Finishing packing was actually a little easier than I thought it would be. It should have been, since I was now able to use two bags instead of one. My wife and children were joining me in Buenos Aries and we were going to do some touring during the next 12 days. The problem was that on domestic flights in Argentina luggage weight was limited to 30 lbs., instead of the 50 lbs. I was allowed only one carry-on item, not the carry on and a personal item I was allowed on the international flight. That meant I had to shed 20 lbs. of extra gear and one carry-on bag. My solution was to pack a smaller cloth suitcase in my original bag. All I had to do was pack my hunting gear and the extra carry-on bag in the extra bag and let one of my buddies take it back to the U.S. for me. The tricky part was not to put anything in the “back to the U.S.” bag that I would need for my extended stay in Argentina. I finally figured it all out and got the last odds and ends taken care of about 7:00 am. Breakfast was not until 7:30, so I headed back for another cup of coffee.
We were to get our final bill and then straighten out any differences at breakfast. I looked mine over while I worked on the second cup of coffee. I had shot 1675 shells and taken 844 birds. I had prepaid for 2000 shells, worth $1040, but because I screwed up something else, part of my shell money went to that and I was left with $870 in my shell account. It turned out that the cost of 1675 shells is $871. Talk about living right. I could not believe my luck. I thought I would have to pay some extra because of my clerical error, but $1.00 was better than I hoped for. The best part of the whole thing was that Jose’s tally sheet let me know I had accomplished a personal goal. I wanted to shoot over 50% for the trip, and I shot 50.04%. I am not a great shot on doves, but I was most happy with my numbers. I will not say how the rest of the group shot (it was actually pretty close), but I shot fewer shells and took more birds than anyone else. I don’t really like talking about myself but I was happy with my performance.
Breakfast was good, but the fact that we were leaving shortly seemed to leave it lacking in some form. With all of the rain, the dry, dusty road had turned into a quagmire that was the equivalent of trying to drive on a piece of greased glass. It was that slick. The bus driver would not be able to get to the lodge, so we had to pile into 4WD vehicles for the ride up to the paved road. Our travel luck was starting to improve and our driver pulled up less than a minute after we made it to the paved road. It took only a few minutes to transfer our luggage, say our goodbyes, and climb aboard the van. With the closing of the door, it was back to Buenos Aries and civilization.
