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Other entries in Río Gallegos

about Bikers, sea lions and parrots...

On Thursday 7th we finally arrived in Viedma.

I had been looking forward to this International motorcycle travellers meet and the opportunity to talk to long time travellers.We arrived in town and stopped just after crossing a bridge, not far from a police check point. The officer came out and made us sign to come. I went to discuss with him. I told him about the bikers meet and he said it was last week! It was another one surely! I asked him about a camping by the river called Massini. He gave me directions to the only campsite by the river, the municipal camping. Arriving there we saw a big canadian bike parked by the office, loaded with spare tyres, aluminium panniers etc... Darren, the biker, told us immediately that the meet was actually 30kms out of town, in a small ressort called El Condor! To be fair, the GPS point had been published in the website, but as we have no GPS it is of no use to us!

Darren told us the resort was tiny with few facilities so he was staying in town for this night, but there were already some bikers at the other campsite. As we had some chores to do we decided to stay there as well. I had bought some 3rd party insurance in BAs. They were supposed to send me the green card by email, but their scanner broke down. I was trying to get them to fax them to me instead. We may need it in Chile. The insurance cover all Mercosur countries.

So all I had to do was to find a place with a fax and internet. Unfortunately by the time we got the tent set and rode to town, it was siesta time! All was closed! After a stop for lunch and asking for directions, we finally found the high street and a cybercafe.  I sent an email to my contact with the fax number of the cybercafe. I was promised to be sent all by fax the next morning! With that done it was time to get some cash. I went to the bank while Alistair was guarding the bikes.

When I came out I vaguely saw him talking to a couple. Very usual when we are around with the bikes. When I came closer I could not beleive my eyes. It was Nick and Lesley (www.pooleglobaltrek.com), a british couple we have been meeting in various countries since Ecuador! We were really happy to meet them again. We were not sure they would be able to make it to the Viedma meeting, as they were flying soon after back to the UK for Xmas! It was a really nice surprise! After spending a good time chatting in a café, we finally went back to the campsite in the evening. The camping was deserted, with few feral cats for company. Apart from Darren's tent, there was only an argentinian, who actually lived and made furniture out of the local trees there, in a dome tent!

The next morning we packed and stopped at the cybercafe, unfortunately the insurance company had not sent anything! Never expect anything to work to plan in South America (or with ANY big company, as we've learned the hard way!). I sent a quick email asking what was the problem and telling them we were leaving town.

We them rode the 30kms to El Condor. The tourist information office was closed, not useful as I had no idea where the camping Massini was! We turned for a long time, found 3 campings, all telling us the Camping Massini did not exist! I went to the local police station, and they confirmed there was no camping called Massini in town! I decided to phone Oscar, the organiser,  and went to a small shop at the bus station, that had the only public phone. No one answered! I was starting to be very annoyed! I talked to the girl at the counter about the camping and the bikers meet. She remembered a biker asking for the same camping the day before! She gave a me a map of the town, showing the emplacement of the 6 existing campings. None of them called Massini!

I went back the the bikes and as we were about to ride to the 3 other campings, the police officer I had been talking to earlier came out. He had found out which camping it was, and it was not called Massini, but Los Trentinos! So in conclusion, the meet was not in Viedma, but in El Condor, the camping was not by a river, but in the village, and it was not called Massini but Los Trentinos. As ''treasure hunts'' go, I would be good at it! So we got there, and there were lots of bikers there already. Many that we knew already like Nick and Les, Chuck (met in Bolivia), Antonio (met in Portugal), most of the people that we met at DakarMotos in BAs as well, including Javier! 

We spent 3 nights there, talking to everyone and eating too much asado. There were lots of very interesting people. One example is Ed and Elisa (a US/Spanish couple living in BAs). Ed used to work for the Peace Corps  for many years and travelled all around the world. He also used to have a ranch to help ex-peace corps who had been wounded. He moved to BAs and was hoping for a quite retirement but not so! In between Tango lessons and a busy social life with Elisa acting, they somehow got involved into something fascinating. They are organising an expedition for a group of scientists from Stanford University who are investigating the mutulation of animals in Argentina by extra-terrestials (I kid you not)!.

