Road Trip Argentina

Upon arriving in Argentina, we had a quick visit to La Plata to do our paperwork, and then spent 2 weeks in Buenos Aires. Following that, we moved the boat to a place called Tigre, where we left it and hired a car and drove around the country for 5 weeks. This is an account of our Road Trip around Argentina, including our 3 weeks in the beautiful Bariloche. I have skipped a recount of Buenos Aires, which will still follow. This account is from when we left the boat in Tigre until our return 5 weeks later.

Road Trip Argentina - Tigre, Buenos Aires to Mendoza (1200km)

We left Tigre Buenos Aires at 2pm after an epic session of packing the car. The epic was more to do with the fact that there was no water in the river where we had parked the boat. We woke up to see that just about all the water had departed. From where we are moored, it is 100 metres to the club jetty, then across the Rio Lujan to Tigre town is about another 400 metres or so. Normally the lancha (launch)and Pablo arrive from the club comes and picks you up from the boat, and then drops you off at either at the club or on the other side of the river in town.

So Andrew had to paddle our leaking dinghy to the club (the water was about one foot deep – so no wonder the lancha could not get to us), borrow a canoe, and paddle the bags across to the club one by one until finally, after about 6 trips, us , and all of our luggage were ready to catch the lancha across the river to pack the car. What a palaver! All in a days living on a boat I guess! The other challenge was we were not very sure if we would fit into the car with all our luggage, but somehow Mum and Rupert performed a magic trick, and with 2 bags lashed to the roof with spare rope we were off.
Our next challenge was leaving Tigre itself! The roads are bad, but the signposting is appalling. Actually, that is not true, it would have to be there to be appalling; in most cases, it is just non-existent, which makes for very interesting navigating. Generally one spots a road, and tries to find it on the map, which may or may not happen, and then tries to find the next road marking that may give you some sort of idea which way to turn. A lot of road navigation has to do with the sun, and you just try and tend in the direction you are ultimately hoping to go, and you may or may not find the main Ruta you are looking for. Alternatively you are compelled into taking a desvio (diversion) for roadworks and seeing another, sometimes interesting, or sometimes not – part of town! Of course there is the option of hiring a GPS with the car, but that would take all the fun out of it now wouldn’t it ;-). So after an hour and a half, we finally stumbled upon the highway, after doing a grand total of 65 kilometres.

The countryside out of Buenos Aires is completely flat, and as well as the enormous beef herds, there are small pieces of land that are filled with all sorts of live stock – donkeys; fat, enormous pigs; and hundreds and hundreds of horses of all types. If we ended up living in Argentina, I would love to breed and school children’s ponies and send them to the UK. There just seem to be hundreds and hundreds of exactly the type of pony that people are always battling to find – steady, sound, strong boned, reliable, and good looking. If anyone is wondering where all those ponies are, they are right here!

Driving across the country, there is a random enormous billboard advertising the Alas Hotel – rather apt.

A big old Mercedes bus was parked by the side of the road for sale – looks perfect for us if we decided to trade in the boat and go for the land based travel option!!

In the dusk last night there were hundreds and hundreds of birds flying in to roost. I have never seen so many birds in the sky at one time, fantastic against the setting sun and dark silhouettes of the bare branches of the winter trees.

We stayed in a place called Junin the first night in a rather fancy hotel – of the same ilk as the South African (or rather worldwide I guess) Holiday Inn. Very reasonable, for all 4 of us, it was 500 pesos, which is R1000 and includes breakfast. A little more than we were planning on spending every night, but as it was the first time we had been in a hotel for 7 months, we thought we would treat ourselves. Lucy thought it was Christmas, space to run around in, especially after being cooped up in a car seat all day, and even better a telephone to play with all of her own – luckily we could unplug it, otherwise I think reception would have been quite busy keeping up with Lucy. She has been extraordinarily good in the car, with very little fuss, although she definitely has an ongoing entertainer, who tries to keep her interested in games of building blocks, colouring, roaring lions, galloping horses and “dugga-dugging” cars! Then if all else fails, ipods, cellphones and the ever entertaining duo of Peppa Pig and Shaun the Sheep DVDs normally do the trick. Thank goodness, as we were not at all sure how she was going to cope with being in the car, and if she was going to put up with being strapped in the car seat for hours on end, but thankfully, she seems to be taking it all in her stride.The next day, after leaving Junin and after driving for about half an hour, we have crossed some salt pans with the most extraordinary bright pink flamingos – hundreds and hundreds of them in the morning sunlight with iridescent pink wings – what a lovely way to start the morning.

