Travel Diary: January & February 2023 (Summer holidays in Argentina)

The end of our last travel diary, had us leaving Ushuaia with one thing in mind – finding somewhere that we could have a summer holiday and enjoy some sun, sand and surf. 

The only issue being that in all likelihood we had over 3 000km to travel until that might be possible.  Our timing to leave straight after Christmas was also partly influenced by the fact that the weather forecast showed some very strong winds heading towards Tierra del Fuego in a couple of days, although this did not mean we escaped the wind entirely. 

The 200km from Ushuaia to Rio Grande was a constant battle with head and side winds which were so strong that when we stopped in Rio Grande to fill up with diesel and finally had the wind behind us, it actually blew Mr Jones forwards at 4km/h until Stuart applied the handbrake.  This is no mean feat when you consider that he weighs approximately 2,5tons!!  Our intention had been to camp at the fuel station before continuing to the border crossing, as we had on the way south but with the wind as strong as it was this was really not a viable option and so we pushed on for the border and the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego hoping to find a more sheltered spot somewhere along the road for the night.  The border crossing would be our 3rd time we crossed from Argentina into Chile and as readers will recall each time we had sacrificed something to the Agricultural border officers due to the strict but random application of what was allowed to cross the border and what not so where fully expecting to make a sacrifice again but what we hadn’t factored in was the power of the wind and how it could keep even the most enthusiastic officer cowering away inside his building –  for a brief moment both ourselves and Mr Jones liked the wind..

After a quick border crossing we battle the wind for a couple more hours until we got to the oil and gas exploration village of Cerro Sombrero (Hat mountain) arriving at 20:45 after a very long day and just a few minutes before sunset, thus ensuring we didn’t break our rule of “avoiding driving at night”.  The facilities were fully locked up but at least the campsite at the bottom of the hill offered a little bit of protection from the wind.  In total we had managed 400km for the day which considering that the headwinds often reduced Mr Jones to a top speed of 40km/h was very good going and at least we were closer to the ferry across the Straits of Magellan.

The following morning we got an early start as based on the queues we had witnessed for the southern boarding point a few days earlier on our way south, we expected a long wait but thankfully we only had to wait an hour before we were steaming across the straits.   The crossing was much rougher this time, thanks to the strong winds, and so after 30 minutes we were very happy to drive back onto mainland South America knowing that no more ferry crossings would be required for many months.  All things considered, our timing to leave Ushuaia was good because as we learnt a few days later, the ferry shut down for 24 hours when the REALLY strong winds arrived.

Leaving the ferry we enjoyed a brief period of tailwinds which blew us along quite nicely for the 50km it takes until you get to the next border crossing which takes you back from Chile to Argentina but luck was most definitely not on our side this time.   Both countries only had a few counters operating which were simultaneously handling both entries and exit which considering it was peak holiday period resulted in total chaos.   The lengthy queues and long wait outside exposed to the elements  forced us to draw comparisons to what we imagine, it must be like to cross from South Africa to Mozambique during the December holidays.  Although there were at least two significant differences, firstly there were no border runners/touts adding to the chaos and secondly the temperature was only 4 degC instead of 30DegC.  Add in the constantly howling wind (and associated wind chill) with the occasional bit of rain (which actually fell as tiny ice drops) and it made the 4hours it took to cross the border a very long and painful process.

The nearest town to the border is Rio Gallegos, which while only being 70km away may as well have been twice that with strong headwinds and so we put our heads down and plodded on as best we could, finally pulling into a YPF fuel station in the early evening.  For both driver and passenger, it had been a long and tiring couple of days and so we succumbed to the convenience of a gas station hamburger (and immediately regretted it) before retiring to Mr Jones to wash away our tiredness with a bit of wine.

Over the next 4 days this daily cycle basically repeated itself of battling strong winds across the boring pampa with the added concern that Mr Jones appeared to be running hotter that we thought he should but given how hard he was being made to work in the winds it was always difficult to be certain if the chief mechanic was being paranoid or if in fact there was an issue with his cooling system.  In an effort to address some of these concerns we had, we decided to change the v-belt tensioner pulley wheel as it seemed like the bearing was running very rough and then a day later over our lunch break we swopped out his thermostat for a new one.

