“Lo siento, Allan. No hay disponible por este noche,” Sebastian, the tall lanky son of the owners of Hosteria Los Nires in El Calafate said as he pulled the ear buds from his ears. He admired my motorcycle, my journey and enjoyed our several conversations about Argentina. At the time of checking in I had […]
Rainbow from yesterday’s ride. I’m enjoying El Calafate. There are good restaurants, services a plenty and it’s a place where travelers congregate. It’s a jumping off point for many places in Patagonia including El Chalten (Fitz Roy), Torres del Paine, and the legendary Ruta 40’s southern section. For me it’s a perfect opportunity to take […]
Morning rains and gray skies dissuaded me from taking an early morning hourlong ride to the Perito Moreno Glacier until later in the afternoon. By the time I took the road along the lake I was treated to a massive rainbow over the now turquoise blue Lago Argentina. Of course, the winds had another bout […]
It was one on one with the wind today. Argentina’s grand Ruta 3 runs along the Atlantic coast more than 2,000 miles from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia and the Fin del Mundo (end of the world). Today the legendary Patagonian wind whipping from the West across the pampas continued to hammer me with punches, smacks […]
The next morning the parking attendant at my fancy hotel helped me get Doc up on the center stand for a good chain lubing. I was ready to hit the pavement and brave the winds on Ruta 3 south toward Piedrabuena. For the first 150 miles the road was in bad shape with potholes, construction, […]
In looking at the map I figured taking Ruta 40 to El Calafate via Rio Mayo to Tres Lagos would take me 3 to 4 days. By crossing the South American continent to the Atlantic side then riding south to Comandante Piedrabuena, I could shave one or two days from this estimate. I’d ride 80 […]
Just a few short hours south of Bariloce sits the small town of El Bolson. Once a mecca for Argentinean hippies it has the notoriety of being the first to stake a claim as a “nuclear free” zone and ecological municipality. Intrigued I figured a later start and short ride for a night in this […]
The winds of change didn’t blow my way last night as this morning I woke to more rain. I had to get away from this lake and its magnetism for moisture. I packed my gear in a slow drizzle and headed North. In Osorno I would head east toward Entre Lagos and then over the […]
Nestled at the foot of the Andes, Mendoza rests in a dry arid desert. In pre-Colombian times the indigenous inhabitants devised a sophisticated irrigation system designed to control the massive runoff from the Andes. This ancient irrigation system is still used today and is responsible for irrigating the acres and acres of vineyards used to […]
Laying out our maps we had a few options that would take us to Mendoza. The main route which would surely allow us to make time at highway speeds also took us out of our way. The net gain might have been insignificant, but we opted for a more remote road that appeared to be […]
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