The Transmongolian

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

There and Back Again


Perito Merino Glacier - El Calafate

We were happy to have a few days to relax in Ushuaia and some time off driving.  Ushuaia is characterised by bad weather and cloudy skies - however it would typically only rain for a couple of hours a day and the rain was never heavy.  So while we were there we went on a 4x4 adventure - which involved impressive 4x4 off-roading, a nature tour identifying beaver dams (beavers are a real pest in Tierra del Fuego), a boat trip across the lake and an Argentinian BBQ for lunch.  

The BBQ was our first real Argentinian BBQ since we had arrived in the country.  We were suitably impressed.  Sausages, steaks, ribs, rump and tenderloin is slowly cooked over charcoal embers whilst being generously seasoned with salt.  The meal is pretty much just meat.  Sure, there is a token salad and a piece of bread, but this is merely an opportunity to refresh ones taste buds between the massive servings of meat.  According to our guide, Argentinian’s will cater 500g of meat for every person at the BBQ.  Of course this allows some people, like me, to enjoy the share of those who can’t quite finish their 500g.  2 hours later, after over 1kg of meat had been devoured, multiple pieces of bread consumed and the odd bit of salad tasted - we sleepily made our way back to our accommodation in Ushuaia.  
Beaver Dams - beavers are a real pest
A tree in the process of being felled by Beavers
4x4 boat trip - really cold!  
Beagle Channel
The following day was a half day tour through the beagle channel - a slim channel of water that boats can navigate between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through.  On the other side is the last island of South America before 1,000km of ocean to Antarctica.  The weather wasn’t exactly playing ball, but the water was calm enough for us to enjoy the wildlife, which included massive South American sealions - far more substantial than anything we saw on the Galapagos and Comorant birds - and the channel’s dramatic scenery including the lighthouse at the end of the world.
Massive South America sea lions - a male surrounded by his harem!

