Trucking south!

Leaving Buenos Aries far behind us now we have moved into the vast region of Patagonia.

The countryside is made up of unbelievably long straight roads with a fascinating vista of rough pampas and grassland.

The long unwinding road

Slightly alarmingly I set the satnav for a destination. And it showed that there were no turns for 120 km. It can be pretty dull and hard to stay alert. Occasionally we get stuck behind a truck. We only go a bit faster than the lorries which means that at 80 Kmph we have to have almost a kilometre to overtake. Add to this, we have discovered a design fault with our van. Apparently, some idiot has fitted the steering wheel to the wrong side! This means that Ping has to lean out and spot any opportunity for overtaking. Any vehicle that can be seen even in the distance means that we don’t have time to overtake. It can be a bit tiresome.

lots of Llamas or Guanocos

We have spoken a bit about the weather but it is worth mentioning here that although the days can be extremely hot they are not always, in fact as I write it is pretty chilly. If you also consider that a feature of Patagonia is that the wind blows hard pretty much constantly. You can have hours of unvarying wind no gusting no change of direction and certainly no respite. A couple of days ago we had constant rain and wind for most of the day. Don’t get me wrong I am not complaining as I am so aware that it is pretty chilly at home just now. It worth describing how different the conditions are here.

and cows

Cows and Llamas

On these long roads we often stop at gas stations They are well set up for travellers staying overnight. They will usually have a very pleasant little café, wifi and hot showers. So you see we are not exactly roughing it.

In the past few days we have visited a couple of very interesting locations. 

Peninsular Valdes.

This is a national park that is at the end of a long narrow stretch of land. It is pretty barren but supports some visible wildlife such as llamas and Rheas these are birds rather like an ostrich. But it is the Marine wildlife that is specially interesting.

 We camped on a beach overlooking a bay that was really beautiful. We were told that Southern Right whales often put in an appearance. Sadly they did not show up for us We were told that on a spring tide they come up to rocky shelf of the bay almost in touching distance. 



Every now and again an Orca will pop in. We were disappointed not to see this but the sea lions and sea elephant were well worth the visit. These animals are seen from a short distance away but are well protected by rangers. They are truly magnificent and absurd in equal measure . I am speaking of the sea lions etc not, of course, the rangers.

Magnificent Bull Sea Lion

His wife +2.4 children

It's a tough life

The sea elephants are as ugly as sin but they are very big and imposing. So called because they have a huge bulbous nose which acts as a sounding board for their loud call or roar.

The Sea lions, I always thought in my ignorance that are like large seals but in fact the male is really magnificent when it postures he will sit up and his top half has exactly the profile of a male lion and they are really something to see. They don’t do much when they are visible on the beach as they spend their day sunbathing. Most of their activity, of course is really shown in the water. The females and babies just lie in the sun and look, for all the world like very big sardines. 

American Oyster Catcher very tame and beautiful

It is late spring here and the bird activity is great to see as the chase each other around very where. What is interesting is that they seem to be completely unconcerned about the presence of people. They come right up close and just go about their business as if you weren’t there.

It was not difficult to make friends with  this Armadillo

Where we had parked our van we had a hairy armadillo come up and mooch around our feet. He stayed quite a while. I have to say he was really cute. I guess he must be a bit habituated to the presence of tourists and food but even so it was a great thing to see. Rather like the Siamese cats in the song. “Where there is baby there is milk nearby”!

We were told to expect to see whales come in on the 1.0clock tide but, no show! I gather that whales are notorious time keepers.

Gazing out to sea .... No whales !

Despite their absence it was a lovely time we spent on this beautiful peninsular.

After a few days we headed back to the mainland and the rather featureless landscape of Patagonia. 

We were now headed to a place that I had been really looking forward to. I have known for a long time about the Welsh community in this region and I have always enjoyed the idea that somewhere else in the world is Welsh speaking area.

I had read that they even practice the ancient sport of ‘Purring’ which is where two men will kick at the shins of the other until one of them falls over. What larks eh?

I have to say that in my ignorance I did have a mental image a small tribe of hardy Welshmen clinging to the sheerface of some stony cliff and somehow eeking out a living. Not at all the case.

