Argentina: Part I

Argentina Part I:

Patagonia to Ushuaia:
(14 December to 8 January 2009)

Crossing into Argentina was easier than any border crossing we have experienced. Even the pet paperwork took only 15 minutes. The actual border between Chile and Argentina is in the Andes Mountains (Figure 1 & 2). We drove immediately to San Carlos de Bariloche on the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi (Figure 3, also called Lago Bariloche).

Figure 1. The border between Chile and Argentina.

Figure 2. The pass in the Andes between Chile and Argentina.

Figure 3. Lago Nahuel Huapi defines the north side of San Carlos de Bariloche.

We spend the first two days at a nice, but uninteresting, campground a few kilometers west of Bariloche, Camping El Yeti (Figure 4). During these first two days I meet Juan Waroquieres, a fishing guide at Petunia Campground (Figure 5). He talks us into staying at the cabañas at Petunia (Figure 6). The cabañas are nice and have beautiful views (Figure 7). Juan also owns the small but excellent gourmet restaurant, Puerto Petunia (Figure 8).

Figure 4. Our camp at El Yeti.

Figure 5. My fishing guide, Juan, from Fishing Patagonia.

Figure 6. Our cabin at Petunia.

Figure 7. The view from our cabin at Puerto Petunia.

Figure 8. The Restaurant Puerto Petunia.

I hire Juan to take me trout fishing on Lago Nahuel Huapi. I am told by an expert fly fisherman that Juan is probably the best guide in Bariloche. We go for two trips, a couple of hours each on two consecutive days. The first day I catch four trout. The sizes range from 22 inches (about 2 kg, 4.5 lbs) to 24 inches (3 kg, 7 lbs). They are all rainbows, and we keep two (Figures 9 & 10). The second day Juan promises me a German brown trout. We fish for several hours and take two nice rainbows that I release. On our last pass along the north side of Peninsula San Pedro, I get a hit that really bends the rod. It is a 27 inch, 4 kg (about 9 lbs) German brown (Figures 11 & 12).

Figure 9. One of the rainbows I release, it is 22.5 inches.

Figure 10. This one, 24 inches, I keep to have smoked.

Figure 11. German brown trout, I cannot smile because it weighs so much it is hard to hold.

Figure 12. The German brown puts up a good fight.

We spend Christmas in Club Hotel Catedral, the ski resort at Bariloche. Gary and Karla meet us on the 23rd. We have a nice Christmas day dinner of trout, fondue, and Argentine wine (Figures 13 & 14).

Figure 13. Christmas dinner of trout and wine.

Figure 14. Sharon, Karla, and Gary at the fondue pot.

We leave Bariloche on 26 December to head south on famous Ruta 40 through Patagonia. The first night brings us to a small town in Patagonia called Epuyen (Figure 15). We have a nice dinner at Refugio del Lago (Figure 16).

Figure 15. Sharon and John at Lago Epuyen.

Figure 16. Gary, Karla, and Sharon at dinner in Refugio del Lago, Epuyen.

The next day, we enter Parque Nacional Los Alerces (Figure 17). It has stunning Nothofagus (southern beech) forests (Figure 18) and fine fishing, although the rainbows are small (Figure 19).

Figure 17. Parque Nacional Los Alerces.

Figure 18. Gary with fly rod in hand contemplates the southern beech forest at Los Alerces.

Figure 19. John fishing at Los Alerces, Lago Rivadiva.

Out of Los Alerces, we take Ruta 40 south in the Province of Chubut (Figure 20). The scenery looks very much like the Great Basin in north central Nevada (Figure 21). The road is paved until Rio Mayo where it turns to ripio (graded dirt) for over 500 km. We camp at two Estancias along the way south. These are working sheep/cattle ranches that also take in tourists. They are quite nice and the views are fantastic (Figures 23 to 26). Wildlife is easy to see on the estancias (Figures 27 to 32).

Figure 20. Sharon and MB on Ruta 40 out of Gobernador Costa.

Figure 21. The landscape along Basin Ruta 40 reminds one of the Great Basin in North America.

Figure 22. Ruta 40 is ripio (dirt) south of Rio Mayo.

Figure 23. Camp at Estancia Telken.

Figure 24. Estancia Tellken.

Figure 25. John at breakfast at Estancia La Angostura.

Figure 26. A view of Estancia la Angostura.

Figure 27. Crested duck at Estancia la Angostura.

Figure 28. Long-tailed meadowlark at Estancia La Angostura.

Figure 29. Black-necked swan at Estancia La Angostura.

Figure 30. Upland goose (male) at Estancia La Angostura.

Figure 31. Guanaco at Estancia Telken.

Figure 32. Lesser Rhea with chicks at Estancia Telken.

The landscape is mesmerizing as we travel Ruta 40 south (Figures 33 to 35). As we approach El Calafate and Glacier Perito Moreno, the landscape becomes more varied (Figures 36 & 37). Glacier Perito Moreno is a real tourist attraction (Figures 38 &39).

Figure 33. Landscape south of Estancia Tellken.

Figure 34. South of Estancia Tellken, Los Andes in the background.

Figure 35. Hills south of Estancia La Angostura.

Figure 36. An iceberg is visible on Lago Argentina. It was probably calved from Glacier Perito Moreno.

Figure 37. Lago Argentina west of El Calafate with Los Andes in the background.

Figure 38. Glacier Perito Moreno.

Figure 39. Glacier Perito Moreno calves.

On 2 January 2010 we leave Argentina for Chile (Figure 40). Regardless of the reason, we would have to cross into Chile in any event. This is a short diversion to see Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (Figures 41 to 43). And the park also has some spectacular wildlife (Figures 44 to 49).

Figure 40. Chilean border with Argentina, the only way into Torres del Paine (and Tierra del Fuego) without boating or flying.

Figure 41. Part of the reason for the name, "Torres del Paine".

Figure 42. Another reason for the name, Torres del Paine.

Figure 43. Salto Grande (Great Falls) at Torres del Paine.

Figure 44. Patagonian grey fox in Torres del Paine.
















Figure 45. Crested cara cara in Torres del Paine.

Figure 46. Andean Condors in Torres del Paine.

Figure 47. Guanacos in Torres del Paine.

Figure 48. White-eared grebe in Torres del Paine.

Figure 49. Flying steamer duck in Torres del Paine.

The road leads south to Puerto Natales and on to Punta Arenas where we camp for two nights (Figure 50) before taking the ferry across the Straights of Magellan (Figures 51 to 53). Of course, once on Tierra del Fuego, we had to cross back into Argentina (Figure 54). Our first night in Tierra del Fuego, we stay in the town of Rio Grande. We find a nice campground at the Club Nautica, which is a kayaking business (Figure 55 & 56). Interestingly, we meet two men from California (one from Santa Cruz) who began their trip on bicycles in 2006. They started in Deadhorse Alaska. It’s a small World.

Figure 50. Camp at Punta Arenas.

Figure 51. The ferry from Punta Arenas to Porvenir across the Straights of Magellan.

Figure 52. Crossing the Straights of Magellan.

Figure 53. The Straights of Magellan with Tierra del Fuego in the background.

Figure 54. The Argentine border in Tierra del Fuego.

Figure 55. Camp at Club Nautica in Rio Grande.

Figure 56. Sharon in the dinning room at Club Nautica.

From Rio Grande we take Ruta 3 south to Ushuaia (Figure 57). We finish the first part of Argentina in Ushuaia. This is our ultimate destination (Figures 58). It is now our objective to return home. The city of Ushuaia is the starting point for most cruises to Antarctica (Figure 59). Our camp is comfortable in Ushuaia (Figures 60 & 61) at coordinates S 54° 48.780’ X W 68° 21.102’. Gary, Karla, Sharon and I celebrate reaching the end of the driving World (Figures 62 & 63). Actually, the road continues on southwest to Lapataia at coordinates S 54° 49.873’ X W 68° 33.875’. One might be able to make the case that the road to Punta Arenas, Chile is as far south as you can drive, since you have to cross an ocean waterway (the Straights of Magellan) to get to Tierra del Fuego.

