Patagonia Tour

[MikeRC]

I just got back yesterday from the Journey to Ushuaia tour run by Renedian Adventures.  

 

I will get around to processing my pictures and doing a Ride Tale later, but wanted to share this 10 minute video done by our support driver Pierre Heistein. 

 

South America Patagonia Motorcycle Tour - in 4K with a drone 

 

Mike Cassidy

[RandyShields]

Fantastic video.  Really beautiful country.

[Marty Hill]

Mike, all I can say is wow.  PS, I'm jealous.

[TEWKS]

Aw, very similar to last June's UN. Well, the tire plugging scene anyway.  That was spectacular! 

[beemerboy]

I've been contemplating this sort of journey myself and look forward to your impressions!

[MikeRC]

On 12/30/2019 at 7:18 PM, beemerboy said:

I've been contemplating this sort of journey myself and look forward to your impressions!

 

Since I have zero working knowledge of Spanish, I would never have attempted this trip on my own.  Especially since it involved 4 border crossings.  

 

If you are wondering how much I enjoyed it..... I'm considering the reverse trip for January 2021  

 

Still working on pictures and Ride Tale, but here are some teasers.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[wbw6cos]

EPIC!   Definitely on The Bucket list.  Glad to see you posting about it.   Thanks for sharing!!

[taylor1]

I am going to visit a friend this spring who now lives in Medellin, Columbia. No real time constraints. Was planning on just renting a scouter to  see the fairly local scenery. I am now rethinking my whole trip. My friend doesn't ride, so it will be just me.

I guess its research time  Thanks for sharing

[ron c]

Incredible video ......and I’m envious...

I’ve been following “Itchy Boots” on u-tube. Noraly is a woman from the Netherlands riding a Royal Enfield.

She has 2 trips documented. Season 1 starts in India. Season 2 has her in Patagonia heading to Alaska.

I recommend watching her channel.

Regards, Ron C.

 

 

 

.......

 

 

.

 

[MikeRC]

23 hours ago, ron c said:

Incredible video ......and I’m envious...

I’ve been following “Itchy Boots” on u-tube. Noraly is a woman from the Netherlands riding a Royal Enfield.

She has 2 trips documented. Season 1 starts in India. Season 2 has her in Patagonia heading to Alaska.

I recommend watching her channel.

Regards, Ron C.

 

 

 

OK, coincidence.   She is actually using some of the same roads we used. [S2 - E34] Battling Dust & Road Works on the Carretera Austral  gives an excellent overview of the variable road conditions. 

 

If you check out [S2 - Eps 32] First time crossing the Andes she is on the same road as we were (but going the opposite direction).    X-83 in Chile, RP-41 in Argentina.  

 

On the same day.   

 

Over the smallest/quietest Argentina/Chile border crossing there is.  

 

And yes, we were the group she referred to at the 12 minute mark.   Only one member of our group had actually been following her blog/vlog and recognized her. 

 

But we weren't aware she would be using the same road that day (since her videos are edited in Holland and posted 3-7 days later).  

 

We had already had lunch and couldn't take the bread or fruit over the border anyway    

 

Mike Cassidy

[ron c]

I watched those episodes 2 days ago. Small world, eh?

Ron

[MikeRC]

OK, a year later and finally getting back to this.   Who couldn't use a little travel distraction?

 

And everyone has lots of time on their hands, so I can drone on as much as I want.  Right?

 

I will do it in segments of a few days at a time.  

 

First entry: Mendoza 

The classic north-south Argentina tour is Ruta 40 (RN-40, La Cuarenta ).  It measures 5,224 km in length from the Bolivia border and altiplano in the north to the end of the road at Cabo Virgenes.  Although mostly paved, much of it is poor quality and there are still many sections being upgraded from gravel to pavement.  The entire length of Ruta 40 runs through or within 100km of the east slope of the Andes.  

The primary north-south Patagonia route in Chile is the Carretera Austral (CH-7).  It is a 1,240 km combined land and marine (ferry) route through rural Patagonia that was only completed in 1988.  Originally gravel, it is being upgraded to pavement over time. 

