El Calafate and the Glaciers

Greetings from El Calafate, Argentina!

Slowly moving north along the east side of the Andes mountains, trying to see the highlights without the guided trips available everywhere, or the 'classic' hikes in specific parks many people are here for. One could spend a month in this area alone to see all there is to see--hike all there is to hike. so many of the trekkers here rush in and out. I bump into them now and again as we complete our respective accomplishments.

The bike is running better now that the dust was cleaned out of the air filter. Major collection from the 3200 miles ridden thus far.

Interesting aspects of this bike´s sound are:

all children turn to wave

all adults turn to see what is coming

all dogs in town start to howl and those that are loose start to chase me

all wildlife, and livestock, turn away and run

Does anyone else have this attraction problem with the KLR?

The dogs in El Calafate are mostly off leash and fend for themselves....show it in their leanness.....a friendly lot willing to walk with you a ways in hopes of a hand out. They have their territory and stop at the edge to pick up the next person headed the opposite direction. One fellow followed me to the hostel, dug a hole in the sand and napped while I worked on the bike. He left to chase another canine away.

As you would expect, the east side of the Andes is arid. Trees start in drainages closer to the mountains (beech, fir) and climb until alpine elevation. There is better wind protection this close to the mountain´s east slope...no 300ks to build speed.

The area is known for it´s access to Parque Nacional Los Glaciers and the Glacier Moreno. I spent the whole day observing the sun play across the field of jagged ice blue ridges and waiting for ice falls. The clouds prevented any huge calving but the show was still spectacular. The advancing glacier is 1.5 ks wide and 100 meters high...quite a sight!

I move north on Ruta 40 on the 28th and will stop where it looks good and where the energy runs out. There are long distances between stops here and gas must be planned. That base is covered with ten extra liters.

Hope all are well.

Paul

Are the photos coming through?

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A few more photos . . .

A very colorful neighborhood of Buenos Aires, La Bocca.



The (windy!) road on Peninsula Valdes.


These guys walk right up to you. They burrow in the sand under the brushy vegetation.


An old, rebuilt church at Punta Tombo


The beach at Punta Delgada, Peninsula Valdes

Photos of Tierra del Fuego

The sign says it all!

Getting to Ushuaia, Argentina

Yesterday (Tuesday) I left Rio Gallegos, Argentina at 8:00am headed to Ushuaia, Argentina. I needed to exit Argentina, enter Chile, cross Estr. de Magallanes in a ferry (with salt spray over the top of the 10 foot high sides), travel 80 miles of hard dirt road, exit Chile, enter Argentina and travel four hours on pavement to Ushuaia. I arrived in town about 9:30 pm with lots of sun still remaining.

Traveling the dirt and through the borders I rode with an Argentinian headed the same direction. We both enjoyed the companionship in the very challenging 80 miles of dirt. This section of road has no fuel, no repairs and the wind is strong and unrelenting. The same wind energy as found throughout Patagonia.

Picture this....the KLR has full throttle lock (max gas), you are traveling at 50 mph in fifth gear, tach is 5500rpm, the bike, and you, are leaning over at 20 degrees and the wind noise is so loud the engine noise is undetectable. Then there is the loose gravel to contend with and wild and domesticated animals to deal with. Certainly the most challenging, mentally and physically, riding I have ever done. I was blown across the road several times. My traveling companion was on a 1200 BMW and also had control issues. He headed off at greater speed once we hit pavement.

The land starts to roll more, not as flat, the further south you go, until 2 hours out of Ushuaia, when trees start to appear and you travel up and over a low mountain pass. The drop into Ushuaia is welcome and has spectacular views of the Beagle channel.

I met three riders who have just completed trips south (AK; MN; WV) and need to decide what to do next. They may ship from here or ride up to BsAs where logistics are a bit easier.

Three nights here to see the sights, rest and then to Pta. Arenas and the start north and start wearing off the other side of my tires.

Hope are all well,

Paul

Finally on the road

On 1/14/09 the broker, Sandra, and I met at the airport to get started with customs and the shipper in BsAs. Four hours later I was on the bike headed out the gate to air up tires, find more fuel (1 gal in tank) and get on Ruta 3 south. And that is a ´quick´ turn around!

What a good feeling to get out of town and on the way! Away from the constant noise of a city!

The stopping point for the night was Azul, Arg. at a hostel for bikers...donations accepted. Jorge, the host, opened his yard and little kitchen (just for guests) to me and let me reorganize the bike packing, get to know the French couple also staying there (Chris and Alian doing a RTW on a BMW 1150 GS) and put a meal together. Wonderful little spot along a long road and great dinner mates! Found the hostel on the HUBB web site. I missed Jorge´s weekly BBQ on Friday.....

Chris and Alian were headed to BsAs to ship their bike, and themselves, to Australia. They have done: Europe, USA, Canada, up to AK and down through the west coast, Mexico, Central America and all of south America. They will work themselves home through Aus., NZ, Asia and Russia. Then they head to Africa! Nice people with good information and some laughs.

The road (Ruta 3) is straight....very straight and pavement great. The round about intersections were a welcome relief from the monotony. So one can safely look around at the vast fields of sunflowers, grain, cattle and sheep pastures, gas well heads and little farms. A grand scale central Minnesota.

The further south you travel the less lush the ground looks until it changes to Texas scrub-like land. Very dry and just a scattering of cattle or sheep. The units per acre here must be very low. Low brush with lots of ground showing.

I was stopped numerous times by both Federal Police and Regional Agricultural agents. The AK plate grabbed everyone´s interest but I still had to surrender my fruit, and meat, cheese and vegetables. Can only think those guys eat well.