Lighthouse at the end of the world


An afternoon off and we were back in the vehicle early the next day with the goal of driving to El Calafate, which sits close to the Argentina / Chile border at the foot of the Andes, over 900km away.  Progress was slow, the border crossings were very busy and incredibly time consuming as we approached them in the middle of the day.  We arrived at the barge just after it had left leaving us to wait almost an hour before a rocky crossing back to the mainland and then we started running desperately low on petrol AND experiencing engine overheating problems!  ARGH!  
Although one tank of gas had been sufficient to get us from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia, it would seem that the substantial headwinds cut into our fuel efficiency and the final 50km to Rio Gallegos were an anxious drive against the petrol light clock.  Although we figured we would probably make it, the anxiety was certainly not assisted by the temperature light warnings flaring every time the car was stopped at an intersection.  We did finally make it to the petrol station, topped up the water and fortunately the final 300km from Rio Gallegos to El Calafate were uneventful and easy.  
El Calafate is great.  The town is very picturesque, on the edge of the Andean mountain range with snow capped mountains, turquoise lakes and modern pretty buildings.  Sure, its a predominantly tourist town, but with that comes all the luxuries including great restaurants, accommodation options and chocolate shops!  Without the budget for the great restaurants and accommodation we satisfied ourselves by walking the clean and pretty streets and savouring the atmosphere.  
A very small ice fall
We made our way to the Perito Merino glacier for which El Calafate is most famous at about lunchtime the following day.  The glacier certainly lives up to the hype.  It is absolutely massive, the face of it supposedly spanning some 6km and the viewing platforms are brand new, easy to walk across and offer great vantage spots and protection from the elements (if desired).  We overheard a guide explaining to her tourists that the glacier advances an impressive 1.5m a day which makes for some great activity.  Slabs of ice, ranging from something about the size of a tennis ball to those as big as a house regularly break free of the glacier creating an absolutely thundering roar as the noise echoes and seems to be amplified by the glacier itself.  Watching the glacier calve off even small chunks of ice was absolutely addictive.  The carrot of achieving that ‘amazing photograph’ kept me spellbound for hours, but regrettably the larger ice falls were either enjoyed sans camera, spotted from a distance where the camera wouldn’t capture in any great detail or only heard.  
Perito Merino Glacier
We were thrilled with our day at the glacier and could easily have gone back but for a demanding schedule requiring us to continue to move to our next destination.  
The following day was by far the most frustrating and possibly worst day of the trip.  It began with a mistake made in ignorance and partially due to stinginess.  Requiring petrol the petrol station that we pulled into didn’t have the ‘regular’ petrol, but only the ‘premium’ petrol which is a full peso per litre more (or about NZ$17 for a full tank).  Annoyed at having to pay above the odds for nothing we put in a token amount (about 10 litres worth) and decided to find another petrol station as we headed out of town.  What we didn’t quite appreciate was that there wasn’t going to be another petrol station as we headed out of town.  Consulting the GPS, the map and the guidebook we decided that we would simply have to fill up at the next town, some 150km away and pay their price regardless.  An hour and a half later we arrived in Tres Lagos and after finally finding the petrol station (it was more difficult than we had expected, with the entire building hidden behind a large rock on the way into town) we were met by an incredibly unhelpful person who informed us that they were out of petrol and they weren’t getting any more until Friday (today was Wednesday).  “Otra?” we said (‘other’ in Spanish).  She smiled a stupid smile and said we could either go back to El Calafate or to El Chaten.  Well shit.  We were down to just a notch over the red line (where the ominous petrol light turns on).  
In our previous petrol shortage situations we had actually managed to find out in the user guide that the car has 8 litres of petrol when the light goes on.  Much to our dismay, less than 10km back down the road and the light went on.  A further 15km down the road and we were forced to make a choice - its 120km to El Calafate or 90km to El Chatlen.  We knew we could go back to El Calafate and get gas, but we would never make it 135km with the petrol light on (those of you who know me well will not be too surprised to hear that I had previously calculated the petrol efficiency of the car, which ranged between 7.2L and 8.0L / 100km.  Even at 7.2L/100km we didn’t have enough for El Calafate), but I figured we might just have enough for El Chatlen.  
So, driving in 5th gear at between 70km and 80km an hour we nervously held our breath for over an hour waiting for what we felt would be an inevitable stall of the engine.  The petrol line went to full empty more than 50km before our destination and we both accepted that one of us would have to hitch into town, by a gerry-can, fill it, return to the car and put that petrol in before finally getting into town.  
We cursed the headwind that constantly afflicted us, we cursed the uphill climb and corners leading into the city and we cursed our own stupidity for having gotten into this mess in the first place.  We cursed the country for not having more petrol stations and not having regular - why oh why didn’t they just have regular to begin with??  But the scenery was absolutely stunning.  We were driving towards the white capped mountains Andes mountains with a massive turquoise lake on the left and a glacier in the far distance with an ice trail from the lake all the way back up into the mountain range.  El Chatlen sits at the base of Mount Fitz Roy, a massive sheer mountain with a face so steep even snow doesn’t cling to it, came in and out of view as clouds passed.  Still the little car kept going, still we kept hoping until we finally came over the crest of a hill to see the little village of El Chatlen below.  We nearly jumped for joy - overcome with such relief that we could probably even coast there now if we had to.  