Before leaving home I had the good fortune of seeing a really lovely program by Huw Edwards about the Welsh in Patagonia.

Here’s the history bit...........

In 1865 a group of Welsh people about 150 boarded the Clipper Mimosa and headed for Patagonia where, led by Lewis Jones and Edwyn Roberts they set about establishing  a community which over the next 150 odd years would in turn establish several successful and important towns. What I found fascinating to learn was, that their motivation was based on the belief that that the South Walean industries were becoming so dominated by English speakers that they feared that welsh would die out if they did not do something. So they set about deliberately establishing the language elsewhere. 

Mural made by the local high school depicts The flourishing agriculture as a  result of the comprehensive irrigation system built by the Welsh settlers

Of course they brought with them their own qualities such as engineering and agricultural skills together with significant determination.

The first house built in Gaiman

During the course of developing the towns of Port Madryn, Trelew and Gaiman and others. They achieved the transformation of agriculture by implementing a complex system of irrigation canals fed by partially diverting the River Chibut. This was not universally popular as it was said that they were depriving cattle ranchers of their valuable water. Nevertheless the system was set up and still functions well today. 

The area in which this extraordinary community sits is, by comparison to the rest of the countryside, fabulously verdant and fertile.

We visited the Town Trelew and with all my expectations I was disappointed as what I found was a large sprawl of industry and commerce where many of the streets had Welsh names and little more to celebrate its roots or at least nothing immediately apparent to a passing traveller.

However with a bit of guidance we went on to the town of Gaiman which was a different story altogether a small town with Welsh chapels lots of places and business’s with Welsh names.

More Welsh dragons that you can shake a stick at. 

Welsh tea house 

Ah Tea!

And quite a number of Welsh Tea houses where you can have lavish spread of tea and cakes. MMMM not to be missed! 

And cakes.  There's lovely!!!

Of course Spanish is spoken too, this is, after all a Spanish speaking country.

In the past Argentiian governments have deliberately and quite efficiently managed to expunge most of the other languages in the country. However when they began to ‘discourage’ The Welsh language, I have the impression that a cry went up along the lines of ‘Come on folks we haven’t come all this way to have our language defeated. With a high degree of determination they managed to allow the language to not only survive but to actually flourish. I was delighted to meet Julian a Spanish speaker who spoke passable English but was particularly proud that as he attended the Welsh College for his other studies he was also learning Welsh.

see above

Huw Edwards noted in his program that he attended a chapel service where the Spanish speaking priest conducted the service in Welsh.

The town did once have a railway linking it to Trelew and to Peurto Madryn. That went in the mid 60s. Possibly one of the ‘Beeching cuts?’ There was a plan put forward to build a tunnel through part of the town which for some commercial reasons was quite threatening to the town. The local community said no,  to it. The industrial backers were insistent and confident and built the tunnel anyway. Again it is a testament to this plucky little community that now possesses a railway tunnel that has never had a train through it! Although now closed the engine shed still stands, as does the station, though it is now a small and interesting town museum.    

The old engine shed.  Some say that Ivor the engine and Llewelyn the dragon moved here on retirement

The old station now a museum run by a very nice man

 Railway tunnel, never used

                                                              This nice old town really has such a character all its own But make no mistake this is no cultural museum piece it is a working commercial town and Trelew may have disappointed me for not being outwardly ‘cultural’ it is however a true testament to the real life success and pride of this collaborative Spanish/Welsh community, with such a rich tradition of defiance.

Having had our fill of tea and magnificent cakes we moved on.

The next drive was quite scary. Ping had taken over the driving for a bit that certainly relieved the boredom. But seriously though folks! The roads manage to become flatter, straighter and less inspiring than ever making it really difficult to maintain concentration. Ping had become troubled by my snoring while at the wheel so decided, wisely, to take over, and very glad I was too.

We have just passed through the largest town in the region Comodore Rivadavia. This is a busy commercial centre with a strong military presence.

The towns slogan seems to be written on every street sign ‘Malvenas Fueron son y seran Argentinas!’ Which as far as I can translate means The Malvenas are and always will be Argentina! Something to think about.

Believe it or not, this is the local high school!