On our planned route, about 1/3 was unpaved and 2/3 was paved.  You can’t really avoid fairly long stretches of gravel in Patagonia, and I think that will continue to be true for quite a few years.  During our trip about 100km of each route (mostly Ruta 40 and CH-7) was in some stage of reconstruction or conversion from gravel to pavement.  In particular Chile doesn’t seem to have any plan to pave the approximately 150km of road in Torres del Paine National Park. 

I timed my arrival in Mendoza to allow myself one day for sleep adjustment and local orientation.  I also needed to acquire Argentine pesos.  Then I would spend another day on a local tour of either the Mendoza area wineries or a bus trip to the Chile/Argentina border and a glimpse of Aconcagua.  Because of the volatility of the Argentine (and to a lesser extent Chile) peso they are nearly impossible to buy in North America.  In late 2019 inflation in Argentina was running at about 50% per year.  The annual inflation rate in Argentina hasn’t been below 10% in over a decade.  An economist’s nightmare, a currency trader’s dream (or nightmare).  Chile has an inflation rate of only 2-5% over the last decade, so at least their currency is relatively stable. 

I only had 3 choices to get to Mendoza, and the best combination for me was through Houston, TX and Santiago, CL.  One 10hr overnight leg, but a long (7 hr) layover in Santiago.  Unfortunately, our trip took place during the fall 2019 civil unrest in Chile .  The week before my arrival the Santiago International Airport had actually been closed for a day due to a protestor blockade.   A Scottish friend was in Chile at the same time doing a bus tour with his adult daughter out of Santiago and they said it was one of the best tours they had ever been on.  Many tourists had cancelled their trips so the Chile transportation, accommodation and tourist destinations were all quiet and unrushed. 

I started my first day in Mendoza with a walk-about to get oriented to central Mendoza.  Beautiful park undergoing some renovations (Plaza Independencia)

 

Then down to the central commercial district to find a cambio for some currency exchange.  But when I got there, the lineups looked pretty long.  So I decided to try one of the banks affiliated with the Interac/Plus system.  Entering the bank there was a security check/metal detector and I was then directed to the exchange teller.  While in the line I decided to plan my next little excursion on Google maps.  BIG mistake.  Security guard barks at me to put the phone away, shifting his automatic weapon on his shoulder.  Okay, won’t make that mistake again.  The exchange rate at the bank was actually within 1% of the cambio, and I’m pretty sure the bank has a minimal number of counterfeit bills so I was pretty happy.  Back outside the bank I continued on my way.  I spent some time trying to shop for a local carrier SIM card, but there was no single company that could cover both Argentina & Chile so it was better to just use my home provider’s international plan. 

Then I noticed that some stores were closing up (it was about 12:30 pm) as were the street café’s.  It was local siesta time!  And it was a good thing I did my currency exchange because it turned out the cambios and banks were closing for the day.  There were already lineups of dozens of people at the ATMs.  So I hustled back to my hotel to arrange my tour for the next day and catch a nap before meeting a couple of other Renedian riders for supper at a local restaurant. 

My Mendoza Wine Tour the next day was of the Luján de Cuyo vineyards with Trout and Wine Tours of Mendoza.  I’m wasn’t much of a malbec fan previously, but after having a few estate malbecs I understood why some people are so passionate.  I’ve been on a number of wine tours of the more famous North American wine-growing regions and can say that my Mendoza tour was the best I’ve ever been on.  Four estate wineries with 4 wines at each.  And a five-course lunch at a four-star winery restaurant (Osadia de Crear at Susana Balbo).  We had a small group (eight) of enthusiastic Brits, Americans and the lone Canadian.  Our English-speaking guide (Golmary) and driver (Ricardo) were excellent at explaining the history and development of the region, and very patient with some “touchy” questions.  Brits should never bring up politics when they are in Argentina.  It is never going to go well.  Our guide Golmary was originally from Venezuela and had spent a year in Virginia when her father was working there.  She was on a long trip “finding herself” when she decided to stay in Argentina and eventually Mendoza.  I was very surprised to find that Argentina has a strong pro-immigration policy and has over 1.8 million citizens who were born outside Argentina (most from other South American countries).

