although the horses were very good with all these huge lorries starting their engines; we walked them up the ramp and out into the daylight, luckily the first thing we saw was a lovely patch of green grass over by the fence so we headed straight for it and tethered the horses while we carried all the stuff out of the ship. It was lovely for them to be able to eat some grass and get their breath in fresh air. After such a journey we let them rest for an hour and they stuffed themselves.

Of course we were faced with the prospect of getting them to the Conaf place - no lorry now - it had been going to drop us off there but all the lorries were full and left so we were on our own; we'd been told it was only 3 kms away so thought we'd better start walking - we had no choice! Poor Salsa on her sore foot; we walked out of the quiet dock and were amazed at how big a city it was. There were buses and taxis everywhere, a very busy street. We ended up walking along the pavement most of the way, Pádraig led Salsa first, her being the bravest and then I came behind with Rupert and Alazán, both being led - they feel much more secure when we lead them and after getting on that ship and the lorry, we thought they'd follow us anywhere.

We got stared at a lot in these streets; it turned out to be about 5 kms but brave little Salsa managed - we went steady for her. We had to walk up a very narrow pavement next to a busy dual carriageway; it was getting higher above the road, a couple of people were walking passed and one climbed up on the wall, there was no room, the other man went on the outside of us and had to duck to get under the pack. Luckily no-one moved as he'd have been knocked off! We reached the end of the pavement and guess what - a flight of steps! Horses can't climb stairs! But with no choice we led them up the steps and bless them they followed like little lambs; it was quite a climb with a turn in the middle. We made it to the top at last and after that it was fairly plain sailing and we arrived at the Conaf headquarters and moved the horses in and very luckily for us, us too!

We stayed 3 weeks and they didn't want anything for it - phew - it would have cost a fair bit if we'd had to stay somewhere and it was great to be so close to the horses.

From here on, you should have a letter for I sent one to Adrian about our stay and the big one with this is the story from Puerto Montt on.

I am finishing this letter in a town called Coñaripe, it's near Villarrica and today we are going to catch a bus and collect our post - I am so looking forward to it. I will post these letters there the latest film - certificado - so it doesn't get lost again.

We left the saw mill and our new family on the 1st August - sad to leave they were so good to us for 5 days; we tried again and this time could cross the river - much less water so made it at last - 2 days later we are here! I tried to ring Mum but heard Pádraig's voice on the ansaphone - great! It wasn't possible to ring direct, only through the Operator. Jolly expensive; I'll ring today from Villarricca - we (and the horses) are all fine - I'll start another letter soon.

Tons of love to you all

Kate

xxxxxxx

Copyright ©2001 Adrian M Wadley. All Rights Reserved. South America photographs, letters and text used with permission and copyright ©Kate and Padraig Queally 1997-1998. All Rights Reserved.