Papa Noel  on the last day of school

 We are now in a neighbouring town which is pretty seaside resort. Very quiet as the season has yet to start. We think the Christmas / Summer holidays start next week. Our camp is run by the local council and is very good indeed for the first time in a while we have mains electricity running water hot showers and red hot wifi. Wow all the comforts of home!

There are school groups come here to camp or to have a days outing. One such group of younger kids had a visit from Santa who arrived on the roof of the local Fire engine. It was a real blast.

So I guess now as we have still quite a way to go to Ushuiaia we may not have another postcard from us.

I must note that, having complained about the flat boring roads, to our amazement as we leave this town we are treated to the most lovely arid desert mountain scenery. All is well!

So let us wish one and all a very; Feliz Navidad y Ano Nuevo !!!

                        

                              Very merry Christmas and happy New year!!!

Cheers!!!

Important!

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If you have sent us anything and you feel you are owed a reply do please keep trying. We really love to get emails and make a point of replying to all of them.

When travelling like this it is often difficult to get wifi at all and sometimes it is very week. So it can be quite hard work keeping up. Please don’t give up on us 

We really love to hear from you.

Argentina

Greetings to you all.

At Andean Roads Camp

We crossed the border into Argentina which was quite uneventful. A fairly long drive which took us to a place not very far from Buenos Aries. It is a camp that was highly recommended. 

We had a number of jobs to do  and this place seemed the ideal place to get them done. They jobs were things that needed doing but were not urgent. 

The problem with the non urgent matters is they tend to back up until I find that I really wish I had taken care of business. The guy who owns the camp, was able to direct us to people who would sort out our various issues. Of course in the world of overland travel this does not necessarily equate to actually getting them done. 

First let me tell what had to be done. I had known from our journey to the dock at Antwerp that our exhaust needed attention, fumes were finding their way into the van. It was only slight but it was a bit of a problem on a long drive.

Also on the way to Antwerp we suffered an unexplained flat battery. I had the battery tested and could find no fault  so decided not to replace the batteries in case it was unnecessary. Unfortunately when we got the van back in Uruguay it had to be jump started  and my confidence in the batteries was beginning to fade though I was still unsure of their reliability. I had been warned that it would be expensive to replace them in South America.  So still a difficult choice remained. To say hang the expense, or to wait till they posed us an actual problem. It may seem trivial but we also wanted to replace the stolen radio. So that needed doing.

We have a pair of gas cylinders fitted. We were prohibited from having full cylinders on the ship. I tried to research what type of fittings prevail in Uruguay and Argentina. It proved really difficult to reach any conclusion. The van arrived with enough gas to last us 2 or 3 weeks. We tried at a number of places to get our cylinder refilled but no one was able having never seen the type of fitting we had. In Uruguay the common one was  completely different Several agencies tried hard to find a way of filling them but to no avail. We then moved to Argentina where there is  another different standard fitting.  There was a raft of  other little things that needed my attention. The camp was very comfortable and Christian, the owner was most helpful.

The offending gas cylinder

So armed with address,s and directions we set off to get things done!

The first priority was to get the gas refilled. Christian sent us to a man who would fill it  for us. He has adaptors for every kind of cylinder and if he doesn’t have one he will make it. Marvellous!

So we followed the directions to the letter and found no gas company. We went around again, nothing. So we decided to go and get the radio sorted out. We found the radio shop easily enough. We had stopped at several banks on the way to get some money out only to find that the machines were all empty (more on this later). Very frustrating. At the radio shop we discovered just how pricey these things can be. We saw what we thought was the cheapest. Having discovered what it meant in real pounds We realised that it was beyond  our paygrade to decide in a moment. We told the woman that we would come back in the morning. I think we had reckoned we should pray for guidance on the matter.

So, no radio for now. We now had to go and find the exhaust repair man.  It was pretty easy to find him but Even in a conversation entirely in Spanish I found that: ‘I would love to help you. It should be an easy job, but I do not have welding equipment for stainless steel’. Oh bum! This is starting to become quite an unproductive little journey. So we decided to go on and see a man about batteries. On the way we again passed the location where the gas man should be. As we went Ping said I can smell gas on the breeze maybe we should look again. There was no mistaking the smell. So we had a punt around but found nothing  Pings response to all these problems is to say ‘Lets ask someone’ completely overlooking two important factors. 
1. We do not speak Spanish 
2. Men do not ask for directions.

