4Runner Roadtrip – Argentina Part 1

We arrived in Argentina without fully finalizing our plans, not that plans are ever final for us. We usually have a better idea than “Let’s go see some penguins!” but that was about as far as we had gotten. We had a few housekeeping chores to take care of and so that needed to partially dictate the start of our Argentinean adventure. We were still looking for a battery to power the fridge and we needed to get the 4Runner serviced.

Crossing the bridge into Argentina.

The Maintenance Required light had been on prior to shipping across the ocean and I hadn’t had much luck in Uruguay finding the right shop for the job. It’s maybe not the most cost-effective route but I like to get the 4Runner serviced at a Toyota dealership. Our last service was in Turkey and those guys were awesome. So, to that end, I found a highly rated dealership just outside of Buenos Aires, made an appointment via WhatsApp with generous help from Google Translate and we were all set.

Shout out to Toyota Panamericana! The guys and gals took great care of us on our visit. At first, they thought there might be a problem getting a new air filter as 4Runners are not sold in Argentina but we had a spare from our Toyota guys in Turkey and in the end our old one was still good so they cleaned it and it was good to go. Upon inspection, our brake pads were almost due for replacement and we opted to have them changed out; only one problem, no 4Runner pads in the whole region. Doh! First they tried out the Hilux pads, oh so close and might due in a pinch. Fortunately, one of the techs noticed that the Prado brake pads were the same part number as the 4Runner and they had a set sent by courier from another shop. Problem solved. Thanks again guys!

As we were getting ready to leave, more of the crew and even the President of the company took notice of our California 4Runner and were wondering what we were up to. A lot of pictures and even a video were taken and we ended up on their Instagram page! They even gave us some Toyota Panamerican baseball hats. We felt like a trio of minor celebrities.

Prior to setting off we finally found a battery and a spot not in Buenos Aries to pick it up. The battery guys went out of their way to help us and we picked it up at their factory. With the vehicle sorted we were ready to tackle some of the long distances our Argentinean road trip was going to require.  Our first destination was Sierra de La Ventana. Google says its about a 7 hour drive so for us that’s more like 8 ½ and we usually don’t push it that much so a stop in Trenque Lauquen was in order. It was a quick one night stop over at a little motel I started calling the Love Shack, as there was a full sized hot tub en suite. All kidding aside, I would stay there again, plus the lady running the joint made some really good empanadas, yum.

Rolling in to Sierra de La Ventana we could see the charm of main street but we also noticed that it was quite crowded, summer time in South America. The little cabin we rented was a ways away from the main street and was quiet and lovely and sported a family of owls, so fun to see every day. There is also a gluten free bakery in town and Shani made a few visits for some treats. The hostess at the cabinas was absolutely wonderful as was her son who spoke very good English and came to practice with us quite a few times.

From Sierra de La Ventana we were headed further south to Balneario El Cóndor, famous for its giant colony of parrots, possibly the World’s largest. They are literally everywhere! While walking down the beach in El Cóndor we ran in to the mayor, a really nice guy who was bemoaning all the litter he and his crew were cleaning up from a festival the night before. He was quite curious about the Americans and their dog walking around his little town.

While in El Cóndor we took a little trip down Ruta 1 to get a look at a possible surf spot and a large colony of sea lions. The sea lion center is a bit off the road and on top of a cliff that abruptly drops off to the ocean below. From this vantage point (and with the help of some borrowed binoculars) you get a really good look at all of the sea lions below. It was a little stinky to be honest but also very neat, recommended if you get a chance. Driving the Ruta 1 we also saw some foxes, more parrots and some rheas (like emus or ostrich), a real Mutual of Omaha day.

Our next destination was Puerto Madryn where we hoped to see some orcas feasting on some seals but we were a little early in the season for that. While in Puerto Madryn we had a lovely lunch out with an epic sea view and actually ran into another American plated vehicle (a truck w/ camper from Colorado) but we never found it’s owner (we may have seen them once or twice down the road, but we were never sure).

Continuing south to a small town called Camarones our goal was to finally see some of those penguins. This penguin colony is located in a National Park and dogs are not allowed. This meant taking turns which wasn’t so bad as there was a group of guanacos that kept us entertained. The guanaco is native to South America, closely related to the llama.

It was a bit of a hike to get to where the penguin nesting site was located, made a bit further due to the road being washed out. Still, it was totally worth it. Shani went first and Sebastian and I were pretty happy to be parked up under a large tree while the guanacos wandered about and gingerly crept closer and closer to the 4Runner.

The park was not very crowded and by the time it was my turn to visit the penguins I had the entire site to myself for at least 15 minutes, I was the only one there; no rangers no nothing but penguins, guanacos and rheas. It was pretty incredible to be up close and personal with so many penguins and their chicks, many who were in the midst of the molting process. I was close enough many times to reach out and pet them or snatch one up and make it my pet. It did take some self-control not to try and touch one…

At this point we had decided on a new destination, Bariloche. This meant a couple days crossing Argentina from East to West and then several more days heading North. Along the way we stopped at a little holiday town called Sarmiento where we briefly met an Italian couple on their motorbike who were heading out going south to Ushuaia and the “End of the World”. Our second night there we had dinner out at a chic little Resto-Pub that was quite good.

We decided to take our time getting up to Bariloche as we were still in the peak of the prime season and accommodations were sparse and expensive. Travelling with Sebastian makes this infinitely more complicated. We stopped for a few days outside of a town called Esquel in the foothills of the Andes Mountains where we had a lovely apartment in a quiet neighborhood full of really nice houses. We took a drive to see a waterfall but sadly it was just inside the National Park and no Sebastian allowed, we did have a little picnic by the river watching the fly fishermen get skunked.

From Esquel we stayed at a town called El Bolson, known for The Feria Regional, a market in the town center selling local handicrafts, jams and beers. El Bolson also happened to have a couple of gluten free shops and Shani was able to get some gluten free empanadas for our picnic by the lake in the park. We also took a drive to a remote part of the river where we set up our camp chairs and had a relaxing afternoon barely getting our feet wet in the icy water.

Our next little apartment was actually to the west of Bariloche in the Villa Llao Llao village area and boy are we glad it was! The whole region was extremely busy as it apparently always is. We decided to extend our stay twice for a total of just over 2 weeks. It was a lovely, serene property on an extremely quiet street. It was a short walk to lakes and the much larger Lago Nahuel Huapi.

The apartment was also a short walk to several trail heads and Shani took advantage and did a nice hike to a viewpoint. (Solo hiking is not recommended by the U.S. State Dept. but it was very crowded and she fell in with a larger group. She was also equipped with our new tactical hiking stick made of airplane grade aluminum for all of your self-defense needs.)

While in the Bariloche region we also did a circuit drive and man was it amazing. The views and landscapes are just incredible, the color of the water is unbelievable and certainly earns its place on our list of most beautiful places, as does the whole of Patagonia from north to south.

We had gone in search of a trail to hike but every stop on the circuit we were met with No Dogs signs, sad really. We had to settle for a picnic lunch at a turnout but we still had an amazing view to dine to.

During our time in the area we had a bit of a come-to-Jesus moment where we realized it was pretty silly to have made it this far south and to not continue on to “The End of the World”. We finally crystalized more of a plan besides “Let’s see some penguins!”.

Stay tuned as we turn the rig around and head south, visit some estancias, have a sand storm wreck our windshield and finally reach Ushuaia.