The culmination of all these long days, New Years Eve 2022 spent in another YPF gas station in the “one horse town” of Garayalde.   We think we counted 5 houses and presume they were only there for the employees off the fuel station.  Naturally there were no fireworks to see in the New Year but we did celebrate upon discovering that you could purchase a lovely hot shower for the princely sum of ZAR8 per person.

New Year’s Day 2023 and we decided to head to the beach, as almost all South Africans do on this day each year.  Camerones is a little town, about 80km east of Ruta 3, near to a penguin colony & reserve and it seemed like it had some nice wild camping options along the coast leading to the colony so we decided to make a small diversion from the slog northwards and where hoping that with a bit of luck we could find a spot to take a few rest days.  The drive towards the coast as we descended slightly from the pampas was quite scenic and as we skirted along the coast past many little bays with cold wind-blown water we were reminded a lot of the South African west coast, in particular the area around Paternoster.   The colony itself was for us fairly arbitrary however we did find a spectacular campsite which was wind free and overlooked the ocean so got to spend the afternoon soaking up the sun and just relaxing.

Unfortunately, any plans to spend another day there were blown away around 1am when the wind picked up and buffeted the hell out of Mr Jones, so after a rather disturbed sleep we packed up in the morning to continue our northwards slog.   Hoping to avoid (for as long as possible) getting onto the boring and wind buffeted Ruta 3, we decided to take the scenic but perhaps rougher road along the coastline for before it eventually intersected with Ruta 3.  A small navigational error quite early on in the morning meant we actually landed up heading diagonally inland on what become a very minor road connecting a few farms but perhaps this was a silver lining as for 2 hours we didn’t see a soul, the scenery was quite good and we got to soak up how truly remote many farms and homesteads are in this part of Patagonia.

With all the mileage we had put in over the last couple of months Mr Jones was a little overdue for an oil change, so in the town of Puerto Madryn we pulled in to a lube centre for a quick oil and filter change before heading out to Peninsula Valdez.  At the right time of the year the peninsula offers fantastic whale sightings and if you are really lucky the opportunity of witnessing Orcas hunting seals on the beach.   These Orcas actually charge right out of the water onto the beach to catch their supper!  Mid-summer is not that time of the year which is perhaps a good thing as otherwise the Orca’s may have been feasting on Argentinians who were out soaking up the sun and swimming in the very very cold water.   Our campsite that night was only meters from the waters edge above a stony pebble beach and for the most part it was wind free.

Leaving Peninsula Valdez a few more days of mostly slogging along Ruta 3 followed before finally, 11 days and nearly 3000km after leaving Ushuaia we were finally able to point Mr Jones more east than north and start to search out places for the summer holiday we were seeking.  Our first stop near tiny little seaside village called Balneario Los Angeles offered much hope with a huge free camping area just above the beach, free fresh water from a hand borehole pump (which some fellow campers kindly offered lessons on how to prime after Stuart spent quite some time fruitlessly pumping without obtaining any water) and the possibility of some surfing.   The only downside was there was some wind when we arrived but we had been expecting that and it certainly wasn’t putting off the locals who had driven their vehicles down to the high-water mark and were lined along the beach for a couple of kilometres basking in the sun.  Unfortunately, on our second day there the wind really picked up and sent clouds of sand flying across the landscape and coating us and Mr Jones in a fine layer of grit.  If it hadn’t been for that we could have potentially free camped there for a week but the wind had us packing up in the morning and heading for the next town of Necochea and the possibility of a more formal campsite which would also offer some wind protection.

The campsite in Necochea is huge, we estimated over 300 sites, with all the amenities to be expected at a summer holiday destination – swimming pools, easy access to the beach, organised activities for the kinds and so on.   They also have a cool little thing they do at the entrance where they fly the flags of the various nationalities staying there and we were suitably impressed when a very new looking South African flag was pulled out to welcome us.  And in the strangest of coincidences, not 10 minutes after we had parked Mr Jones in our site a gentlemen walked over and greeted us with “waar van daan kom julle”   (Afrikaans for “where are you from”).  It turned out Max and his wife who are from South Africa had arrived just minutes behind us.