 Casa Gasman!
So it was that we learnt, critically that we were in fact looking for the local florist! 

She jumped out of the van and dived into a plumbing shop. The nice man knew exactly where gas man was located, just in the next street. More helpfully he was able to provide information that had previously been withheld from us. i.e.That gas man's premises not only had nothing to identify it as a gas shop no sign  nothing. Also that it was a private address from which flowers and plants are sold. 

Ah the mysteries of overland travel! We found gas man who stroked his chin  and took our cylinder from us saying he had never seen this type before. He wanted to keep it overnight to see what he could do. So no money, no radio , no gas. I then decided that we should just stop at every workshop that looked as if it could do welding. Each one  said ah no its stainless I don’t have the equipment.  I was going to stop at another workshop, paused outside  but decided that I had lost the fighting spirit. So instead we passed on by and returned to Christian. He said I will call someone and see if they can help. He then gave us directions to a workshop that was able to do the job.

Gustavo doing a great job on our exhaust.

Needless to say we followed the directions to find ,of course, that it was the one we had passed by! Too late today. So we started again in the following morning. We went to the banks  first. It is worth mentioning that all over Uruguay and Argentina we had seen a common site which is quite dramatic. Security vans that bring cash to and from banks are always followed by a small car full of armed men. No kidding! The van pulls up and men with pistols, shotguns and carbines  scatter around. They point their guns in every direction and then signal to the guys in the cash van to come out with the cash. This happens quite routinely. (more on this later.) any how we found that they had done their job and it was easy to get cash now. We went to the radio shop and got our radio. What was really nice was the woman in the shop had found one that was significantly cheaper  and she was happy to have it fitted for us. This was a particular bonus as the thief had damaged the aerial lead and I didn’t think I could fix that. While we waited for it to be fitted we went for a hamburger. It took a little while to prepare and it arrived in front of us as the radio man came to tell us that it was all done.

So we had cash and a radio, as well as a bit of ketchup on my shirt.

We went back to gas man who very regretfully said he could not help us to fill the cylinder I think he tried to sell us some geraniums but my Spanish is not that good. In the end we decided to ditch the cylinder and buy an Argentinean one. So we got directions to the gas depot where we bought a new cylinder. Gas in Argentina is subsidised and is remarkably cheap. Cylinders however are not subsidised and are remarkably expensive. However we now have nearly everything we need and flushed with success we went back to the welding man who did a spiffing job on our exhaust. It is sometimes wise to quit while we are ahead so decided to give our batteries an opportunity to redeem themselves., and not replace them just yet.

The next day we continued on our journey into Buenos Aries.

Pegasus in the foreground and the magnificent ARA Libertad behind

Frigate. ARA Libertad

We had been recommended to park at a car park next to the harbour. We found it easily, and because we arrived  on a Friday afternoon we had the place to ourselves  pretty much for the whole weekend. There was one particular treat in store though. 



Right alongside where we parked  was a beautiful, and I mean beautiful tall ship It was in fact the ‘Frigate ARA Libertad’ It is a working Argentine Republic Armada training ship built in 1953 and still in the very finest fettle. If frigates turn you on, have a look on google.

In this car park  we often had visitors , people passing by who were curious about us. For this reason Ping ordained that she would require our shower to be set up after dark. Now the weather in this part of the world is not quite the same as it can be back home and one feature is that as darkness falls  the wind can get up significantly. And so it was on this occasion I had a container of nice warm water for her ladyships bath scented soap and freshly laundered towels were laid on as she stepped into the shower tent. She then went about her ablutions.

Very nice she thought as she luxuriated in her warm shower, that is all that I shall describe of the scene inside. On  the outside was another matter! The wind was rising ferociously and I was required to stand beside directing the shower  but also had to hold the tent down on the ground.  Which was now in peril of being blown into the harbour. I was getting soaked as I held onto the shower the wind blew the water all over me resulting in complaints that I wasn’t doing my job properly. The fabric case for the shower tent was blown out to sea never to be seen again. And her ladyship grandly stepped out all clean and shiny blissfully unaware of the trauma that I had undergone. She said that was lovely we will do this again tomorrow night. I silently and deferentially tugged my forelocked and stepped back.

