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We had gotten our Argentinian pesos, our local sim cards and were finally getting used to their strange ways of pronouncing the double 'l' like a "ja" as in "Jamaica". It was time to go get our van.
We decided to rent the smallest model available, the Renault Kangoo. In the back the passenger seats were removed. In their place was a couple of handmade wooden benches that could transform into a flat platform in the night. As a mattress were two foldable cushions. We also had a nice cozy comforter, bedding and pillows. To cook we had a small gas camping stove, basic cookware and eating implements. We had a couple of towels but our bathroom would be found in nature and gas stations.
Our rental company, Andean Roads, was kind enough to come pick us up at our hotel in Montserrat, Buenos Aires. We got the van at their headquarters in the suburb of Tigre. After some signing of papers and explanation of how the van worked, we were on our way.
We first drove to the local shopping mall to pick up some down coats for keeping warm in Patagonia. We quickly realized that driving
in Argentina was a bit different than any driving we had ever experienced. Pascal was a bit better suited to the driving conditions as a born and bred European. First, the intersections are confusing. They have generally no stop signs and even if there are any, Argentinians don't really pay attention to them. We never really got the hang of them. We think it is basically "try not to hit anything" and "don't be a slow poke" that are the two rules at play.
On the highway, most of the time there are two lanes, one in each direction. The trucks can go 80 km/hr, the buses 90 and cars 110. So at least that makes it pretty easy to pass big vehicles. But watch out for oncoming traffic!
Once you get out of Buenos Aires, there isn't much around but cattle and dry pasture. There is a lot of beautiful dry nothing, and roadside parilla vendors. You can get a beautiful salame, cheese and wine in this country for almost nothing. It is like Christmas everyday.
Our first night we spent four hours south of Buenos Aires at what would become our favorite gas station of
all time, YPF. Not only do they let you sleep on their premises, they give you hot water for mate, often have wifi, a place to plug in your phone, sometimes showers for 100 pesos, and a cafe serving media lunas and cappuccinos in the morning! Not to mention they always had the cheapest gas. Like in New Jersey, and the old days in other parts of the world, they have gas attendants who will also check your oil and clean your windshield. You will see signs asking you not to clean your mate cup in the bathroom.
So we flew down the northeast coast stopping to sleep on the beach with our trusty application iOverlander and to see the town of Grutas (caves). In summer these regions are full of vacationers from Buenos Aires but at this time of year there were not many bathers.
So we sort of hopped down to Puerto Madryn. There we had a luxurious lunch on the beach. I ordered a cazuela, a seafood stew and we had some white wine from Argentina.
Next we headed over to the magical Valdez Peninsula which was a giant UNESCO world heritage site and
nature park. After the entrance gate we got our first glimpse of a Guanaco, a peculiar animal related to the camel and looking like a llama. They like to dash near cars.
We arrived at Puerto Pyramido where we could find everything you would want in a village (YPF) and more. We found a nice sandy parking lot to cook dinner and sleep.
The next day we headed out to see the Sea Lions. Boy are they loud!
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We also got to see Penguins very very close. They do like to hang out in couples.
Next we tried to drive up to see the Orcas. The problem is that their roads are all sandy and wet, so the Kangoo almost got stuck. So instead we turned around, bought some pasta for dinner and settled in to our van bed.
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