Lots of Estancia Chica’s (small farms) full of shining fat herds of cows. Peculiar little houses tucked away in small groves of trees, one we have just driven past was 3 little pink A – frames in white and rust brick. Scores of birds, in particular small birds of prey, mostly unidentifiable.

The Ruta 7 that we are traveling on is one of 2 main routes across the country from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, we chose this route as apparently it has less truck traffic. The other route must be horrific, as this route is not a very wide road at all, and has a lot of truck traffic, and they are not small trucks, they are big 16 wheel or more, many with trailers. Thank goodness the car we have hired is up to the job, a little Ford Ecosport, which has a nice wide wheel base so is firm on the road, which is really important when you have to deal with crosswinds after every truck. We are only traveling during the day, as the night, the roads are far too dangerous, and also of course for Lucy’s sake.

The landscape so far is remarkable in its’ unremarkableness!It is completely flat, and just goes on forever, in saying that – we have just driven past an Estancia called La Differencia – although I am not sure what exactly that Difference would be!

The side of the road is dotted with various truck stops, many of the home grown parilla (braai or barbeque) variety, though I am not sure if I would really want to eat a choripan (boerie-roll) from any of them!

The road crosses more salt flats, absolutely amazing, hundreds more flamingos, storks, huge birds of prey – unfortunately, we cannot stop, as the road has barriers alongside, no verge, and no viewing places! I guess we will have to make do with fleeting shots through the window.

For lunch we came upon the most unexpected Parillada, there were lots of cars parked outside, which is always a good sign, and we went into a wonderful, old restaurant with a roaring parilla in the centre and a very amenable salad bar. The owner who came and served us was extremely friendly, and when brought our order of drinks, we were slightly amazed. We had asked for a agua sin gas (water no gas), agua con gas (water with gas), a pepsi and a cerveza (beer). What arrived was a litre and a half of each, alongside my agua con gas, which was an old soda siphon, complete with little tap to decant my glass of agua – absolutely brilliant. The food was excellent, and we all were ready for the road ahead to Mendoza with full stomachs.

Driving into the province of Mendoza, we drove through a state border control post and were welcomed by a 5 minute onslaught from a local tout trying to sell us a room at his hotel. This all happened about 5 metres before the official security check, who looked on while the tout spent about 5 minutes expounding upon the merits of his particular hotel, while the queue of traffic piled up behind us. I guess maybe there is some sort of mutual gratuity between the 2 parties. When our tout had finished his presentation, we drove through the security and then finally through a ‘De-insectacion’ for the vehicle, so I guess they are not too keen on bringing other Argentinian bugs into this province. Understandable, as this is the province of ‘Sol y Vino’ – or Sun and Wine, and I should think that protecting the precious vines from any dreaded lurgies that may come into the province on wheels is very important.

The landscape changes again and the vineyards became the prominent feature, looking very similar to the winelands at home in winter, very brown and dormant.

In Mendoza, we decided upon the Hotel Argentino (there is one in every town, though they are not a chain), which is on the main Plaza Independencia (of which there is also one in every town), which is just off Avenida Sarmiento (which of course, there is also one in every town, along with 9 Julio and 25 Mayo!) The Plaza is magnificent, with an incredible floodlit fountain, park benches, huge old trees and a night time market that add to the ambience that bring lovers and families alike to spend their time.

We spent 2 nights in Mendoza, which gave us a day to make use of. We decided to drive into the Andes and see if we could reach the snowline and hopefully even get a glimpse of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of Asia. Once we had finally found the road after a dozen or so false starts, we made our way though a nature reserve up a very narrow, dirt mountain pass.

It was definitely the scenic route, as the thin dirt road wended its’ way upward, soaring birds of prey, isolated retreats and herds of lamas looking out from the hilltops.
The views were spectacular. In the distance the snow covered peaks of the Andes still beckoned. We kept going upwards, gaining height quickly, easy to tell when we got out the car, as we were puffing for breath after even a short walk due to the altitude.We kept driving, passing a site with a Darwin memorial, (it was here that he discovered the araucaria tree, or monkey puzzle).We were wondering if we would ever get to the top of the pass, when we drove over a small rise and all gasped in simultaneous awe as our vision was filled with snow covered mountains as far as the eye could see.Absolutely flabbergasting views. The vista that you see in books and go – “oh wow”, and then you see them with your own eyes, you realize why you travel, because the pictures you see in the coffee table books can never be felt, however good the photographer.