 

 

 

Mendoza province is a cold desert climate and completely dependent on irrigation for the vineyards.  The irrigation canals bring in meltwater from the east slope of the Andes.  Some of the irrigation works can be traced back hundreds of years to the native Huarpes.  One thing I hadn’t seen before in vineyards were vertical netting to protect the vines (and grapes) from hail damage.  Being on the slope of the Andes brings fairly frequent hail in the summer.   

 

We had an informal rider’s meeting that night.  A few introductions and initial orientation talk.  Then a very casual dinner and early night.  

The next day was documentation and delivery of the motorcycles.  I had requested a BMW F800GS Adv.  Having previously used an F700GS and F800GS in Africa, I found the F800 was a reasonable compromise.  In particular knowing we might have quite a bit of sand for the first week or so and then mud the further south we went.  When I went to check the bike, it looked pretty well taken care of and only had 21,445km on it.  But the tires looked like they were about 2/3 gone and I wasn’t sure they would make it all the way to Ushuaia.  At least there were no plugs in the tires (unlike a few others).

And now we come up with recurrent problem in Argentina.  There are many barriers to imported machinery and parts.  Those include import licensing requirements, tariffs of as high as 25% and then ordering vs delivery currency deficit.  And whenever an Argentine importer orders foreign parts they have to pay with US dollars, but converting from a currency that depreciates by 1-4% per month!  So, whenever possible, Argentine residents source an Argentine part.  But there are no good tires for motorcycles produced in Argentina.  I was told by our guide (John) that new tires cost about twice in Argentina what they would cost in North America.  Everyone uses tires right down to the chord!   I would have to pay for a new set of tires, and probably have to miss the first day of the trip.  All in all, about 1/3 of the riders took off with tires that looked pretty marginal.  We all made it, and only had a couple of flats, but a number of us would have felt more secure with a bit more “bite” in the tires.    

So I spent the afternoon putting my GPS on the bike, getting the rest of my gear organized and finding an excellent affogato at Heladeria Famiglia Perin.  

Next up: First days on the road

 

[lawnchairboy]

On 12/16/2019 at 10:21 AM, MikeRC said:

I just got back yesterday from the Journey to Ushuaia tour run by Renedian Adventures.  

 

I will get around to processing my pictures and doing a Ride Tale later, but wanted to share this 10 minute video done by our support driver Pierre Heistein. 

 

South America Patagonia Motorcycle Tour - in 4K with a drone 

 

Mike Cassidy

look forward to the pics

[Rougarou]

Soooo much better than Long Way Up!!!!

[Oldrider51]

Something more to look at about this area, great pictures. Have been watching Itchy Boots Patagonia to Alaska on YouTube, so this is just more to be envious of. THANKS!

 

 

[MikeRC]

First days on the road (Mendoza to San Martin de los Andes)

 

Distance: 1390 km (625km unpaved) 

Vertical: 29,000 m

 

 

 

Distance: 1390 km (625km unpaved) 

Vertical: 29,000 m

The group consisted of 11 riders, one guide and two in the support vehicle. 

 

In general, riders that sign up for a trip in South America (or Africa) are pretty experienced.  And if they have been on a Renedian trip before they know that off-pavement sections are common.  Skill isn’t usually a limiting factor for these groups. 

 

There were six riders from the United States.  Of those six, two had been on a Renedian trip the previous year in Africa.  One unfortunate rider had his bike wash out from under him on an “off-piste” excursion in the Klein Karoo of South Africa.  His adventure was rewarded with insertion of some fine German steel alloy in a Cape Town Hospital to stabilize has bilateral ankle fracture.  And yet, there he was 13 months later ready to go at it again.  Four of the American riders had known each other for many years and done many trips together, including the Colorado and New Mexico BDRs.  The other two Americans had many miles on two wheels, but limited off-pavement experience.  