Being peak season, the campsite had a minimum of a 3 day stay which although it wasn’t the perfect destination did allow us to relax, get a few surfs in and spend time kuiering with our fellow SAFFAS.  The only downside was that despite there being theoretically good cellphone signal the network was clearly overloaded with all the holiday makers which meant even to download a book on the kindle was a next to impossible task, so when Denise (Tania mom) birthday rolled around we packed up Mr Jones for a quick trip into town and further away from the crowds in order to make some WhatsApp phone calls. Our “forced” 3 day stay become 4 when we woke up on the 4^th day feeling a little fragile after a long kuier session with Max and his wife the evening prior and thus decided to stay one more night before moving.

A little further up the coast, between Miramar & Mar del Plata, we had our eye on a campsite called La Redonda Eco camp which looked like it would be exactly our kind of vibe and so once we had “recovered” we packed up for what should have been a short hop of only 120km, sadly Mr Jones had other ideas as very soon into the trip Stuart noticed his temperature gauge climbed very quickly at the slightest effort and really struggled to come down.  At this point we were seriously considering renaming Mr Jones to Mrs Jones as “it” was acting very menopausal! 

Initially we stopped and allowed him to cool down before continuing but when he did it again very soon thereafter we began to fear the worst and that we had a major problem especially bearing in mind that we had only just changed a previously faulty thermostat.   Thanks to Mr Jones, Stuart’s physical mechanical skills are continuously improving but diagnosing an issue is a little more complicated.  A combination of having recently changed the thermostat and the fact that many miles ago in Africa a mechanic had told us he thought the water pump was on its last legs had us assuming that this is what exactly had happened –  the water pump was kaput.   All was not lost however as just up the road was a 2 person police checkpoint we could limp too and then as we carry a spare water pump in the spares box, set about changing it while safely parked/camped next to them.

Changing a water pump is in theory not the most complicated task but it is also not the simplest as it requires removal of the fan and a number of pulley wheels along with draining all the coolant out.  Under normal workshop circumstances, once the new water pump was installed you would fill the system with new coolant but being stuck almost exactly between two towns meant this was not an option and so we tried our best to capture as much as we could in a bucket knowing that at least we had water in our big water tank to make up the difference.  All was going well, until an hour before sunset the 8th and final bolt holding the water pump on proved to be particularly tight and stubborn.  Not wanting to shear a bolt and then be truly stranded, we decided it was time for supper and some wine, after all it was already 8pm and tomorrow was another day.  This proved to be an excellent strategy, not only did Tania make a great supper but the wine perhaps brought a bit of clear thinking in which we wondered if perhaps the “new” thermostat could be faulty?  After coffee and breakfast the following morning, Stuart removed the thermostat and tested it in some near boiling water. Lo and behold, it wasn’t opening!  

Having found the cause of our problems, we reassembled everything barring replacing the thermostat and set off a couple of hours later for the nearest town of Miramar which we managed to get to just before the start of siesta and thus order a replacement thermostat.  

As the replacement would take a few days to arrive in town, it didn’t make sense to carry on to the original intended camp of La Redonda but rather to settle in to the one in Miramar.

Once again this was a huge campsite at close to full capacity but unlike the last one didn’t have clearly designated sites so after driving around a bit we thought we had found a perfect spot near the boundary and under some trees and duly set up camp before taking a walk to check out the beaches which were just across the road.  Upon returning to Mr Jones we were met by a security guard (he must have been on siesta when we setup…) who confronted us in an angry and forceful manner.  Despite us trying our best to explain we only speak a little Spanish and do not understand what the problem is, he just got louder and more forceful until eventually all the tiredness and frustration from our recent tribulations come bursting out and Tania proceeded to talk back equally forcibly and loud in Afrikaans!  

