4Runner Roadtrip – Argentina Part 4 & Some Uruguay

We had a lovely few days in San Martín de los Andes wandering around, walking by the lake and enjoying drinks out in a pretty idyllic setting just taking in all of the beauty of the region. But time ever marches on and we needed to keep moving as we had a flight planned back to the U.S. and our weather window was slowly closing.

And so we packed up and headed off on the nearly 2,000 mile trip from San Martín de los Andes to just outside of Montevideo, Uruguay where we would put the 4Runner in storage for the cold winter months. The first half of our trip would be parallel with the southern Andes. As we are winos, we would be remis not to visit the main wine region of Argentina. I mean, this 4Runner road trip has taken us through some of the wine regions of France, Sardinia, Greece, Turkey (surprising!), Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Uruguay and now Argentina. With that in mind we started up towards the Mendoza region and the heart of Argentina’s wine country, famed for Malbecs and other red wines. Its many bodegas (wineries) offer tastings and tours that we didn’t take advantage of as coordinating with the dog can be an issue.

 Our first stop on our journey was Las Lajas, a small town just off the famous Ruta 40. Somewhat randomly (to us) there were small dinosaurs and what seemed to be a natural history museum. Apparently there is a pretty big cave system in the region but we didn’t try to explore. The accommodations were very bright little cabins that did the trick and then we were off again.

There are a ton of parrots in that tree, not that you can see them.

One of the things you are bound to see on any Argentine road trip are the shrines to the “People’s Saints” that are scattered all over the country. I’ve mentioned Gaucho Gil before and so now I will mention La Difunta Correa who seems almost as popular as Gil. Her legend goes something like this – her husband was conscripted but got sick and was abandoned. She set off across the desert to help him but she died from thirst. However, her baby was found alive 3 days later still consuming breast milk. A miracle, no doubt! Now people leave water bottles at the shrines and pray for their own miracles. (You can learn more about the People’s Saints on Sol Salute.) The whole plastic bottles at the shrines doesn’t seem very environmentally friendly but there ya have it.

Continuing north, we spent a couple of nights in Malargüe and then a couple more in Tupungato, just shy of the city of Mendoza and well within the wine region. Here we really blew our chance to visit a proper large bodega/winery opting instead to visit a small family bodega in town. They make a really nice rose; we should have bought more. There were several wineries offering a 5 star experience with food and a lot of day drinking and maybe we should have planned a bit more in advance, but hey, there’s always next time!

Now it was time to turn the 4Runner east and cut across to our final destination in Montevideo. We had a little time in our schedule and had been recommended Villa de Merlo so that’s where we headed next. And what a lovely recommendation that turned out to be! It’s a small town with a lively main street but never seemed too crowded and was just our speed. We had a lovely apartment not far from town that was quiet and peaceful and tranquil. Quite a lot of the places we stayed offered a ‘cold’ breakfast and this was no exception. However, these guys went above and beyond. Every day I got a small round loaf of bread, some sort of pastry or cake and some cookies. It was obviously too much for me and we had to ask them to stop multiple times. Shani, on the other hand just got rice crackers, which was sweet of the host but not too tasty, more like styrofoam.   We did get fruit and cheese too, just for the record. (I ended up travelling with and eating my leftovers for the rest of our time in South America.)

Pushing on, we had a one night stop in Venado Tuerto and then two nights in a little cabina in Gualeguaychú where we got Sebastian checked by a vet yet again for import into Uruguay. And then we crossed the bridge over the river and went south to Colonia del Sacramento.

Colonia del Sacramento is a city in southwestern Uruguay, across the Río de La Plata from Buenos Aires. It’s known for its cobblestoned Barrio Histórico, lined with buildings from its time as a Portuguese settlement. Set above the historic district is the 19th-century Colonia del Sacramento Lighthouse, offering sweeping river views. Nearby lies the Portón de Campo, remnants from the old city walls. (Wikipedia)

We really enjoyed our stay in Colonia del Sacramento. We stayed a few kilometers from the historical old town area in a lovely apartment with a great sea view. It’s not technically the sea yet, I guess it is considered the mouth of the river but still. We enjoyed a nice walk along the rambla to get to the old town and would definitely recommend a visit.

And then we went to Montevideo. We had a lovely studio apartment that even had underground parking. Not that it was easy to get the 4Runner into the subterranean parking but it all worked out (by what felt like millimeters). We only needed the space for a few days and then it was time to drive out of the city and park up at the overland vehicle ranch. On our way to the ranch we thought it might be a good idea to wash the grit and grime off but that ended up being a huge waste of time! Once dried off, the 4Runner looked like a toddler had tried to wash it. We were very disappointed in ourselves.

With the 4Runner and our kit all stored we were off the next morning with a 4:45am 8 hour flight to Panama City, a 7 hour layover there and another 7+ hour flight to San Francisco. At least there is a pet relief center in the Panama airport.

Stay tuned as we visit the States to see friends and family, bust out the stand up paddle boards, do a road trip in Wyoming and make our way back to Paris to dust off the RV for some more European adventures.