There were four Canadians, and all of us had been on a previous Renedian tour.  So, we all had some experience and were looking forward to the adventure.  That left the lone British rider.  Unfortunately, he had almost never ridden off pavement.  Even though he had no trouble keeping up, he never got comfortable on gravel (or sand or mud).  On the last day of the tour, after slogging through some mud on the way to the end of the road at Bahia Lapataia, he declared that he hoped to never again leave pavement as long as he lived.

The guide was John Wellburn.  John is a Canadian by birth but now splits his time between San Rafael, Argentina and Williams Lake, British Columbia.  In 2004 John set out on an old BMW airhead “hybrid” to explore the world.  But between money and mechanical woes he had to interrupt the trip a few times.  Eventually the bike and he settled down in Mendoza (and then San Rafael) and John started a family there.  Part of his time was spent guiding European clients on South America motorcycle tours, part tending a farm outside San Rafael, and part back in Williams Lake as a mechanic.  Photographer, ex mountain bike racer, ex ski racer, ex mountain climber.  An absolute character.

The support truck driver (and drone pilot) was Pierre Heistein, a South African expat now living in Argentina.  Pierre was an economist by training (Masters degree from Cape Town) and started in Argentina doing post-graduate work while fine-tuning his Spanish skills.  But he stayed to do some teaching at the University in Mendoza and consulting for various firms on international business relations.  Pierre turned out to be a perfect addition because we needed his advanced skills in both Spanish and negotiating for a few contentious border crossings.    

And last was Rene Cormier.  Rene was accompanying us to oversee how the trip was going with John in charge.  He was also there to try to iron out some problems with the business operation’s relationship with the local Argentine authorities.  As it turned out, John and Pierre had everything well in hand and Rene ended up just enjoying the trip as a participant.     

Most of the Argentine Provinces of Mendoza, Neuquén and Río Negro are cold desert volcanic plain right up to the foot of the Andes.  Vegetation is sparse outside the river valleys.  Basalt & lava flows of as recent as the last hundred years are frequent.  There is little to break up the relentless Patagonia winds once you are out of the Andes themselves. 

We were leaving Mendoza on a Sunday before everyone was out of church, so that went without drama.  No lines on the road, or at best they were considered suggestions.  And everyone with a little 5hitbox, clapped out, overloaded, oil burning econobox wanted to race the gringos.  No más.  An hour or so south of Mendoza we turned onto the road leading up the Atuel Canyon.  Usually, the Rio Atuel would be running high in the South America spring and filled with white water rafters & kayakers.  But much of Argentina was suffering from a multiyear drought and the river wasn’t very challenging.  We stopped on the Valle Grande Dam for a look around before continuing on.

 

 

 

When was the last time you remember being able to drive across a dam, let alone park on one?

 

After the dam the pavement ended and we were greeted by some challenging switchbacks.  And sure enough, an inattentive driver drove wide on one of the switchbacks and detoured one of our group into the soft shoulder.  No injuries to the rider or the bike. 

 

We stopped at a viewpoint and were joined by some local riders out for the day. 

 

 

Note the amputee in the picture?  

 

The rest of the gravel wasn’t a problem at all, and we soon rejoined Ruta 40 headed south to our accommodations for the night in Malargue.  But there were two things that got our attention on Ruta 40.  One was these large tank-like structures in the fields (desert).  The other was the wind.  Although Patagonia winds generally head east from the Andes and sweep across the Argentine plains, they are notorious for gusting at 45º to 90º to that general direction.  And without much foliage (especially grass/grain) to determine the direction of the gust coming at you, a gust can easily throw you off track.

It turns out the tanks in the field are surface detector stations for the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory.   And south of Malargue is a 35m deep space antenna used by the European Space Agency to communicate with their satellites and deep space probes.   

Malargue is also the town that the survivors of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 would have ended up if they had followed the water flow downhill.  But their copilot was sure they had already crossed the Andes and were on the Chile side. Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors.    