That seemed to do the trick and he duly backed off clearly not knowing what we were telling him and we wandered off to the office to find out what the problem may be?  It turns out they don’t want people to camp directly on the boundary fences as it is a perceived security risk and that this was what the security guard had been trying to tell us.  Over the course of our stay we got to witness this some interaction many times and come to realise that he wasn’t ever really angry and instead it was just his natural demeanor.

To make matters worse, in the process of moving Mr Jones 10 metres forward to a “suitably acceptable” spot, Stuart managed to snap his favorite surfboard.  They say that first impressions are often the truest and based on our first couple of hours,  it would not have been surprising if we had only stayed a few days and left as soon as the thermostat arrived in town. In his case it was the opposite and we had an extended stay and really started to enjoy our summer holiday: the vibe in the campsite was good, the beach was an easy walk across the road and overtime we began to exchange pleasantries with the security guard –  he even made sure that nobody took our spot when we took Mr J into town for shopping or to collect the new thermostat and a repaired surfboard.   In between surfing and just chilling, Stuart eventually flushed the entire cooling system and replaced both the coolant and thermostat.

Sixteen days after arriving we eventually upped roots and moved on to a new destination, not that we intended on going far – the “cool eco” campsite we had eyed out a couple of weeks previously was only 15km up the road.  Whereas two weeks prior our arrival in camp had got off to a rocky start our arrival at La Redonda was the exact opposite, it is a small community run campground and so doesn’t have full time staff but one of the campers, Moni, took us under her wing and showed us around and in the process making us instantly feel at home.  

Added to that, Chapadmalal, the village it is located in has a real funky and earthy vibe with a big surfing culture and so despite the camp having more basic facilities which meant we would have to rely on our solar panels for power,  we immediately planned to stay for a couple of weeks as well.  Murphy however was lurking in the background and on the second day the weather turned overcast and we discovered that being South African means Mr Jones is not immune to the scourge of load shedding – his second solar panel was no longer putting out any power!   On sunny days one panel is sufficient to charge the batteries but when it is overcast we need the second panel to be able to remain sustainably off grid.  So just as has been done in South Africa a “state of emergency” was quickly declared and the energy minister procured a new panel before duly setting about making the modifications and brackets necessary to install it.   This did require us spending a night in the bigger town of Mar de Plata while we trawled it in search of a solar panel but as soon as we had one, we headed back to Chapadmalal hoping for an extended and uninterrupted stay.

The La Redonda campsite is perfectly located on small headland with two beaches in coves either side of it, which makes checking the surf conditions really easy as it was literally only a 100m walk from Mr Jones to the top of the cliffs and so an easy routine developed of getting up in the morning, check the surf and then either surf or have breakfast followed by a morning on the beach, back to Mr J for lunch and then a short amble to check the surf in the afternoon.   If the afternoon surf was no good or blown out, then it was either hammock time or solar panel bracket making time – all round a perfect continuation to our summer holiday.

Unbeknown to us the cliffs below camp hold quite a paleontological treasure trove which we discovered one day when there was much excitement down on the beach – a little girl had spotted something in the rocks which intrigued her and pointed it out to her parents, who duly took a photo and set it off for verification.  A couple of hours later a few paleontologists arrived to begin the messy work of trying to excavate a 2,5million year old “gliptodonte”.

We mentioned that we really enjoyed the vibe of the village and the community feel of the campsite and this was further enhanced when on the first weekend there we got invited to join a mini walking tour of the village and greenbelt areas surrounding it, thus giving an insider’s view to places we may not have seen on our own.   It is not often (perhaps because we are always wondering what is around the next corner) that we pause and think: “this is a place we could live”.  In Chapadmalal we however did exactly that. 

The final cherry on the top for us was that only 10km inland is a superb winery which has some fantastic white wine thanks to its location close to the cool ocean.   Tania has really struggled to find nice white wines in South America so as a treat for her birthday we headed inland for a picnic under the trees followed by a little bit of wine shopping.

