Into the Great Wide Open: Driving Argentina

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We had originally planned to drive from Bariloche to El Calafate via the Carretera Austral and Ruta 40 but everywhere we went, when we told people of our plans, everyone looked at us like we were crazy. The rental car people. The border control people. The hosteria people. Finally, we decided to follow everyone's advice and travel from Coyhaique to El Calafate via Rio Mayo and Sarmiento, and along the coastal road Ruta 3 through Comodoro Rivadavia, Caleta Olivia, Tres Cerros, Puerto San Julian, and Rio Gallegos.

When I was originally planning this trip, it seems I was unaware of some pretty important info. Like how super-HUGE Argentina really is. And how all the maps I saw in the guidebooks and that I bought in the U.S. seemed to make it seem that all the roads were really nice when they were, in fact, little more than dirt trails that stretched for hundreds of kilometers through completely empty country. No houses, no phones, no gas stations, no people. No nothing except for a few sheep and the odd guanaco here and there. I was also to find out, after buying a map that was actually produced in Argentina, that there is only ONE paved road in southern Argentina that runs north to south and only a couple of paved roads that run east to west. I had had no idea...

So, we ended up driving hundreds of kilometers out of the way but actually ended up saving loads of time. The only unanswered question I was left with was that with all that wide open empty space, straight highways and sparse traffic, why was it that I only came upon a slow-moving truck that I wanted to pass only when there was a curve, a hill, and traffic coming from the other direction?

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Photos

1
Just across the border crossing from Coyhaique Alto in Chile, heading east to Rio Mayo. This is the main "highway".

2
Patagonia: The Big Empty

3
Even though we changed our plans to largely avoid the gravel roads, they were impossible to completely avoid. We traveled for hundreds of kilometers on them...

4
Guanacos!!!

5
Ruta 3-----never any traffic-----until you want to pass!!!

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This is just after Ruta 40 runs into Ruta 11, east of El Calafate. That's Lago Argentino in the distance.

7
Looking east from the same viewpoint. After driving in realitively flat areas for several hours, the drop into this valley makes for a very dramatic and spectacular view.

8
The view of the mountains headed towards Perito Moreno glacier.

9
The view of the mountains over El Chalten.

10
Heading into El Chalten

11
Lorena's natural state during our days of driving...

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...and mine

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Ruta 20 near Facundo

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Ruta 20 near Facundo

15
Sheep drive near Gobernador Costa on a paved section of Ruta 40...