Patagonia I

We have moved east to the Atlantic coast from the small town of  San Martin, traveling through Argentina’s petroleum producing area.  There were wells, pumps and storage facilities.

                                                                                                                            

  Our first view of the Atlantic on this trip was in the town of Caleta Olivie.  We stayed in a public park overlooking the ocean.  The park was well used by people of all ages.  They were skating, swinging and just hanging out.

 Patagonia is a vast area filled with nothingness broken by mesas and canyons.  There is VERY little habitation.  We were told there was a gas shortage so we stopped  at every service station to top off with fuel.  You would not want to be stranded in these empty spaces.

                                                                                                                               

The roads going south were bad at first but improved as we put the miles behind us.  There was hardly any traffic.  There were hundreds of sheep, wild horses, jack rabbits and Guanacos. The Guanaco is kin to the llama.  One ran along side us and was moving on at 40mph.  They spring over fences with ease.

                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                          

Pink flamingos added some color to the scene.   

We turned off the main road (HWY 3) to head west on Hwy 9.  This is a dirt-gravel road which turned out to be under construction.  This made it more interesting.    Our destination 150 miles away was Calafate  to see the glaciers and visit the National Park.  There were  animals but hardly any people.  A grey fox ran across the road.     

                                                                                                                      

We spent the night on a crest overlooking a huge wide valley.  The winds are very strong and cold.

 It’s hard to convey how desolate and lonely this place is.  But a few hardy souls try to make a living with sheep.  Some people might be uneasy to be so removed from everything.  That never occurred to us.  We just snuggle under an extra blanket and enjoy the peace of it all.

Calafate is a tourist town.  People come here to see the beautiful Lake Argentina with iceburgs floating and view one of the few glaciers in the world that’s still on the move.  We will visit it tomorrow.

                                                                                                                                             

There may be a change in our blog because we have had difficulty posting it in Argentina.  It seems that blogs are blocked by court order.  So we are e-mailing it to our son and he is posting it for us.  We need to treasure our freedoms.

Gerry & Bill

ARGENTINA

We left Chile behind on a cold, frosty morning and crossed the Andes from Osorno, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina.  There were fields of tulips.  The rolling foothills were beautiful in the early morning sun.  As we climbed, there were warning signs to be aware of ice and volcanic ash on the roads.  There was a major eruption in this area on July 4^th and the fallout of ash became more and more evident .

         This sign says there is ice and ash on the road.                                                             

There were drifts beside the road and trees were dying.                                                                                                                                                          

 A few inches of fresh snow covered the brown ash when we crossed the summit into Argentina.  Mari had never seen snow, so she was very excited.

                                                                                                                                 

The border crossing was easy but takes time.  We do “border adjustments” because certain fruits, vegetables and meats are not allowed.

                                                                                                                

Papers must be checked here and then checked again there.  Everyone is friendly and no problem.

The drive from the border to the tourist town of Bariloche was like traveling through the Canadian Rockies.  Snow capped mountains, lakes and forest.  The ash was trying to spoil the beauty but not succeeding.  Bariloche is a big ski town.

                                                                                                                                      

  There were big groups of students visiting because they were on holiday.  We were told the volcano eruption had kept visitors way down and the airport was still closed.  We spent one night in the town to take care of changing money and other business and then moved to a national park campground on Lake Gutierrez.  This was an actual campground with electricity. 

This was the first time we have had electricity in South America.  Since the standard voltage in Argentina is 240 we had a transformer to reduce it to 120.

                                                                                                                               

The areas for camping were spread out and had big fireplaces.









                                                                                                                                    

 We found wood for a wonderful fire.  Temperatures were in the 30s’ so the heat was great.  We cooked our dinner over the open fire.  Those of you who know us will remember that this is a favorite thing for us to do.  The lake was crystal clear and was even OK for drinking.

                                                                                                                           

Hiking to a waterfall kept us warm.

                                                                                                    

We have now moved about 300 miles south and staying in the tiny town of Jose de San Martin. We saw flocks of pink flamingos on the way.

                                                                                                                           

 Temp. was 35 this morning.  Not much goes on in this small village.  We visited the only store that was a combination hardware and grocery.  Folks here, as they have everywhere we have been, are friendly and try to help us gringos. 

Roads are not quite as good now and the towns are more remote.  We fill our tanks every chance because service stations are also few and far between.  Diesel is cheaper-about $3.65 a gallon. 

Take care,

Gerry and Bill

Chile II

There is a South America family that have 3 children. The oldest is Al Sur, the middle is Al Norte and the least is Al Centro. We are following the oldest Al Sur(South). Bless the Mother- She could not think of any other first name for her children but Al. We ignore Al North and try not to visit Al Centro but we do follow Al Sur.

This means we are going SOUTH.