In previous travel diaries we have written about how the camaraderie that exists among overlanders (who are all far from family), during occasions such as Christmas is something that is quite special and we have generally found the some to be over birthdays.  On previous birthdays we have received simple gifts of a can of beer, a homemade card or a fake birthday cake complete with candles in a tiny little tin that can be carried with you until the next birthday arises.  In all cases it is not the size or nature of the gift but rather the thought and care that comes from strangers who just want to wish you a good day and this day was no different – Moni (our first greeter) and her family presented Tania with a wild flower and some small sweets when we returned from lunch, rounding off what was a very good birthday.

Before we knew it another 2 weeks had passed, meaning we had now spent, in total, over a month enjoying our summer holiday and would need to move on, partly because the weather would soon start to turn, partly because we were beginning to get itchy feet and partly because we knew we had some potentially time-consuming maintenance to be done on Mr Jones and had to be aware of the length of our visa.  The plan was to most likely head into Buenos Aires where we could take an Airbnb while Mr Jones was being attended too but first we backtracked slightly to Miramar so that we could do the usual monthly admin items like laundry, recharging cellphones, etc.

Long discussions and analysis could probably be had regarding whether travelling in an old landy like Mr Jones is a sane thing to do or not but one aspect that is most definitely indisputable is that he is the perfect “wingman” and if it wasn’t for him we probably wouldn’t have met half the awesome people we have.   While leaving the shops in Miramar this fact was proved once again when we got flagged down by a chap called Matio who told us his brother is fanatical about Land Rovers and proceeded to duly invite us to his house and restaurant on the beach for lunch.  What followed was a wonderful afternoon filled with laughter and good times as we got introduced to his family, friends and staff.

Another person we met, most likely thanks to Mr J, was Agustin and his daughter Tatiana.  We had spent a couple of evenings chatting and enjoying each other’s company while camped at La Redonda and during those chats Agustin had offered to help try find a mechanic in Buenos Aires (BA) as he had a friend who owned a landy and could no doubt recommend somebody.  As it turned out the friends landy was nowhere near BA but this did not deter Agustin from putting in a big effort to find an enthusiast, who offered to assist,  in a little town just north of BA called San Antonio de Areca and so once we left the coast we started to work away towards this while stopping along the way at the small towns of Tandil (great shopping for cold meats and cheese), Las Flores and Lobos.

In Las Flores we were able to meet up with some other people Mr Jones had “introduced” us to in the campsite in Miramar, Jose and his wife Clara.   They have a small farm on the outskirts of Las Flores and had invited us to stop past if we happened to pass that way.  Once again, we had a lovely afternoon of socialising around the asado interspersed with bouts of showing Mr Jones off to the various friends of Jose that stopped past throughout the course of the afternoon to admire him.

In the meantime, our paths with the Landy enthusiast had crossed when he went away to the coast for what we initially thought was a long weekend and so had thought we would just hang out in San Antonia de Areca for a couple of days but when his return seemed to get extended more and more we decided to backtrack slightly and visit Agustin at his house on the outskirts of BA.  This would give us the opportunity to take him out for dinner and thank him for all his help and additionally give us a base from which to explore the Tigre delta.  We had initially thought of staying a couple of nights with him but thanks to his great hospitality and a number of dinner dates made with friends of his, it very quickly become  6 days.  As an added bonus over the various late nights we got a real glimpse into middle class Argentinian life.

The landy enthusiast had either not yet returned from Mar del Plata or was no longer enthusiastic about helping us, as we had not had any further communication from him and so we decided we would instead delay the work we wanted to do on Mr Jones until we had headed cross-country to Mendoza.  The standard visa free length of stay in Argentina is 90 days and it was already 64 days since our most recent entry, which while this meant we still had sufficient time to cross the country and attend to the mechanical aspects it would not give us enough time to explore the northwest section of the country, at leisure.  A border run was therefore required and Uruguay was the obvious choice, so on a very hot last day of February we bid farewell to Agustin and ambled our way up the Rio Uruguay to Fray Bentos and its associated border post.

Below you can find links to other parts of the blog which complement the travel diary: