North to Buenos Aires

Daryll writes:

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense over the last 2 weeks; however we are still camping (30 consecutive nights and counting) and find wifi few and far between.  We have been updating our little map and stats section though if you wanted to check up on us.

While in Ushuaia, we stayed at Camping Los Andinos that overlooked the city and had it's own ski hill.  Angela drummed up the energy to walk up to the top while I lazed around.

The campsite also happened to be the hang-out for many overlanders including cyclists, motorcyclists and 4x4’s and we were fortunate to meet Andy and Gosha (www.journeyfarbeyond.com), a Polish couple riding 2-up on a Suzuki V-Strom 650.  They flew to Buenos Aires and were heading north after Ushuaia to Alaska and then across Asia back to Poland.  We spent a few wonderful evenings with them and another biker from Venezuela.

Gosha & Andy

After 4 glories warm and sunny days (unusual for Ushuaia), we bid farewell to our new friends and Ushuaia to make our way north.  It is 3079km from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires; however we were planning a few side trips in between and headed to Puerto Natales, Chile on our way to Torres del Paine National Park.    There are two different ferries that one can take to leave the island of Teirra del Fuego, the apparently free ferry that we took coming onto the island or the paid ferry that lands in Punta Arenas.  We took the apparently free ferry – or that’s what I like to think.  It rained for our night in Puerto Natales and a thick mist hung over the air as we packed up the next morning and were hesitant of spending two nights camping in a National Park based on the current weather conditions.  We decided to take the risk and gamble on the weather improving and boy it did.  As we rode into the park, we were greeted with some of the most magnificent views of the Torres (Towers).  We camped for the two nights with warm days and cool chilly evenings with some of the most amazing scenery around.

After resting up for a day, we headed on to El Calafate to visit the Perrito Merino Glacier.  At the campsite, we met Dan and his wife who we had originally met in Bariloche and a South African biker (Pieter) who had purchased a little 250cc bike and was riding around Argentina for a month before selling it and heading back home.  Hope to see him in East London when we travel through.  El Calafate is a quaint little tourist town, with the main attraction being the Los Glaciers National Park and the Perrito Merino Glacier being the feature attraction.   The day after arriving, we were up early and rode our bikes to view the Glacier.  The entrance to the park was pretty steep at US$25 per person, however was well worth it.  We got there pretty early (our trademark at touristy sites) and beat the tour bus’s.  In the park, there are walk-ways that run along the face of the Glacier.  It is 5km wide and 60m high above the surface of the water and is constantly advancing and spectacular to see up close and personal.  We walked around for at least 3 hours and it was like being in a freezer.  It was chilling to the bone.  We were lucky, we had our motorcycle gear to keep us warm and as we walked along the walk-ways, the cracking sound of the Glacier breaking off could be heard.  The Colombian Icefields in the Rockies (Canada) is no comparison to this monster.

New Photos of Chile and Argentina added to the photo albums.