Figure 57. Tierra del Fuego, Ruta 3 to Ushuaia.

Figure 58. We are at the doorstep to Ushuaia.

Figure 59. Ships in the port at Usuaia.

Figure 60. Ushuaia campground.

Figure 61. Our camp at Ushuaia.

Figure 62. Celebrating reaching our goal with Argentine "champagne" at camp.

Figure 63. Even the car enters the celebration.

The entire trip from Deadhorse to Ushuaia included a total of 20,172 miles (32464 km). Now we will head back north. The Mercedes completed this leg of the trip with one blow-out, a worn universal joint, and one head light replaced.

Argentina Part I: Patagonia is, perhaps, the most interesting segment of our road trip (2345 miles recorded in Argentina and the detour to Torres del Paine). Ushuaia was our destination.

Chile

Chile:

A Breath of Fresh Air:

(19 November – 14 December 2009)

Our border crossing into Chile went easier than any so far. Even the pets went fast. Our first few days were spent in a campground north of Arica. Arica is a beautiful town in the desert, along the coast in northern Chile (Figure 1). We spent most of two days trying to find a place to issue the “Seguros Obligatorios” that is required. However, the first day we find all insurance offices are closed for a special holiday (“Dia del Seguros”). Then we can not find anyone who issues the vehicle insurance.

Figure 1. Street scene in Arica.

We spend the next two days driving south. We camp at a nice beach the first night (Figures 2 & 3), then a river in the desert (Figures 4 & 5). We observe some interesting wildlife (Figure 6). On the way there are several areas with ancient rock drawings or geoglyphs (Figures 7 & 8).

Figure 2. Camp at Caleta Camarones south of Arica.

Figure 3. Beach at Caleta Camarones south of Arica.

Figure 4. Camp at Rio Loa, a desert river valley.

Figure 5. Rio Loa, a desert river valley.

Figure 6. Lizard at the river camp.















Figure 7. Geoglyphs of guanacos and other animals.

Figure 8. Geoglyphs of sunburst and human.

We drive on south through the driest desert in the World, the Atacama Desert (Figure 9), and continue past the Tropic of Capricorn (Figure 10). We spend the night at Antofagasto a rather large city on the coast in northern Chile (Figure 11).

Figure 9. The Panamerican Highway in the Atacama Desert.

Figure 10. Tropic Capricorn on the Panamerican Highway just north of Antofagasta.














Figure 11. The beach at Antofagasta.

Our trip takes us through some fantastic desert in spring bloom, after all it is late November in the Southern Hemisphere (Figures 12 -15). We spend a couple of days relaxing in a resort just north of a small town called Tal Tal (Figure 16).

Figure 12. Wildflowers north of Tal Tal.














Figure 13. Copulating beetles in the desert north of Tal Tal. The spring bloom is not just for flowers.

Figure 14. Wildflower in desert north of Tal Tal.















Figure 15. More wildflowers.

Figure 16. View of the bay at Cabañas Hueso, Tal Tal, where we spent two nights.

As we travel south, the desert slowly gives way to desert scrub (Figure 17), then to chaparral (Figure 18) as we approach Santiago (Figure 19). It reminds me of California.

Figure 17. Desert Scrub between Tal Tal and Serrano.

Figure 18. Chaparral north of Santiago.














Figure 19. Panamerican Highway north of Santiago.

We spend no time in Santiago. Instead, we head south to the wine country of the Colchagua Valley near the town of Santa Cruz. We take a room for three nights in a small boutique Hotel Entre Viñas. It is a converted old hacienda, dating from the late 1800’s (Figure 20 & 21). The breakfasts were fantastic.

Figure 20. Hotel Entre Viñas at breakfast.

Figure 21. The grounds at Hotel Entre Viñas.

Our first day near Santa Cruz we visit the Vu Manent winery (Figure 22). We have lunch in their restaurant (Figures 23 & 24). The wines are good, but the Malbec is their prize (Figure 25). I liked the “Secrete” blend (Figure 26). It is 85% Malbec and 15% a secrete. It is very good.