So we then spent the rest of the day driving through the most magnificent mountain range, covered in snow, stopping to drink in the vistas, and to refuel our bodies with glorious hot chocolate.Driving up through the snow covered mountains, the snow getting thicker beside the road every kilometre, it was unbelievable to see the Andes in their snow covered glory at such close quarters. The pass travels through to the Chilean border, but we stopped short of that at the viewing point for Aconcagua, but unfortunately, we could only see the snow blowing off the top, as the weather was covering the mountain.On the way down the pass, we passed the line of trucks awaiting the trip across the Andes into Chile, it looked like the pass had been closed as the line of trucks stretched for 5 km, I have never seen so many stationary trucks in my life!

Road Trip Argentina – Mendoza – Bariloche (1200km)

After leaving Mendoza, our next stop was Chos Malaal, which was an epic 750km into Patagonia on the “mystical” (according to the Lonely Planet) Ruta 40. A lot of the road is gravel, and not particularly great gravel, filled with holes, ruts, corrugations and loose stone. An amazing days’ journey, spectacular, mind opening, landscapes ready to fill the spaces in the imagination of years of what Patagonia really looks like.

One contemplates with awe this land being concertinaed into the hills and mountains over the years. It is difficult to imagine the time period though, as it looks like it happened over night!

The landscape is littered with extinct volcanoes, and apparently we have driven past some hot springs that emerge at the volcanoes foot, but we missed the turnoff.

It is so easy to imagine the dinosaurs roaming here, you can just see a clutch of baby dinosaurs hatching out of their eggs that have been buried in the side of a mountain, finally being exposed to the sun as the piece of earth surrounding then is eroded, and they emerge, blinking, shaking off a few stones and dust and trot off, as if no time had passed at all.

Gauchos (cowboys) are seen intermittently riding across the landscape, sometimes alone, sometimes with packs of dogs, and sometimes with their herds/flocks of sheep, goats, lamas or horses. Looking every part like one imagines, with cowboy style hat, big comfortable leather saddles, warm layers of lama wool clothing and leather coats, boots and sun baked faces.

Then you come upon a random set of railway bridge pieces piled up by the side of the road – used, or never put to use, who is to know.

We left Chos Malal for Bariloche, so we have another day of remarkable scenery to look forward to. The scenery is again breathtaking. The striations running through the hills literally reach across the entire landscape. The folds in the hills look like icing on a cake but the colours are of the earth. Brown, green, ochre, red and every colour inbetween. There are rock faces that have been created where entire hills have been blown away by the harsh winds that blow here incessantly.

We are finally into the last 100 kilometres of the trip, and it is difficult to imagine the pictures of Bariloche being so close, as the landscape gives nothing away yet. Then the hills start to roll, and the cliffs appear. And we drive into a valley that takes your breathe away, even though all we want to do is get there now, we stop for the obligatory photo opportunity, though in hindsight if we had any idea of what we were still going to see, I think we probably would not have bothered with the stop!It is really cold, and it has just started to rain, there is snow lying on the sides of the road, and the wind is blowing strongly. Bbrrr, but very very beautiful.

When we drove into Bariloche, we drove straight up to the ski resort, which was really amazing to look at, snow on the sides of the roads as we got closer to Cerro Catedral, the trees dripping white – all looking very optimistic for a good skiing holiday. Unfortunately, that was the best snow we were to see while we were in Bariloche. The existing snow melted as every day we waited for more to fall. We were hoping to learn our new skills on the lower slopes of the mountain, on the cheap snow, but the only snow we were to see while we were in Bariloche was on the high peaks, which we eventually went to find after a week of frustration.

Nordic Skiing

While we were waiting for the snow to arrive on Cerro Catedral, we investigated some of the smaller surrounding mountains, the closest and most interesting, along with easily accessible was Cerro Otto, set just behind our cabanas. It was a short trip up to the top where we found the most charming log cabin which was the home base for the centre of Nordic (or cross-country) skiing – most curious indeed. So in the absence of the snow that we so desperately wanted to fall, we took advantage of what was lying on the ground and signed up for a lesson with our Ukrainian ski instructor Valerie.Nordic skiing is another name for cross country skiing, you may have seen it at the winter Olympics…. It looks like running on snow – well, that is what it is supposed to look like anyhow. I think it is quite likely that we looked quite different from that! – with Nordic skiing, unlike conventional downhill skiing, you have only a very thin ski, and no supportive boots, only a thin pair of leather boots perched on top, with a very simple toe clip. The result of this is of course, that you are far more precariously perched on top. And while with downhill skiing, once you have the basic skill, falling forward or sideways is quite difficult,

With Nordic skiing, falling anyway anyhow is pretty much standard! We had a great time with our ski instructor, who was very patient with our crew with their various levels of competency, with Andrew and Rupert leaping off snow banks by the end of the afternoon, while my Mom and I went for the glorious hot chocolate option in the cozy log cabin after tiring of falling on our derrieres, amongst other bits of our anatomy – yet again!