It seems that Patagonia has been for the last few years the theatre of very strange things going on. Over 3000 animals (mainly cows but also few horses) have been found dead, with strange mutilations, cauterisation made like by laser, missing organs, fried horses so radioactive that they had to be removed by personal wearing protective suits.... Cows that seemed to have died from falling from a very high place. Patagonia is flat! Apparently the evidence is so huge, thousands of vets reports etc... Scientists are taking an interest, and a team including biologists and even an astrophysicist are coming in March from the US to investigate! The argentinians authorities are not too keen on publicity on this as it could harm the meat industry! So you won't hear much of it in the news... All in all it is very interesting and we hope to be able to stay with Ed and Elisa at our return to BAs in April. Hopefully they will tell us more about it!

So as you can see the Viedma meet was not all about motorcycling! Although, one morning, a Swiss couple turned up on a 1200GS so overloaded that everyone went to take pictures! They even had 2 parachutes (for paragliding)! See photos! We couldn't believe the bike could actually move with all that on it! Another good thing about the meet was the turn out of women bikers. Mainly germans but we were about 7 women riding our own bikes!

One night we had a radio show that turned up to interview us live on radio! As I speak spanish I was invited on the show! See! Famous! And as you know by now, everything in Argentina ends up with everyone sitting around a big table eating a huge Asado!  

We did few excursions during our stay. El Condor has the biggest Parrot community in the world, 500m from our campsite! They lived in the cliff, and the community extends 10 kms! Every morning at about 4am they would wake up everybody in the camping as they flew over, squawking. One person claimed that the parrots even caused a power cut in town! Hundred were perched on a power line and when they got spooked all flew off at once. The whole system shook and the power went off!

El Condor also had, close by, the biggest Sea Lions community in South America.

The biggest problem during our stay was the wind. The campsite was dirt/sand. On the second day the wind really got up and there was dust everywhere, including in the tent. We thought the tent wasn't going to stay up at one point, but we put the long pegs in, and extra guide ropes, and it seemed to do the trick.

On Monday 10th, it was time to leave. We have a long way to go if we want to be in Ushuaia for Christmas. We rode most afternoon and stopped for the night at a small beach ressort. The next morning we packed early and arrived mid-afternoon to the Peninsula Valdes, a vast national park. We rode to Puerto Piramides, the only village in the peninsula, and pitched our tent in the local (free!) campsite. Actually you had to pay but only for the showers! All the best spots were taken by locals who seemed to live in the camping. Some caravans were so old and in such condition that they would have desintegrated if moved!

We spent 2 nights there. The 2nd day we took the bikes and followed one of the loose gravel roads to a small salt flat. There is a lot of wildlife in the peninsula but we only saw few rheas (south american ostrich) and guanacos. There are a lot of Right Whales but we did not do a boat trip as we already saw lots in Brazil. In the evening of our departure we decided to put the pressure up on the tyres as we would be only riding tarmac for the time being. We had reduced the pressure since San Blas, as lower pressure off-road is better and gives more grip to the tyres. So, under the scrutiny of a gang of teenage boys, who were setting camp in front of our tent, and were drinking plenty of beer, we proceeded to do all tyres. We then went for a walk. When we came back few hours later my front tyre was completely flat! It was very strange as the bike had not moved since the morning. How could I get a puncture? We decided to inflate the tyre and see in the morning. It was to late to do any repairs now. Well, the next morning, the tyre was fine! Maybe a problem with the valve... Or a prank from the boys? 

So we were able to leave early. We didn't have far to go, only 200km to Trelew. We wanted to visit the paleontological museum there. We were shocked by the prices of hotels in town! All seem to get more expensive, the further south we go. Now it is easily more than twice what you pay in northern Argentina! Anyway, after getting a list from the Tourist Info desk, we managed to find a hotel with a parking. It was still expensive, and the room was filthy, especially the bathroom! But they still managed to be full, and by end of the day they turned down a backpacker that we met in Puerto Piramides.