Comfy (but a bit crowded) accommodations that night and a set menu chosen by Rene and John.   In general, Argentine dinners are after siesta (8 to 9 pm).  Which can interfere with an early start the next morning.  Argentine cuisine is usually centered around a meat dish (beef, pork, goat, lamb or chicken) which is often prepared on an open flame or coals/barbeque (asado).  The dishes were not very spicy (I often found them quite bland).  Breakfasts were usually European style with cold cuts, cheese, fruit & vegetables and toast. 

The next morning was bright (and cool) for our departure.  After the first hour on pavement, we stopped for a short break and briefing.  The next couple of hours of Ruta 40 were likely to be under construction and also frequently had lots of large rock gravel alternating with sandy sections.  A video of that section of road runs from about 12:00 to 15:00 minutes in this video:  [S2 - Eps. 41] My motorcycle and me are boiling in the desert in Argentina .  Beautiful countryside. 

 

 

About 30 minutes into the unpaved section one of the riders misjudged the depth of the sand that had blown into a hollow in the road and went down (it would have been at about 14:45 in the video above).  I swear he and his bike wore that same dust until we ran into a significant rainfall a week later. 

The legend of “Dusty” was born.  First road nickname. 

Neat decommissioned bridge over the canyon of the Rio Grande carved through the lava.   What do you think the chances are the old bridge would be left in place in North America or Europe?

 

 

And also the first large collection of roadside shrines I had noticed (36°18'47.13"S    69°39'57.81"W  on Google maps). 

 

 I was used to these dedicated to blessing the traveler in Europe and Quebec.  But the ones in South America (and in particular Argentina) may contain a “relic” of someone who died near the shrine, or close to a place of significance of someone who died.  Or to worship a particular saint or popular figure of saint-like glorification.  Two recurring roadside shrines in Argentina are to the folk saints Difunta Correa and Gauchito Gil. 

 

The next day we headed west to the the Andes following the Rio Neuquen and Rio Agrio.  One of my favourite days because of the stark countryside, relatively fast gravel and distracting vistas.  And the peaks of the Andes coming closer and closer. 

 

Just before lunch we arrived at a very impressive waterfall (Cascada Rio Agrio). 

 

 

Followed shortly by the view over Lago Caviahue with the steaming Copahue Volcano behind.  This was as close to the Chile border as we would get for the next week. 

 

 

Very nice lunch in Caviahue, followed by a high speed run down some twisty tarmac.    

 

Since we were now right at the foot of the Andes the moisture level had risen and we were seeing more running water and more trees and dense bushes.  Including monkey trees!  

 

 

During one fuel stop, we came across this unusual site:

 

 

Our stay for the night was in a small hotel above Lago Alumine in Villa Pehuenia.  Most of the Andes towns have a lot of alpine European influence in the town layout and building architecture.  They are also heavily dependent on domestic & international tourism.  Many have both winter (skiing) and summer (hiking, climbing, kayaking) activities. 

 

Sharing our hotel parking lot was this assortment of vehicles.  It turned out we were leapfrogging with a Beunos Airies automobile club on their way to participate in the 1000 Millas Sport vintage automobile event in Bariloche.  We had seen a couple of the cars on the gravel portions of Ruta 40 and really wondered what would possess someone to torture those precious collectors’ items.   
 

Intermittent rain and low cloud moved in at the time of our arrival and continued to accompany us for the early morning of the following day.  Water running down the hillsides and a somber tone with the low cloud.   Very nice riding along Lago and Rio Alumine on RP23. 

 

 

Largely unpaved, and dry by the time we were on the gravel. 

 

 

We arrived in San Martin de los Andes early in the afternoon and got an early check-in.  Lots of time in the afternoon to catch up on photo editing, email correspondence and to have a long walk around town. 

 

 

There was a very strong Swiss influence in the town with specialty outdoors stores, chocolate shops and cafés.  The central square (Plaza Sarmiento) was almost an arboretum. 

 

 

Next up: The Andes of Argentina and our first border crossing

 

 

[Marty Hill]

Thanks Mike!