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Published: February 26th 2009
Ushuia from above
The world's southernmost city from about 3000ft up in a VW with wings.After travelling alone for a few weeks we arrived in Ushuia, the southernmost city in the world (big country town really) to rejoin Carmen and the other truck passengers. We grabbed a few extra days in non-tent accomodation though, which was a double bonus as after the countries we have been in we found Argentina quite expensive and elected to forgo the many resteraunts in town and cook in out our little kitchenette!
It was here we said goodbye to Nancy as she was lucky enough to secure a berth on her preferred ship to Antartica at a good saving. After nearly three months travelling together, it was strange to see her wave us off when we pulled out on our 3500km journey to Buenos Aires: little did we know we would not be going very far.....
The national boundaries are a bit arbitrary down here following a couple of centuries of disputation, so we had to cross back into Chile in order to leave Argentina, if only for a few hours. Again we suffered the enthusiasms of Chilean immigration staff, waiting for a good 90 minutes to get an entry stamp and visa for a couple of days.
Off to work
Magellan penguins head toward the (rather chilly) Atlantic in sourthern Argentina. Back on the truck and across Tierra Del Feugo we headed - one of the flattest, windiest and driest places we have been. A couple of hours into the journey, Carmen´s brakes failed and we pulled into a quarry at the side of the road to investigate. Turned out there was no compressed air being made ( I learned this was essential for trucks) so no forward progress was going to happen until some serious repairs were made.
The wind was freezing cold, so we commandeered a rusty bus that had been converted with a kichen and seating for the quarry workers, who were somewhat bemused at a bunch of gringos squatting in their gravel pit in the middle of nowhere. The crew traced the problem late that evening, but did not have the parts necessary to make the repair, so it was an unscheduled overnight stop for us all. In the morning they hitched to somewhere a mobile phone would get a signal, contacted the crew of another Dragoman truck that was due to use the same (only!) road to get out of Patagonia and asked them to bring the necessary bit.
Keeping his distance
from the smelly people from the truck. At this stage of the trip, the penguin was comfortably the cleanest character on the beach... To cut a long story short, they arrived late that afternoon, it took til 4.00am to fix the truck meaning another night in the quarry for all of us well bored passengers and we left before lunch the folowing day, still with more than 3300kms to go, and 2 fewer days to do it in :-(
For four days we just drove and drove and drove through flat grassland, seeing little but a few cows and dusty fields. Dull does not describe it........... We had a little relief with a morning at penguin colony, and a couple of trips to the supermarket for supplies, but that was about it. Anyone contemplating this leg shoud seriously consider booking a flight!
Finally we reached BA having, thanks to marathon driving sessions by the crew, got back on schedule. The Agent and I took one look at the place and decided we´d stay for a few extra days while the truck drove further north en-route to Iguazu to see the falls.
What a fabulous city BA is. Tango of course, great and affordable food of all kinds, friendly citizens, good art everywhere, fascinating architecture.
Decorated death
Detail of just one of thousands of competitively designed tombs in Recoletta cemetery. Turning on the TV in our room, it seemed strange that three out of five advertisements were for bio-active yoghurts, possibly due to the amount of steak they consume here. We learned too that BA is the cosmetic surgery capital of South America, and the evidence is thick on the streets to see - lips, boobs and bots being the most frequently ´improved´bits............ We did a couple of walking tours with BAFreeTours which were great, and we more than amazed when the 31 year old guide told us that more than half of her high school class had already had some cosmetic procedure (or two!). If you come to BA, find your way to these tours - one of the highlights.
We spent time in La Boca, a relatively rundown but exuberantly coloured neighbourhood famous for its football team, artist colony and tango demonstrations in the street. Tango is everywhere here, with the music leaking from buildings and around every street corner, not all of it aimed at tourists. Having seen a bit of it, I think it is doubtless a very passionate if not aggressive style of dancing, and requires a level of coordination I could
Needs must!
Kids turn a fountain into a pool and packing material into surfboards on a hot day in BA. only dream about!
We moved to Palermo from the Central district when Carmen left, and found a bar/boutique/resteraunt infested area full of high fashion, late night revellers and edgy architecture. Both of us decided we would not be unhappy to live here, with the essence of the place neatly summed up by the fact that your takeaway pizza is delived on roler blades rather than by your usual scooter born adolescent!
Recolletta cemetery kept us busy for a morning with its fabulously and competitively ornate mausoleums, each trying to be more impressive than the one next to it. Some were immaculate, maintained by the city (if you were important enough) or by still wealthy families. Others were in various stataes of dereliction, with broken angels and sagging doors not uncommon. Although a popular destination during the day due to its famous resident Eva Peron (Evita), with government provided tours every few hours (English on Tuesdays and Thursdays only) it remains somewhere likely to be unnerving of an evening..........
BA was where we said goodbye to some of our favourite travelling companions - Huw, Claudia and Terry all needed to head home from here.
How it's done in BA
You probably don't recognise us with our hair coloured and in the fancy dress....... Some farewell drinks and promises to share some photos when the chance arrives and then they were gone. Their departures were a real loss to the truck community in more ways than one................
