Red, green and blue, land of the volcanoes

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After wandering throughout Mendoza on the 27th, searching in vain for a vehicle that would accomadate the four of us South, we stumbled upon an incredible find. Having been told that no vehicles would be available for at least 4 days and that they would be ridiculously expensive for our required 3 week rental, Laurence and I entered a small tourist agency looking to see what our options were for flights south. The original plan was to bus the 20 hours south from Mendoza to Bariloche but it quickly became obvious that this would be impossible during the busy holiday season. Anyways, after discussing our option with the friendly travel agent, finding that no flights existed between Mendoza and Bariloche and that renting a car would take days, the women behind the desk offered to make one final phone call to a friend.

What a call! it turned out she knew a small company who rented off-road vehicles to mining firms and that they had a great 4X2 Toyota Hilux trck for us. In addition to t he fact that they had a vehicle for us, they quoted us an amazing price for a full month with unlimited kilometers... oh if the only knew that we were planning to drive 3500km south along some of the continents worst roads, inlcuding the famous Ruta 40 which runs parallel to the Andes from Mendoza to Ushaia. Woo hooo we had landed on our feet!

The truck arrived on the morning of the 28th, complete with 2 full size spares. It is a 2004 diesel engine with 100,000km... just broken in , perfect for our Argentintinian adventure. After getting a few supplies we headed wouth out of Mendoza towards the town of San Rafael and the oft-talked about Valle Grande, Argentina´s grand canyon.

After driving 2 hours we exited onto a dirt road that would lead us into this canyon, not knowing exactly what to expect but happy to have found a great vehicle that would easily tackle any gravel road.

The canyon was spectacular in the evening sun, red rock, blue water and sky, and green trees filled the canyon. The road climbed the canyon walls cresting a ridge only to plummet back down towards the river´s edge. Vultures circled above our heads, climbing effortlessly into the air on invisible thermals rising from the canyon floor. The walls were stained mineral greens and reds. It was an incredible 4 hour drive that I will not soon forget.

Exiting the canyon, we expected to find a simple accomadation in the small town which was indicated on our road map...not going to happen. By the time we arrived in this small town on the edge of a large reservoir behind a dam blocking this magnificent river it was dark. It seems as though the canyon had transported us into the real Argentina complete with mud huts, parked horses and locals looking at a couple of foreigners like we were aliens. No accomadations could be found, so we pushed on. I was behind the wheel on this first day, and it was great to be driving again. We pushed on into the night, arriving at the largish town of Malargue past midnight, checking into the aptly named Bambi Hotel. The bambi was budget accomadations that had firm beds at a decent price. Laurence went to bed, while mom, Scott and I headed out to the main drag to grab a beer and a quick bite. It was a great first day full of surprises and adventure.

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Photos

In the canyon
Hanging rocks