Any how we parked there. We had a bit of business to deal with in Buenos Aries the following Monday so we had a long weekend to explore the city. I am not very keen on cities but as they go Buenos Aries is quite fine with a lovely mix of old and new and lots of parks and once again plenty of magnificent statues and memorials.

Amazing cyclists.- Arend Stem and Ina Stem-Portengen

We met in passing a Dutch couple who had been cycling around Argentina and were about to embark for the ferry to Uruguay to continue their touring there. I think they at least planned to visit Brazil as well. We were really just chatting  idly when they told us that one was 72 and the other 73 years old and they had been just  about everywhere on their bikes China and South East Asia. Really remarkable travels!

Stretch Limo

One of many great churches in Buenos Aries

All over the place people spend sunday posting 'Paper grafitti.

We found a very arty street market to stroll around and we took a couple of ‘free walking tours’ which really helped to bring the city to life for us. 






We got our insurance sorted out on the Monday and then went on a tour of the famous and truly wondrous La  Recoleta Cemetery. I think that many people have heard of this place. We had but had no idea really of the wonders within. I am certain that there will be lots of facts online about it but let me try to do what our guide did so adequately which was to really bring the place to life; in a manner of speaking.

First of all it started out as a Catholic cemetery, but once a desparate need was identified for the rich and famous  to be immortalised in the grandest possible fashion. The original bodies were reburied elsewhere and perfunctory memorial plaques were placed around the walls leaving room for the important work of accommodating people who clearly believed that they were too important to succumb to mortality.

                                                                                                                                                 Realising that this was an arrangement based more in wealth than Piety , The Catholic authorities washed their hands of it. So it became newly described as multi denominational.

He  explained that the inscription on the public outside of the gate  is ‘Resting in peace’ but on the opposite side of the arch it, that is to say the residents side it says ‘Waiting for god’ As you walk through the arch you find yourself in what might almost be decribed as a small city made up of narrow streets lined with small, and some not so small magnificent buildings.

High street LaRecoleta

 All of which are private mausoleums. We were shown  some beautiful stained and engraved glass panels some set up in such a way that they illuminated the path to heaven for the occupant in the coffin on open display.

The lady who was buried alive

                                                                      

The dog dropped dead on hearing of his mistress's demise

And of a woman who was interred prematurely having had some kind of seizure that made her look dead, on recovery she managed to open her coffin but was unable to get out of her tomb and It is believed that she died of a heart attack. 




So one way or another  she stayed there. I would have to say that in my opinion she did not have much in the way of a lucky break.


One that I found specially interesting was one of a policeman who had a dreadful reputation for brutal torture of anyone rising against the government and also of shooting indiscriminately at demonstrators, allegedly killing 11 at one gathering! Any way he was murdered by a man who had been a dissident in Russia and had been sentenced to life in a Gulag. He ecscaped and played a role as a revolutionary in various places in South America. He was so appalled over the actions of this cop that he set about Murdering him with a Molatov cocktail burning him to death. The Russian was caught and sent for life in the Argentinean equivalent of a Gulag in Ushuaia. Eventually after a change of government he was released and went of to fight in the Spanish Civil war and eventually died peacefully of old age. 

Our Guides very own Great,great Grandparents

Our guide even showed us the tomb of his own Great great Grandparents  and how the tomb itself was a testament to their own bitter and estranged marriage.

Eva Peron's family tomb

Of course he took us to visit the, rather modest, Douarte family mausoleum where Eva Peron is laid away. The story of Evita and the manner in which she is still revered by half the country and loathed in equal measure by the other half. Of the bizarre way in whihich her body was treated  for many years. And the continuing Peron Legacy which took the most ludicrous turn after his return and subsequent death. All of this has been written in great detail by people much more able and knowledgable than I. however I do recommend you look it up. It makes toe curling reading!

Here lies , finally  Argentinas beloved (or hated) Eva Peron

Any way back to the cemetery. This place is full to bursting with fabulous edifices proclaiming the dead of Argentina's elite.  There are generals and politicians  with names you will recognise as they have streets and parks named after them. Some of the tombs have been designed by famous architects such as the man who built New Yorks Grand Central Station. 

