Saturday, June 1, 2013

Wednesday November 17, 2010 Esquel, Argentina


 

 













 
 
 
 
 
 
This was a relatively short day of less than 200 miles.  We left Bariloche about 8:30 with a quick stop for gas and then a few miles on some washboard dirt roads.  After that it was all nice paved highways.  The first half of the day was more of the same – gorgeous mountains, lakes, and high speed twisty roads.  The only problem so far has been my disappointment in the helmet cam I bought.  Part of it is my fault in that only got a 4gig SD card for it, and with video, that’s used up in about 1 ½  hours.  When we stopped for our picnic lunch, which Compass Expeditions is famous for, I was able to transfer all the video to the computer and start over again.  For some reason, the lighting keeps going from bright to medium to dark all the time when viewing our day’s journey.  I made some changes in the format, so I hope that helps.  The way it is now, the scenery isn’t being shown to be as dramatic as it is in person.  It probably never will be – but I’m trying.

The second half of the day was more about speed and getting used to the wind that Patagonia is so famous for.  They even have road signs showing trees in the wind being blown in the horizontal position.  It wasn’t as horrendous as I had expected, and after we stopped, I asked Leo our tour guide, in a joking manner – “when does the wind start?”  He told me tomorrow it will probably pick up a bit.  The roads were quite boring in the afternoon, and reminded me a lot of west Texas – just a lot of hills, sagebrush, and miles and miles of – nothing.

Our motel was probably what I was expecting since I got to S. A.  It was just a plain room with a clean bed, a toilet, and a shower with hot & cold running water.  Dinner was on Compass Expeditions tonight, and they took us to a restaurant they had never used before because the other one they used burned down.  We arrived about 8:00, and there was not a customer to be found.  It was explained to us that in Argentina, dinners usually don’t start till about 9:00 – even during the week!   It should be an interesting rest of the week.

Tomorrow is our longest of the tour – 550 km, with the last 100 on gravel road, so we have to get an early start.  I hope it doesn’t translate into a late night.  I’m finding that sharing the ‘puter is putting a dent into my time to spend keeping you all up to date on what’s happening.

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