Figure 22. Viña Viu Manent entrance to tasting and restaurant.

Figure 23. Lunch at Viña Viu Manent.


















Figure 24. Of course, wine with lunch at Viña Viu Manent.

Figure 25. Tasting the Malbec at Viu Manent.














Figure 26. Other wines are also good. This one is a “secrete” blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Malbec.

Over the next two days (29/30 November 2009) we visit several other wineries. The one we liked the best was a relatively new viña called Viña Mont Gras. We loved all of their wines (Figure 27). We tried each of their wines, and liked the Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend the best (Figures 28 - 30). We bought a bottle of each (Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend, Malbec, Carmenere, and Cabernet Sauvignon). A few days is just not enough. We will return to the wine regions of Chile.

Figure 27. Viña Mont Gras.

Figure 28. John tasting at Viña Mont Gras.














Figure 29. Tasting at Viña Mont Gras (Sharon, Karla, and host).

Figure 30. Karla and Sharon in the Viña Mont Gras sales room.

We continue south to the Lake Region in southern Chile. Gary and I want to try the trout fishing. We visit several nation parks, and I get to see my first southern beech trees (Nothofagus sp.). There are several species (Figure 31 & 32). We also see a variety of birds (Figures 33 & 34). We have several camps, but one we enjoy is at the headwaters of the Rio Bio Bio (Figure 35 & 36). We try our luck fishing, but do not even get a hit.

Figure 31. Southern beech with volcano in background on the way to Curacautín.

Figure 32. Southern beech at Los Troncas.


















Figure 33. Chimango Cara Cara in our camp at Campground Los Raudales.

Figure 34. Black Faced Ibis near our camp at Ecoparque Lemucura.














Figure 35. Sunset at our camp on Rio Bio Bio.

Figure 36. Gary setting camp on Rio Bio Bio.














We move on to Parque Nacional Congillio where there are beautiful forests of southern beech and araucaria (sometimes called monkey puzzle tree). These are quite primeval looking (Figures 37 & 38). We have a nice camp in the park very close to Lago Conguillio (Figure 39). The views are spectacular (Figures 40 – 42). We do have some luck fishing, but it is nothing to show (see us in Argentina on the next blog posting).

Figure 37. Araucaria Forest in Parque Nacional Conguillio.

Figure 38. Southern beech in Parque Nacional Congillio.


















Figure 39. Ewok in our camp at Congillio.

Figure 40. View of Laguna Conguillio and surrounding Andes mountains.














Figure 41. Lava field and Volcano Lliama in P. N. Conguillio.

Figure 42. Active Volcano Lliama.














We split from Gary and Karla to travel our own route for a couple of weeks. We plan to meet again in Argentina. We drive on to Puerto Varas to camp at Playa Niklitschek (Figure 43 & 44). We spend a couple of days exploring the area and other national parks. When we leave to head toward the Argentine border, I stop to fish and have a bit better luck (Figure 45).

Figure 43. Camp at Playa Niklitsheck on Lago Llanquihue with Sharon and Ewok.

Figure 44. View of Volcano Osorno from Playa Niklitsheck.














Figure 45. John with 14” rainbow trout from Lago Llanquihue.

As we leave Lago Llanquihue, we have a blow out on the left rear tire. I change the tire. The spare is a small emergency tire. We have to go to Osorno to see about getting a new tire. Of course it is Saturday afternoon, and all regular businesses are closed. We do find a used tire place that has a tire that fits. However, it is not the exact size (245/65R17, while our's are 255/60R17). It will have to do until Monday when we can try to get a correct size tire. Now the decision is whether to drive on to Argentina or stay near Osorno until Monday. We think the chances are better that we will get two correct size tires in Argentina. We need two since they have to be very close to the same size and ours have been wearing for over 20,000 km. In hind sight, that was a big mistake (see our next blog on Argentina).

Chile (3310 miles recorded) was a pleasant return to normalcy after Peru.