The museum was small but very good. Argentina is where the biggest dinosaures that ever lived can be found. And Patagonia is incredibly rich in fossiles. Names like Gigantosaurus or Titanosaurus give you an idea...    Next to this museum was a tiny Regional Museum, set in the old and very english looking train station. It has displays on the Welsh colonisation and their peaceful relationship with the indigenous  tribes.

The next day was cold and wet.   It was time to dig for our electric jackets. We had a long day ride to Comodoro Rivadavia, the largest city in the province and the Houston of Patagonia! As we approached town we could see many "nodding donkeys"! After turning around and finding most hotels full, the tourist info desk recommended us a hostal with parking. The place was simple but clean. A nice change from Trelew! The hostal even had a communal kitchen so Alistair was able to cook us a big curry that lasted 2 days.

The next day we went for an excursion to a petrified forest, 150km west.There are few petrified Araucaria trees forests in the area, between 65 to 140 million years old, set in the desert. On the way, through oil facilities and deserts,  we crossed a stunning valley (it's actually its name!), with many canals taking water from a lake, which is itself irrigated from the melted ices off the Andes, hundreds of miles away. As we rode through a small gravel trail, we saw amazing birds in this valley, and 2 giants rabbits (or hares). Patagonian rabbits are easily twice the size of their europeans cousins, they are huge!  The petrified forest was amazing.  The fallen tree trunks just looked like they were slightly rotting wood, but were in fact 65 million year old and made from stone.  There were, what appeared to be, wood chips all over the floor but again were in fact stone.

From Comodore Rivadavia we had then 3 solid days riding. The 1st night we stopped in Puerto Deseado, a small town with a big military presence and lots of monuments to ''Islas Malvinas'' (Faulklands Islands). Alistair declared ''if someone asks, I'm french!".

That same afternoon we had a walk by the coast in what is allegedly a nature reserve. I say ´allegedly´ because as we walked there, the place was littered with garbage, broken glass, even a used baby nappy! As usual it seems the locals show very little respect for their own environment. We've seen this everywhere, including in Europe by the way!

Anyway we went there in the odd chance of seeing some penguins! We were given little hope by the tourist info desk. So we were really happy when in a small island, 20m from the shore, we saw many birds and our first magellanic penguins! And then, as we were taking pictures, a couple of them popped out from the water just next to us! They spent a little time poking around before going back in the water. It was amazing!

The 2 following days, we continued riding south. Towns (and petrol stations) are now few and far between.  From Puerto Deseado, we had 240 miles to the next small town of Puerto San Julian. Our Patagonian map showed a petrol station mid-distance. However when we got there they had no petrol! We had no choice but to continue and try to make it with what we had! As our bikes went into reserve, and as we got closer to the town, mile by mile, we were just riding economy, at 45- 50 mph. We were lucky the day was not too windy as the wind increase our fuel consuption. We made it! Just! Only a litre of fuel left in the tank!

In San Julian we found an odd hostal that seemed to be run by kids! They had a garden where we were able to park the bikes, all other hotels had street parking only and we were not keen on leaving the bikes out at night! So we stayed at the hostal. For pets they had a tiny kitten and a baby guanaco, both still fed with a bottle of milk. It was very cute to see them together. They seemed inseparable, the kitten climbing on the back of the guanaco at any opportunity.(see photos) 

The next morning, we left early. The weather was wet and we had another 240 miles to ride to the next town of Rio Gallegos. The map showed 2 petrol stations, one we knew would have fuel. So the ride was less stressful.

We are spending 2 nights here to have some rest after so many miles. Also to get some info. We are very close to the Island of Tierra del Fuego. To get to Ushuaia we need to cross into Chile, cross through 125kms of unpaved road, cross the Magellan strait and get into Argentina again!

We will have a long tough day crossing that bit of Chile so we rest a day before that!

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