Gymkhana Argentinian Style

Sam, my Aussie classmate from Spanish School days, just called from Iguazu falls. He is there with Swiss Dan (he of the pick pocketed phone whilst listening to it. Sorry Dan, but it does make me giggle). He reminded me that I hadn't put down his wise words about the purpose of life "Live to Work or Work to Live" so there you go! Given that he is a Gold Prospector in the Soloman Islands I think he has done some pretty exotic travel already, given his tender years!

Woke up in Esquel today, which is good because that was were I went to sleep.
It was a long hike today to get to Comodoro Rivadavia on the Atlantic coast. Google had it at over 6 hours driving time and there was a long patch in the middle where i wasn't too sure about fuel and was pretty sure there would be no accomodation. I left without waiting for breakfast just in case i needed to detour to a town for fuel. A detour in this part of the country would be about 120kms.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the road was another cracker.After 10 minutes one of my mirrors came loose and was flapping around, I didn't want to stop as I had over 600kms to do. There wasn't much traffic and i was going faster than anything else on the road. Thinking of the immortal words from the Gumball Rally "The first rule of Italian driving......what is behind you is not important" said whilst ripping the mirror off and throwing it away (in the film not me).
I did stop eventually as it was silly to continue. Trouble is the bloody tool kit was in a pannier which had tyres & a fishing rod strapped on top of it! I fixed it at the side of the road where a hitchiker was juggling pebbles whilst waiting for a lift. He was wearing a woolly hat which i took to be a fashion statement. A few miles later I was getting cold! Obviously heading sounth and rising altitude was to blame. The bike has a temp gauge (at the press of a few buttons) 10 degrees plus the wind chill of about 80 mph.

So i stopped again to put the liner back in my jacket (given the heat up until now I hadn't needed it). Guess where that was............yep in a pannier under tyres and a fishing rod! No juggling hitch hiker this time to entertain whilst i got changed. That was better but i did stick the hand heaters on for a while too.

The road was clear and good and for once the wind was on my back. The bike was singing along at 90 and it felt like it was on tick over.

This was the desolate interior of Argentina but I find it interestnig. The changes are continuous. The bushes become smaller, there are salty lakes and the bare mountains constantly change colour. At one point there was a section where the red of ferrous oixde met the verdegris of copper and the white of lead. I am not a geolist but I assume that is where the colours come from. Given my experience of trying to capture the mountains I didn't attempt to film these but they are fantastic to the naked eye! The thing the camera can't do is give the panorama - the sights are literally all around you.
I made great time and was suprised how easily we covered the distance - may arse wasn't aching so it must be getting used to long days in the saddle.

I was beginning to get a bit nervous on the fuel front and i would need to make a decision at the next junction. There was nothing to suggest a fuel stop before it. Luckily a small town that only just registered on the map had a YPF station, and a queue obviously. A couple of guys had some trials bikes on a trailer and came over and loved the bike (as usual).
There was nowhere to eat or drink so headed off. not five minutes outside of this town and i saw Rheas (about half size Ostrich like things) and Guancao, small Llama type
I was going too fast to stop and take pictures so pinched these from the Net. I also saw some Flamingo's in a salty lake but you know what they look like.

More good progress on a road that was not the best. It was in the middle of nowhere and a sign said "Crap road  needing work for 160 kms" but in Spanish obviously. There were also signs saying look out for animals.There was plenty of roadkill so it wasn't a false message. I didnt fancy hitting anything at speed on the bike so it meant scanning the scrub either side of the road and keeping an eye out for pot holes - of which there were many! It made for concentrated riding.

Dropping down out of the hills you then come to Pampas, water meadows, soft green countryside and the first decent sized town en route, Sarmiento. Looking for some food i turned into the town. It was a Rodeo day! There were more Gauchos than you could shake a big knife at and horses throughout the town. I parked the bike and bought a ticket - i think it must have been the local football club ground.

It looked as if they were warming up for the main events later in the day and I needed to move on but there was going to be plenty of action by the looks of it.

Most of he Gauchos looked as if they had their Sunday best on. I am not sure how many of these guys were the real thing. When you see the guys out on the Pampas they look a lot more weather beaten & tougher than most of these guys. The Gaucho has several key bits of kit - Knee length boots, Bombachas (black baggy trousers), Berret (mostly) and a bloody great knife tucked in his belt.

It was odd to be amongst the whole cast of a Spaghetti Western, yet I was the one dressed strangely!

The horses all look incredibly fit and calm. There were even kids (no more than 6 or 7) giving these horses a run around the arena at pace. Not a hard hat or rib protector in sight! I also noticed that the Gaucho rides with his knees incredibly high (but not like a race jockey). I bet there were some fights later as there were plenty of stalls selling beer!

I would have liked to see the main event later in the day but i had to press on. I queued for more petrol and left.
The greenry gives way to more scrub land and you go from Horse flesh to Nodding Donkey's. This is an area rich in oil and there are plenty of these littering the vast expanse.

Comodoro Rivadavia is on the Atlantic coast, a port where the ship out their Oil & Gas but it is a nice town for all that. Small pebble beach and lots of waterfowl (not my thing but i am sure Al & Chris would love it).

Another really good day. It is fun bumping in to things & I feel lucky to have been in the right place at the right time on several occasions now.