The surrounds of Bariloche are just too glorious to be real, as the evergreen forests fall into melt water lakes, with yellow reeds at the water’s edge just adding to the picture postcard feel (actually there are a few sets of postcards here, it is really just too much for words to describe).
The views physically leave you breathless, which I have only experienced a few times in my life before – and it is then normally once, not around every corner. We took many day excursions to the areas surrounding Bariloche: Villa de Angostura, El Bolson, Mount Tronador in the protected part of the Nahuel Huapi National Park, and the extraordinary Llao Llao Hotel.

Skiing

Our skiing was interesting to say the least – not quite what we had in mind when we first thought about skiing in Bariloche.

We were there for 3 weeks and it snowed once, then just after we left it snowed hugely! Anyhow – we tried to make the best of it!The boys decided to go the snowboarding route and chose after seeing the prices of the lessons that they did not need lessons and were just going to download some instructions off the internet. This in true Andrew style was massively entertaining as we watched him try and read a printed off sheet while trying to snowboard down a mountain.
Well not quite that bad, but not far off. But in more true Andrew style, both Rupe and Andrew got the hang of things pretty quickly, though not without falling with that snowboard at least 100 times a piece! Mum and I decided to go the ski route, and we decided to pay the price and went for a couple of lessons, which were very helpful. The problem was that as there had been no new snow, all the baby slopes were very icy and pretty slippery, and of course absolutely packed, as there were only a very few at the top of the mountain.

We decided on our last day (after just a couple of days of feeling vaguely competent that we should at least try to ski down the mountain once – this was completely terrifying, as the first part of the slopes were all icy, and by the time we got there, getting worse as it was later in the afternoon! I went down quite a lot of that on my bottom! Once we got to the contour path, the going was much more in my comfort zone, and I absolutely loved coming down. I was pretty disappointed that we did not manage to do more skiing, but I guess it just means we will have to go back!

Villa de Angostura

Smaller than Bariloche, Angostura is the ‘smart end of town’ full of wooden buildings of all shape and description. The general architecture gives you a feeling of being somewhere in the swiss alps, not southern Argentina. We did not stop in the village itself, but drove down to the small port. It was really cold so we decided to enjoy the surroundings from inside a little family run restaurant we found, nestled under the trees.

The fare we sampled was excellent, the best hot chocolate we have tried yet, Andrew enjoyed a guiso – which is a type of local stew with lentils and meat – proper cold weather food. I had the most excellent trucha al limon (there are lots of trout hatcheries around this area), and Mum had a type of shepherds pie thingy. The food did not disappoint, and we all went away with nice full bellies!

Hotel Llao Llao

We visited an amazing old hotel, that is was really like something from another era altogether – well I suppose that is exactly what it is!
You walk in the door and two classic dog bronzes welcome you in the entrance hall, their heads polished by hands greeting them with a rub.

You walk down a wide staircase, with brass carpet rods keeping them in place. Huge antler chandeliers bedecked the double volume ceilings and the reindeer covered highbacked chairs decorated the tea room, awaiting our visit. The hotel also had a window that looked out on Mount Tronador, the largest peak in the area. The architect having framed the mountain perfectly with a huge window looking out from one of the many restaurants in the hotel.
We enjoyed a late afternoon tea and scones while Lucy became best friends with the 2 brass dogs, and kept giving them big hugs and kisses!

Nahuel Huapi National Park

Today we took a drive to the Nahuel Hapi National Park, the views were again extraordinary, it becomes very difficult not to become blasé when day after day you see new sights of possibly the most beautiful landscapes you have seen in your whole life.Well today was definitely another day of wow, I have never seen landscapes like this before today. The lakes of melt water that surround this area (there are dozens), are so crystal clear, the colour of the lakes is an aquamarine, teal blue, depending of course on the sunlight and the way the wind is blowing, and if there are clouds or mountains casting their shadows across the water. The forests have been there since the dinosaurs, and look like something out of Lord of the Rings, with huge thick evergreen forests stretching on and on, the rocks covered with moss and trees draped with lichen.

The sun shining through the canopy and catching the shiny side of the leaves, casting shadows that make you believe that around the next corner you will find a pixie skipping across the road. It is just jaw droppingly beautiful, and leaves that wondrous feeling of awe, that makes you just want to stop and look at the view all day.