One lasting impression of BA will be the drivers, each and everyone seeming to believe they are direct descendents of Juan Fangio, the famous GP driver. Every vehicle, buses and bikes included, cuts the apex of corners even on multi-laned avenues and freeways, considers every redlight to be the begiining of a drag race and uses every inch of asphalt to make forward progress, turning clearly marked two lane roads into three or four lanes of traffic, making left turns (without the benefit of indicators) from the right side of the road and tailgating as a mater of course. It makes the circus around the base of the Arc de Triumph in Paris look positively pedestrian!
From BA it was a short flight for us to Puerto Iguazu, on the Argentine side of the Iguazu Falls. The Falls span both the Argentine and Brazilian border, and we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit both sides. This was
Boca kids on court
This game is really popular in South America, but why does the small guy always get stuck in goal? also the place for the Agent, travelling on a mere Australian Passposrt, to secure her Brazilian Visa. Simple, easy and done in an hour were the reports on the internet - bureaucratic, time consuming and expensive were the verbal reports from other travellers. Much consternation ensued when the Agent found out that the office was only open from 8am - 2pm and we had arrived at 3. Leaving everything til the last moment, the Visa was required in 24 hours time if the journey was to continue as planned - fortunately our Group Leader Digga had the same challenge. Luck on our side, by 8.15am the next morning the nice man at the Brazilian Consulate had been charmed and had promised that the Visas would be processed that very morning, and that Digga could collect not only his, but also the Agent's at 1pm that afternoon, leaving the Agent free to enjoy the rest of the days at the Falls as planned.
The Falls themselves are one of the wonders of the natural world and not surprisingly spectacular - bigger than we anticipated, equivalent to more than 100 ordinarily impressive waterfalls you might see in the tropics all welded
together. On the Argentinian side we got up close and personal with a boat trip that took us under the cascade and tested the waterproofing of the Agent's camera. From the Brazil side, we were presented with a much more panoramic view which completed the 'set' of our Iguazu expeirence. A champagne lunch overlooking the falls re-enforced that overlanding does not always have to be rufty-tufty !
After the Falls we visited a bird sanctuary which was great, and we saw Toucans, a range of parrots and Macaws, the latter which reminded me of my grandmother's bird collection in Cornwall - but's that's a story for another day....
Two days further driving and an eventful overnighter at a Brazilian roadside truck-stop (where the thread count on the sheets was something less than 300) and we were in Paraty, an ex-colonial port town now dedicated to gringo and local tourism. In fact they do tourism so well that no fewer than 6 overlanding trucks had gathered there to restore energy and clean laundry before the Carnival in Rio. Curiously it seemed that every shop in town sold Havianas, even the fast food place on
You are fit, but don't you know it!
Handsomest bird in the rain forest, and sat still for photo after photo too. I guess he's used to it......... the corner. Jane was unable to resist adding to her collection and left town with no less than 6 new pairs which started out as 'gifts' but somehow made it to her feet before we left. We skipped the 'all overlanders on one yacht booze cruise' in favour of hiring a local 'man with boat and ice filled esky' for the 3 of us, and snorkelled around for an afternoon. A dive the following day completed our Paraty experience and we were 'Rio-Ready'.
Carnival does not portray Rio in its ordinary light, but was certainly an experience that we will long remember. We found a city that partied all night - and often all day as well. The beaches were the social centre for thousands of colourful locals, who have turned bach going into an artform. Disappointingly not all the bikini wearers were postcard material, but that didn't stop them from behaving like they were ! A visit to Christ the Redeemer seemed mandatory, confirmed by the presence of every other tourist in town for Carnival. You can imagin how much I appreciated their company and their loudly shared views on the statue and everything else. It's
Unequal work for some?
It's all very well walking 9 dogs at once, but the little ones look shattered after keeping up with the boxers and alsatians! not as big as you think - and indeed up close is not the best perspectve of this world famous landmark.
Finally the big night arrived - we were off to the Sambadrome to see as many as six of the 12 finalist samba schools perform. Each school has spent months preparing costumes and floats by hand, for their 80 minutes of fame. A single school's performance would involve no fewer than 1000 dancers and 4 or 5 floats, with accompanying light and sound effects. By the end of the 80 minutes we all knew the words to the song, and were relieved when the next song would start. The samba queens are like royalty here. Certainly a spectacle that was worth experiencing once in our lives.
We have now left Carmen for the final time, heading to Panama to start the Central American part of our journey.
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Lynne & Simon
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Fed up of saying "wow" now...
but how have we missed hearing from you guys. Actually, when it's all over, do you think you could just keep sending blogs anyway - kind of like pretend you are somewhere exotic (oh silly me, you will be!). Thanks so much for the postcard - arrived yesterday! Would love to see the Argentinian Tango in the flesh - watching it on Strictly Come Dancing gives some idea of the passion and intricacy of the dance but I bet it's even better for real! All well this end (well apart from the fact that I bought a Dualit Toaster and Simon made me take it back - can't think why, I mean, it was only £175...what's wrong with the man? He seemed to think it should have popped up on its own as well...) Loved photo of the Toucan - glorious colour - typical boy and almost an equal for some of your shirts David! Off to France tomorrow - can't think of a better way to spend a 43rd birthday (eek!). Saw Annie today - she's good. D, you chose a good one in Mandy M - she's cool. We all miss you loads. Keep the blog coming and take care of each other. Lots of love Lynne & Simon xxxx