Chile: Las Rutas de --Los Vinos, Los Rios, Los Lagos, etc

Chile: The Long Wonderful Slice of Geographic Diversity

Our journey south resulted in a smooth border crossing from Peru into Chile at Arica on November 14, 2009. The only difference this time they checked everything; so we had to take everything out of the SUV and put it through an x-ray machine to enter Chile from Peru. Enter permits for Amadeus and Ewok were processed very efficiently. After reviewing all the prior documents they valued most the Panamian vetinarian documentation, with the two official stamps (that took me all day to get in Panama City).

Part 1: Las Rutas de -- Los Vinos, Los Rios, Los Lagos, Los etc.

Our travels through Chile took us to different regions. We continued coastal desert journey stopping at Arica (camped), Cuya (camped at Pta. Camarones), Autofagasta (Hotel del Sur), Taltal (Cabañas Hueso), and North of Los Vilos (camped).

Next, it was onto San Fernando (Hotel Espanola) and Santa Cruz in the Central Valley where we enjoyed some of the best cuisine and wine in the world (Entre Viñas – wonderful boutique hotel). As usual after I inquire about room availability – I ask if they accept pets. If they do not out right refuse I show a photo of Ewok on my i-phone. In this case since we planned on staying three nights I informed them of also of Amadeus. The response was – o.k. … You look like a cultured lady so we accept … “su perrita, gatito y pajarito”.

Continuing south to the lake district we visited Recinto (Cabañas), Pinto (camped), Rio Bio Bio (camped at Naciemento of Rio Bio Bio)) Parque National Conguillo (camped), Villarrica (Cabañas Bungalowlandia), Peurto Varas (camped at Playa Niklitschek), Ensenada (camped at Camping Montanya) and Pueyehue (Cabañas Copihues).

Again, we had anticipated hot weather late November through mid-December, but it was a great weather for travel. We were just before the tourist season making finding a camp spot or accommodations was easy. The Chilean Police are totally professional – if we were stopped it was a reminder like (turn on your headlights).

Part 2: Chilean Patagonia and Tierra Del Feugo

After spending the holiday season in Bariloche, Argentina and traveling south on Argentina (Ruta 40) we re-entered Chile in Patagonia enroute to Ushuaia, Tierra Del Feugo (a small part of which is also in Chile). This time we visited Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine (Refugio Laguna Azul), Punta Arenas (camped near the airport and at Donde Juan; Hostal Bulnes). We returned to Punta Arenas after Tierra Del Feugo to begin treatment for our Ewok (15.5 years old), as she was just diagnosed with Leukemia. It possible that she can live up to 2 years with the disease – but, we’ll see. We are most fortunate that Punta Arenas has good veterinary care and we received excellent advice from Dr. Tatiana Lopez.

We enjoyed our journey through Chile the following i-movie captures some images from our travels.

Sharon
Punta Arenas, Chile
January 13, 2010

Part 1



Part 2

Peru: The Coastal Route

Peru has three primary regions - coastal (desert), highlands (Andes) and tropical (Amazon). While there are so many possible places to visit in Peru our journey took us along the coastal route. We had a smooth border crossing from Ecuador into Peru at Macara. We were treated well; one of the Peruvian officials even gave us some great tips on places to visit along the coast.

Our stop-overs along the coast included mostly small towns such as Colan (Colan Beach Lodge), Sipan (camped at the museum), Tortuga (El Farol Hostel) Chancay(small hotel), Pucusana (Mirador Hospedaje), Itaca (Camino Real) and Puerto Inca (camped). The one exception on the route was a side trip to the famous white stone city of Arequipa (Hotel Mercedes - camped).

We had anticipated hot weather because of the desert climate along the coast – but November, was a great month to head south along the coast. As we traveled along the coastal desert we encountered green belts/agriculture regions which were feed by rivers flowing from the Andes. The breeze off the Pacific Ocean was great!!! In our travels through Peru our only challenge was being stopped by the Peruvian Police – they were mostly friendly except near the big cities of Lima and Arequipa.

We enjoyed our journey along the Peruvian coast the following i-movie captures some images from our travels.

Sharon
Bariloche, Argentina
December 2009