The petrol station was tiny.  And gas was much more than it had been back in El Calafate.  Our mistake was to be a costly one also, but not as bad as it could have been thankfully.  However, arriving at the petrol station, we saw no one there.  Surely they can’t also be out of petrol, we thought.  That would be true disaster.  It was attended, but with a catch, we could only get 150 pesos worth of fuel - that’s about 20L or about enough to get us back to El Calafate, about 230km away.  Jen stepped in with her superior Spanish and good temper in frustrating situations.  “Senorita” she said “we require more petrol, the petrol station at Tres Lagos doesn’t have any gas and we are heading north”.  Mercifully the dour attendant took pity on the stupid foreigners and gave us two days worth of fuel.  
El Chatlen at the base of Mount Fitz Roy - a sight for sore eyes!
With a 3/4 full tank we drove back out of town and ate lunch overlooking the town and the mountain.  At 3pm we started back to the junction and to make our way north.  We were well behind schedule and unfortunately things didn’t improve as we met Highway 40 which follows the Andean mountains north.  An absolutely massive road upgrade project is taking place where hundreds of kilometres of gravel road are being paved.  People work around the clock creating new roads, and although fantastic when it will be finished, in the interim it meant hundreds of kilometres of diversions along very poor gravel roads which have been temporarily constructed for the period of the work.  
The next town with petrol on our intended route was over 500km from where we filled up in El Chatlen, and with only 3/4 of a tank it was going to be tight once again.  Reluctant to chance our luck we make a further 70km diversion to a small town inland from the Andean mountains to top up our fuel supplies before resuming our northbound path.  
It wasn’t until 9.30pm that night when, with the sun setting, we decided to call it a night and to find a good secluded place to park the car and put up the tent.  The weather was cold and we were both freezing in our tent despite wearing clothes and adding blankets and unused clothes on top of our sleeping bags.  But we managed a fairly good nights sleep before once again jumping in the car and continuing north.  After a very long day’s drive we had finally caught up to where we had hoped to be after two days of driving, a small town called Esquel, which is a skiing town in the middle of winter and accesses a number of ski resorts.  The following day was an incredibly pretty 300km drive to Bariloche.  We passed through a national park with mountains and lakes on either side of the road and wild flowers in full bloom painting the landscape in bright purples and yellows against forest greens and blue lakes.  It came as something of a surprise that Bariloche would be so unimpressive (at least for us).  The air was heavily tainted by ash from the Chilean volcano and the town was wholly unappealing.  We treated ourselves to a night in a cabana and spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying a catch up sleep before continuing north.  
We spent the next two days covering the 1,200km between Bariloche and Mendoza, Argentina’s wine capital.  Mendoza was substantially warmer with temperatures well into the 20’s and even reaching low 30’s.  We found a great little campsite which even included intermittent WiFi access and travelled to the various Bodegas (or vineyards).  Unlike what we expect back home, entrance to a Bodega is usually by appointment and always includes a tour of the winery prior to the tasting and opportunity to buy.  The necessity to make appointments, especially when the person on the other end of the line doesn’t speak English, made travelling to the wineries more frustrating than it needed to be.  However, when we did get to a winery, 2 or 3 hours would easily pass between the tour and tasting.  There’s no doubt that it was a lot of fun and the wine is both exceptional and incredibly well-priced, with top quality wine often available for around NZ$20 a bottle.  After 3 days well spent sampling the local vino’s we headed for Santa Fe, about 450km from Buenos Aires and the final port of call in our Argentinian road trip. 
Our set up - VW Fox, 2 person tent, chilli bin & food at the Mendoza campground
Vineyard owner Carmelo Patti - a real character who takes immense pride in his boutique vineyard which makes around 50,000 bottles a year
Norton, one of the largest vineyards, is stunning
Hope this sign doesn't say anything important - cause we don't have a clue!
We left Mendoza at 3pm and covered half the distance before pulling into a hotel for the night and arrived in Santa Fe at 5pm the following day.  The drive was straightforward, flat and generally busy as we were in a much more densely populated part of the country than where we had previously travelled.  In Santa Fe we stayed with the Mondino family, the family that hosted Jen’s brother Tom, for the year he was in Argentina.  They were lovely people and welcomed us with open arms inviting us immediately to cool off in their pool - which was absolutely necessary as the temperature was well into the 30’s with humidity to boot.  On the following day they treated us to not one, but two Argentinian BBQs.  We both ate so much we literally rolled into bed.  The food was fantastic, plentiful, and incredibly tasty.  It was a pity to have to leave the following morning, but we had to return the car.  
The mere 450km to Buenos Aires was knocked off before midday with an early start and motorways all the way permitting speeds of 130kmph.  In Mendoza I had managed to superglue the door handle back onto the car and we topped up the water before turning the car in and thankfully passing the inspection.  
So here we are, at the end of our trip, relaxing in the comfortable Buenos Aires weather awaiting our plane journey back home late this evening.  We’ve both really enjoyed South America - it is a fantastic continent with incredible landscapes, wildlife and culture.  Travelling through the continent is generally tourist friendly, comfortable, cheap and easy and both restaurants and accommodation cater for discerning tastes.  We would happily return to South America and perhaps the biggest disappointment is not having enough time to more fully explore the more northern countries (especially Colombia and Venezuela).  
Thor - the Mondino's family dog
Jen helping the Mondino family decorate the Xmas Tree
 We look forward to catching up with you all in the future & hope to keep in touch with our new friends that we have met along the way.  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Matthew & Jen.

2 comments:

  1. I want to take my family on your Africa trip in 2018 and your South America trip in 2020

    Or something like that. Would you mind letting me asking you a few questions?

    I am a fellow Kiwi living in Perth.

    Thanks

    Ken

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure Ken, No problem. Feel free to email me directly on matthewrmaher@gmail.com

      Regards,

      Delete


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