One of the bigger towns was La Serena, Chile. We stayed in the parking lot of a big shopping center. I’m sure Al Centro played a part in this. This place seemed to be THE place to be. The parking lot was full to overflowing and the buses ran every 15 minutes with families and young couples coming to the shopping plaza. This was the place to people watch.

October 10th was our oldest grandson’s birthday so we called to wish him many happy returns. Happy Birthday, Bill. We were staying in the seaside village of Los Vilos. Our site was only 30 meters from where the waves came crashing in over huge rocks. The fishermen had not gone out that day because the ocean was unusually rough. What a beautiful sight!!

Chile was celebrating a national holiday so many Chileans had come to the area to view the ocean. They also viewed us and were taking pictures of the motorhome and our signs. We meet the most interesting people this way. Our stay here was also improved by home made (or Motorhome Made) Beef Vegetable soup simmering on the stove. The wind was very brisk and the soup hit the spotl

I had dreaded the next day because it meant going through the capital city of Santigo, population 6 million. I need not have been concerned because it was a breeze. What a difference from the other big cities we have been through with their buses, taxies, motorbikes. motorized rickshaws and crazy drivers. Those were not allowed and traffic moved with ease. Signage was excellent. It is of course a huge metropolitan area but very modern in every way. There was no sign of earthquake damage.


 Our stay that night was in an actual campground on a beautiful mountain lake not too far from the city. Not a campground as we know it but there was a picnic table and a grill of sorts. The lack of hook ups was more than compensated by the view of the lake and the mountains. The season is too early so we had the place to ourselves.

As we go south, it is spring and Chile becomes more and more beautiful. Such a change from the northern desert. Everything is blooming. The fields are plowed for spring planting. There are acres of vineyards and olive trees.

Large Vineyard

Gerry Picking Grapes

Olive Grove

Chile is a very modern, prosperous country and if you blink your eyes you could believe you were in the states. The roads are excellent if a bit pricey since the main road is toll. Snow covered mountains keep watch over us. They are the Andes which we will have to cross at some point.

Andes

 The temperature is in the 40’s when we start our day and upper 60 for a high. There are campgrounds here and some dealers in motorhomes. But we still get attention and questions about where we are going and where we have been.

Our stay tonight is Chilean, Chile. We are parked behind tennis courts and it is a better than average spot. There is grass and a place to sit outside in our chairs and enjoy the excellent wine of Chile.

As we follow Al Sur we will cross into Argentina. There will be less habitation and also less internet so we will keep in touch when we can- Al willing.

Gerry and Bill

Highway Memorials

It is very common in both Central America and South America to see memorials beside the highway where someone was killed. They range from a simple cross to very elaborate ones that are quite large. Most of these pictures were taken from a moving car, but you should be able to get an idea of what went into them. Some of them incorporate part of the landscape such as large rocks or level areas. Most seem to be on highway right-of-way, but the powers that be don’t seem to mind. I think that the further south we get, the less of them we see.

Chile I

  This is our 5th day in Chile. We have traveled hundreds of miles through desert with huge mountains of rock and vast areas of moonscape. It gets cold (37) at night but the sun is intense during the day. Elevation as high as 7,500 ft. Some of the area has NEVER had any recorded moisture.

The roads are generally very good. Chile is a very modern country and much cleaner than Peru. The border crossing at Arica was efficient and easy. Inspectors were friendly and spoke a bit of English. They are interested in our travels. We spent two nights here. It’s a busy seaport town with sea lions, pelicans and fishermen bringing in their catch. We had a fresh seafood lunch right on the pier.

We then went to Pozo Almonte where we spent two nights in the town plaza which was right on the ocean. Our guard for the night was a guy who could make his eyeballs spin around in different directions. You should have been there.

There are nitrate and copper mines and abandoned mining towns of long ago. One of those, Santiago Huberstone, is a World Heritage site and had been active for over 100 years. The buildings covered several acres and showed how people lived and worked during that time. We visited a railroad museum with many old and rusting trains. The town of Baquedano is still a busy railway but the town is only a block long. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn just outside of town.

In the middle of nowhere we came across a giant sculpture of a hand. There are also petroglyphs on some of the hills that are thousands of years old. The desert can be quite beautiful with many colors of red, grey and brown. It is a lonesome place with very little habitation. About the time you are tired of the vast spaces, the ocean appears with a rugged, rocky coast and white sand beaches. We visited an old cemetery out in the desert with graves dating back to the ’20.

We are now parked in the town of Coplapo. We have turned inland and will head toward the capital city of Santiago. Norman has an oil leak so we will be here till that is taken care of. Our internet modem is working and our motorhome is performing well. Our Spanish improves a bit. We are 8,000miles from Paducah and still on good terms with each other.

Bill and Gerry