Dolores to Mercedes

Dolores to Mercedes was a short trip – just a little under 40km – so I took it easy. Nevertheless, I got up early again, and had some nice breakfast at the hotel, and set off at about 8:30am, again fully loaded with in total 3.5l of water (of which this time I used less than 0.75l).

I set off from Dolores on Ruta 21, and this time there were no clouds, so it was much hotter. The wind helped a bit to cool me down, but the sun did burn much stronger, even that early in the morning. As I knew I had a short trip, I took it easy. The road went a lot through agricultural land – partly wheat, partly other crop – and I had the feeling the gentle hills were slightly higher than before. Also, there was more traffic – maybe not in total, but there were more trucks, and I had to get onto the side of the road a bit more often. I was glad I got mirrors on my handlebars in summer, as these allowed me to spot a truck coming from behind when I saw traffic coming from the front – which gave me time to get onto the side of the road early and safely.

I arrived in Mercedes early, at about 11am, as expected. I rested a bit, and then found a nice cafe on the rambla – the riverside, where I had some mineral water and a coffee (and which had Wifi too, so I did some email). I then went to the camping site, which is also on the shore of the Rio Negro, and I found myself a nice place in the shadow of a big tree. I ate my lunch – food I bought the day before – before I set up my tent, and then I went for a quick swim in the Rio Negro, to cool down a little.

Now I am sitting at a table in the shadow, writing emails and this blog post (which I will only be able to send/upload later), and charging my phone and my laptop from my solar charger. There certainly has been no lack of sun on the last few days...