4Runner Roadtrip – Argentina Part 2

With a new goal in mind we headed south. Our first stop was back in Esquel, it’s such a lovely spot and we stayed at the same place just out of town. The next sections of our road trip involved a lot of scenic but pretty lonely drives even though we were on the famed Ruta 40. There aren’t a lot of towns or amenities or gas stations and so it’s a catch while catch can situation.

It was time to say adios to Bariloche.

Part of the adventure in this part of the world is a stay or two at one of the ranches or estancias as they are known. Our first estancia was just out side of Rio Mayo right off Ruta 40 at a very lovely place called Estancia Don Jose GuenGuel. One of the interesting things about this ranch is that they are raising domesticated guanacos. One of their main goals is the “GuenGuel venture, based on the sustainable breeding of the guanaco for the production of special fine fibers from Patagonia and the addition of the value chain to the design and fabric of their garments”.  We had a lovely two day stay at Estancia Don José and would recommend it for sure, so peaceful and relaxing. Shani did a farm tour to check out the guanacos and all of the other animals. In addition to the farm tour, the estancia offers other activities like horseback riding, walks along interpretive trails to archaeological sites, river fishing and bird watching. I opted to just relax.

The next stop for us would be Estancia La Angostura, about 440 kms (270 miles) from Don Jose, or probably 6 or so hours for us. While we can drive faster, we usually keep it under 100 kms/hour (~60 mph) for safety on the two lane highways. Also, often on the southern parts of Ruta 40 it suddenly turns to dirt and gravel roads so that slows us down a lot. And, the boxes on the roof cause too much noise if we go too fast so even short distances can end up taking quite a while.

There are also lots of sections of the 40 that are technically paved but that are so full of potholes that you’re reduced to 25 kms or lower. Fortunately the 4Runner is built for this kind of travel; I can’t imagine doing it in a camping van, you would get rattled to death on the dirt roads!

When travelling the Ruta 40, there are several iconic stops that Shani was insistent that we stop at. One of these was Gasolinera Bajo Caracoles, a gas station that may or may not have gas and is the only option for 100’s of kilometers. It’s a tiny town of about 31 people according to Wikipedia. The 4Runner can go about 600 kms on a tank of gas and we had filled up at Perito Moreno so we stopped just for a photo. According to the reviews, the people are nice and the little store has most things you might need as a traveler and they have food. Also, in peak season they meter out the fuel, so don’t expect to actually fill all the way up!

Gasolinera Bajo Caracoles

To get to Estancia La Angostura you have to take a little side road off of Ruta 40, sort of a parallel for a ways that is on a rough little dirt and gravel road. It’s also a pretty barren and bleak desert like landscape and then you hang a left and all of a sudden you dip down into a lush valley with a wide river and grass and trees. It’s a pretty idyllic spot for the estancia. We had a good stay at La Angostura, there is a lovely bird watching walk and the working ranch is pretty cool to see, a few gauchos on horseback moving cattle and horses and sheep around. One of the classic experiences at these estancias is a lamb roast if there are enough visitors to warrant it. We had planned ahead and had our own food as Shani may or may not be able to eat estancia food and we didn’t even know if anything would be available for us.

As it turned out, on the second night there were enough people for a lamb but I just wasn’t into it. I think they were a bit disappointed but honestly the dinner was almost as expensive as a night’s lodging.

Our next destination heading south was El Calafate. The total distance from our last fuel stop in Perito Moreno to El Calafate was just over 625 kms, so slightly more than our range. There was a gas station at a little town called Tres Lagos that was known to run out of petrol about 165 kms from the estancia that we would have to hope had gas but Shani had read that our estancia also sold petrol, but just enough to get you to Calafate. We were in luck and they sold us a few gallons of gas. The old gaucho hooked up the portable pump and we were off.

It was a bad time to visit El Calafate. There was some sort of music or cultural festival going on and accommodations were hard to come by. We ended up at a hostel that actually had parking and randomly, there was a couple from Minnesota staying there as well. We had been to El Calafate 10 years prior and it was interesting to see how much/little the town had changed. It was largely the same, just a little more built up. The highlight of Calafate for me was the absolutely amazing empanadas from this little take away joint almost next door to the hostel.

Leaving El Calafate, the gas station was absolutely packed! It took us almost 45 minutes to get our tank of gas, I was concerned they might run out. They did not and we were on our way to Río Gallegos, a kind of rough and tumble port town on the Gallegos River. We had booked several days here as it would be our last stop in Argentina before heading into Chile. We needed to get a headlight bulb replaced and Sebastian needed some health certificates before crossing the border. The apartment in Río Gallegos was excellent and honestly I could have spent a few more days there.  It was in Río Gallegos that we finally met up with our container buddies again. They were heading to Ushuaia as well but our paths seemed to never cross. They were some place and then we were there but they had moved on, we were some place but then we had moved on by the time they got there. You get the picture, Argentina is a BIG place.

The border crossings in the Patagonia region are a bit different to what we are accustomed to. You drive up to the border and then gather all of your paperwork and head into the border building. First you deal with passports, then you deal with the temporary vehicle import permit and then lastly deal with the dog. Then, you drive to the next country border building and do it all again. And now we were in Chile. One thing we hadn’t realized was just how windy the Patagonia region really is. You hear about the wind and all that but until you experience it you never really know. I felt sorry for our van dwelling container buddies!  The first stop in Chile was Punta Arenas. It is a city near the tip of Chile’s southernmost Patagonia region. Located on the Strait of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, it’s often used as base for excursions to the surrounding wilderness and Antarctica.(Wikipedia)

On our way to Punta Arenas we were driving down a road and got caught in a pretty nasty wind storm which turned into a very nasty sand and gravel storm. It absolutely ruined our windshield. At first we thought that it had only deeply pitted the glass and caused a few little stars but by the next morning, probably the cold, there was a nice crack that had developed. This set us off in search of a windshield repair shop. As you can imagine, it wasn’t as easy as you might think. Eventually we did find a shop but they weren’t excited to do the job, something about not having enough cure time and impending rain. We were persistent and got the job done.  From Punta Arenas we took a ferry over to Porvenir where we managed to lock ourselves out of the cabin we had rented. Doh! After that debacle we were headed towards Rio Grande for a quick overnight and then finally to Ushuaia. But first, there was some more penguin watching on the agenda, at least for Shani. This meant a stop at the King Penguin Nature Reserve, a private conservation initiative that requires buying tickets in advance.  After crossing the border again we were in Argentina. The drive from Rio Grande to Ushuaia was stunning. All of the splendor and magnificence of the Andes on full display. I’m not sure what we had expected but it wasn’t this…every direction held more natural beauty. Absolutely stunning.

Our apartment in Ushuaia was great, on top of a hill with really nice views. The town itself may be a bit too touristy but what do you expect at “the end of the World”? It did feel like we had achieved something even if that something was just driving to the southern most town in South America.

On one of the days we decided (a little late in the day) to take Route J and to see just how much further south we could go. With the weather being so finicky and rain in the immediate forecast, we made it to somewhere south of Estancia Harberton and Campamento Rio Cambaceres before precaution won out and we turned around before the rain storm came in.   We really enjoyed Ushuaia and certainly would have stayed longer but the weather was a bit chilly, especially for Shani and it was just going to get colder.

Stay tuned as we head back into Chile and visit Torres del Paine, cross back into Argentina for another visit to El Calafate and El Chalten before we cross back into Chile headed north on the Carretera Austral; called the country’s most challenging and yet wildly beautiful road trip.