The last two nights I have been in Puerto Madryn, Arg. (it took two days from Azul to get here), on the Atlantic side of Arg. Very touristy with cruise ships and vacationing Argentinians and Chileans. Beaches, lots of hostels and restaurants.

There are two big nature attractions here, the Peninsula Valdes and Punta Tombo. Today I spent eight hours on the Peninsula looking at scores of birds I´ve never seen before, hundreds of elephant seals lounging on the beaches and the cool town of Puerto Piramides. Stay in Piarimdes if you have the chance....right on the ocean, lots of hostels, one fuel station, several small restaurants and a beach. There is camping in town or just outside of town. Bring plenty of water if you are camping, as the town is dry and all water is hauled.

Tomorrow I continue south on Ruta 3 with a 120k side trip to see the million penguins at P. Tombo. Not sure where i will end up for the night...but I will continue to Ushuia...maybe three more days and two border crossings before I am there.

Once south of Azul, more tripping-rigged bikes were headed north on the road. I am not the only one doing this trip. Everyone beeps and waves but are making time on a long haul. Just glad I am doing Ruta 3 at the start of my trip when I am fresh and not overwhelmed by the landscape. Those at the end of their trip often refer to this road section (3000 k) of Ruta 3 as the worst of their trip in terms of scenery (it is monotonous) and length.

All is good here, I hope everyone is well and enjoying life.
Paul

Moved

Hola!

School is over (very difficult for this language challenged guy-my head is still spinning) and I have moved from the apartment to the www.americahostel.com.ar in San Telmo. A class mate was staying here and suggested I come. The hostel was opened three weeks ago and is modern, very clean, sunny and has a great staff to help and tell you how to get around. And they have air-conditioning!! They have an Argentinian BBQ that is suppose to be out of this world. I will try it before leaving.

The Spanish classes will help me be courteous and do very basic communication, but I can not do a free flowing conversation with out clarification and a bit of time. Everyone speaks very fast here. And Argentinian Spanish is not the same as any other Spanish.

The bike is scheduled to land on Tuesday at 4:45 pm and I am set up with the broker to clear customs on Wednesday morning......sometime...this is Argentina after all. Then it is on the road and a little wind on the face. Well,there is the crate to get the top and back off of, tie-downs to remove, the battery to connect, the mirrors and wind shied to install, some fuel to dump in and then pack and go. Looking forward to getting on the road and out of this huge cidadal.

I have met people from all over the world at America de Sur. There are many stories and great suggestions of where to go and what to see along the way. All ages are staying here though not any children.

Adventure Rider and the HUBB motorcycle web sites have listings for various ´biker approved´ hostels along the way. That means there is secure parking on site, or nearby. America del Sur has several guarded garages for bike storage nearby. Cost of $36, p per 24 hour time period. That would be about $10 us...as much as the hostel!!

I get up early (that is 7am by BsAs standards) and hit the streets to take in a new neighbor hood before returning to the hostel during the worst heat of the day...and you will literally break a sweat thinking. I spend time doing a ´ruta log book´that lists my route town by town with miles between. This will be used to gauge a time table and plan fuel stops. Ruta 3 south has plenty of fuel but as I turn north onto Ruta 40 gas supply can be an issue. I will carry two gallons (100 miles) of extra but intend on fueling EVERY time I see gas for sale.

Still unable to get a computer to accept files from my camera!! Sorry....Frustrating as I would like to share the visual images with you.

Hope everyone is staying warm in this strangely cold northern winter.

Paul

Long week here with tough classes, US Customs issues and learning a new city, culture and ways of living.

On December 30 all the office personnel throw their shredded desk calendars out the multi story buildings as a way of letting go of the last year...and then they start to party for two days and try to go back to work. I suspect little work gets done.

New Year night the streets were hopping with celebrators and then the sky erupted with thousands of personal fireworks! By that time, I had given up on the ´tecno club´(too loud and too young a crowd for this old cat) and retired to the roof top to enjoy the display. There were some serious explosions most small town USA would have enjoyed in their fire works.

The annual Dakar race is in Arg. and Chile this year, and like the Iditarod, has a ceremonial start.
This occurred near the apartment....so how could this be missed! Two blocks away the three miles of barricades ended and the riders and drivers faced tens of thousands of fans and supporters.
Lots of kissed babies (and gals) as drivers showed off while waiting their turn with the mob. And it was very warm so the suited riders were suffering. Anyhow, that was a chance of a life time.

US Customs of Miami does not live in the USA. The agent in charge of my shipment keeps finding one more thing he/she wants before releasing the crate.
They now have the original title (thanks to Carol) and will soon have: keys to ignition and aluminum boxes, copy of drivers lic. (for signature authentification) and the original export power of attorney to the fed ex agent responsible for my crate. This POA was interesting to find here, and could not have happened with out the assistance of the school staff. There are no notaries here. Instead there are Escribanos-a generational position. This man, in his 70s, holds his fathers position who held his fathers position. They have law degrees but are not allowed to work in the courts but only sign as witnesses to some one signing a document. They do not have embossed stamps, their name and position give them all the authority needed. He thought highly of his trip to Alaska. Just hope the agent thinks this will be OK a document.
That box of keys and documents cost 80 us to ship three day fed. ex. Oh, that was with Arg. export tax. There are no other fed ex options here. The Customs agent will open the crate and root around after the paper work is surrendered. Crazy!! Then I hope he releases the crate for shipment. We shall see what happens next week. Once the bike is here I have 24 hours to claim it or storage fees start. The broker here seems to know how to get things done and has been very helpful.
Still have not been able to upload photos on this computer.
Looking forward to hitting the road.