Add caption

Another was designed by the architect who is interred there he did it himself and a more stunningly beautiful and stylish lump of granite than any other.

Our guide ,Fransisco, explained to us that this is still very much a working cemetery with funerals taking place often. This is surprising as it is clearly finite in its capacity. Apparently what happens is that either the families are unwilling to fork out the great sums for maintenance etc. In which case the residents are shifted out to some distant hole in the ground and the tomb is sold on. Or as sometimes happens the family dies out and there is no longer any interest in it. In either case I gather that they are sold off lock stock and barrel for enormous sums. And new residents are popped in to replace them.

This whole affair is really the most extravagant display of defiance of the oldest rule, that you can’t take it with you!

Make no mistake it is easy to dismiss this as being an exercise in more money than sense but it is a place of startling history, beauty, romance and style. It is somewhere I will always treasure having visited.

The next day we had to leave  the city and continue towards The province of Patagonia. 

Road to Pategonia  long and straight

Ping had popped in the GPS co ordinates for our next destination which was meant to be a lovely camp.

The sat nav (a device of which I passionately disapprove) took us up an unmade road for a couple of Kms,  no problem there we have done that before. But when it told us to turn left, crash through a fence and ‘navigate off road’ I got the hint that we had got it wrong. 

Not so Vasco De Gamma on my left. I cant understand what is wrong with the machine . I made the mistake of suggesting  that she may have just possibly put in a wrong number. It seems, so I am informed that this is not the case. As she banged the top of the satnav.

So we went and asked the farmer. Two things were special about this interaction one was that he knew of the location that we were seeking , despite it being 30 km away. And the other was he spoke English and was able to give us quite explicit  directions. The camp turned out to be out of season  a bit run down there was a lot of trees and a huge bird population. This is important because just when you settle down to eat  they get ready for bed. There is an unbelievable racket as they all brush their teeth and put their pyjamas on  and then all crap at the same time just before they go to bed. The output is amazing nothing was spared  a deposit of guano! On top of this there was a distressing number of flies. We did not stay there for very long, and met up with our friends Timo and Sandra at another campsite.

Friendly cops visiting our camp

One cop had rescued this duckling. What a softy!

Another beautiful location to camp

Now I have to bring you back to a couple of things that I said we would speak of later. First of all we had yet another problem with the battery and I decided that we must bite the bullet and replace them both.

So we found ourselves in a large cow town and were directed a battery store. After some effort I found a couple of lads and I asked them if they could oblige even at the very beginning their vaguely surprised reaction to the question made me wonder a bit.

They managed to find the ones we needed and started to discuss the price. My esteemed life partner entered the fray guns blazing! She negotiated a decent discount. However it was necessary for someone to go into town and find a bank with a cash machine that had some money in it. Now you will recall that this is not always the case. I stayed back at the van and supervised a bit as the level of competence was not high. I was starting to really wonder if these guys did actually work here. It took ages for Ping to return I wasn’t so surprised  as everything takes longer than you think on these occasions.

Any how the batteries were fitted and we eagerly awaited her return. When she finally got back she was quaking. She whispered to me in a quaking voice . ‘I had quite a disturbing experience at the bank!  

She said she had just got to the head of the queue and found it had no money, when three large unshaven gentlemen rushed in to the bank lobby shut the doors and stopped anyone coming in or going out. They were armed with shotguns and pistols. Not surprisingly it took Ping a moment to collect herself  she was surprised to see that everyone else in the bank was just carrying on as normal then she realised that these were in fact the security people come to refill the machine. what to  us is so dramatic but to others it is so ordinary.

Anyway she got back to me  with money and set about increasing the size of the discount. By this time it was not just me that was questioning whether these guys should be selling us batteries or if indeed they did work there. We never got to the bottom of it but we did get our batteries and further discount. Keen to make a graceful getaway I started up the van and the engine died, it just woudn't run. closer examination showed that during the fitting of the battery they had broken a fuel pipe. My German companion produced his water hose and we cut of a short bit of that and it was a perfect repair and off we set.

More soon. Lots of nice thoughts of you all.

NB some emails to us have disappeared. We try to reply to everyone so if you dont get a reply  do please write again.