Chocolate

Bariloche is well known for it's chocolate, and with good reason. There are chocolate shops everywhere and hot chocolate to die for, rich, and creamy, it really just tastes like liquid chocolate instead of chocolate powder and water which is the normal case. We of course had to go on a chocolate crawl, and managed to visit 5 chocolate shops one day before crawling home with our loot. This was what we ended up with each, and no, none of us managed to finish our plates the first sitting!

Road Trip Argentina - Bariloche to Peninsula Valdes (1000km)

We leave Bariloche, and are heading for the Atlantic ocean. Our destination is Puerto Madryn National Park to see whales and sea lions. The first day’s trip was through the mountains, icy passes and clear mountain rivers and streams. The winter colours are remarkable in their richness, the rose hips and berries adding red and orange highlights to the palette of autumn colours that painted our views.The extreme temperatures that the roads endure clearly take their toll, with constant road maintenance not being a sufficient stem to rapid deterioration. A boulder tumbled across the road to remind us who was here first! We stopped for supper at a small town called El Bolson, and then headed on to Esquel to find some basic beds to rest on before the 700km across Patagonia that we had planned for the next day.

Driving across a huge valley with a wide river running through it. We are driving down one side, and close to the eroded rock faces that look just like castle walls, as the lower layers of softer rock have been blown away by the winds, leaving the tops remaining as turrets. The river brings life back to the wind swept landscape, and Poplar and Willow trees hug the banks and drape their branches into the water. Ponies of all sizes and colours graze along with cattle and sheep, with some new, early lambs playing ….

The region is obviously known for it’s geology and variation of rock types, as we have passed various signs advertising rocks of the area for sale.

The size of the landscape is completely mind blowing, as we drive on for hours, and it just goes on and on and on, and just changes again and again, which is difficult to believe, as you kind of think, oh well I have seen it all, and then you go around the corner, and you are faced with a pink cliff of rock, with the sunlight bringing out all the colour, and you just blink, not believing there are more new things for you to see.

The rock changes again, and the striations run vertically, covered in green oxidised copper, creating hundreds of towers of rock. Lamas scattered at the feet, browsing the Patagonian shrubbery for berries and tasty treats.

The local specialities of ciervo (deer), jabali (wild boar), trucha (trout) and Patagonian cordero (lamb), are served in many restaurants. The taste of the Patagonian vegetation is apparent in every mouthful of succulent lamb that melts in your mouth.

Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdes

We arrived in Puerto Madryn and were immediately met by whales in the bay, which boded well for our visit there. We drove through from Puerto Madryn into the Peninsula Valdes Reserve, and booked ourselves into a rather larney hotel called La Restinga. The only hotel right on the beach. We could see the whales breaching while we got dressed in the morning, and while drinking our coffee. Life could be worse!

We drove around the Peninsula, which is much larger than one envisages in search of elephant seals and orcas, but rather sadly it seemed like we had planned our visit just a couple of weeks too soon. The elephant seals, which number in their thousands when they arrive in August, were nowhere to be seen, just a single, solitary animal, holding the fort until the others arrived back to breed in the season. The orcas where a similar story, the closest we got to a viewing was the page of calendar that the park ranger tore out of his February calendar to give to Lucy which noted the Orca sitings for last February!!

We were not to be put off, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the rheas, maras and guanacosin their natural environment, and were determined to make the most of the whales that were teeming in the bay. The following day we went out with one of the local whale watching companies and had a wonderful morning watching these gentle animals at such close quarters. Even though we get to see a lot of whales back home in South Africa, they are just impossible to tire of, watching them play and court in the waters around the boat, knowing that with just one flick, they could easily overturn your 10 metre boat with all its’ occupants, certainly adds an edge to the experience.Of course, they never do, as they are such very gentle giants, and don’t seem the slightest bit interested in us which adds even more to their magical charm.

Road Trip Argentina - Peninsula Valdes to Buenos Aires (1300km)

We were now in the home stretch, and there was not much to stop us trying to get back with as little stopping as possible. We did find one interesting town, where we stopped over en route back – which was a place called Las Grutas – or The Caves. This is a place on the coast where the sea has created caves in the cliffs at the back of the beach which are a perfect habitat for a particular type of parrot. Flocks of this noisy and colourful birds came into roost as we enjoyed the last of the light. A pod of dusky dolphins playing in the surf added to the ambience of the walk along the beach, and amazing man made pools reflected the setting sun.This was the only really interesting place on this home stretch drive, and other than sleepy towns and lots of trucks, we were all keen to get back to the boat and to see if we would be able to dig our way out of the mud at Tigre Sailing Club!