From El Chaltén I had to drive southeast about seventy miles out to the main highway, Route 40, and turn north. So far so good. Little did I know that not only is the drive in this part of Argentina one of the longest and loneliest drives in the world, but they also haven’t gotten around to paving any of the roads out here, not even the main highway. I didn’t know it yet, but it would be about four…
My drive from Ushuaia with all the border crossings and the ferry across the Magellan Strait went just as smooth as before thankfully. I was a little worried about the ferry because they sometimes stop operating due to high wind, and this day was very windy, but apparently not too windy for the boats. Whew! I stayed one night in Río Gallegos again to break up my drive and the next morning I was off to my next stop, El…
You would think that driving from Argentina to Argentina would be easy, but you would be wrong. Getting from the Argentinian mainland to my next destination on the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego was an adventure in itself. The drive requires transiting through Chile and the big hang up is that I was trying to do it with an Argentinian rental car. I read that about 40% of people who show up with rental cars aren’t allowed to cross….
Mar del Plata I spent one night in Salta after finishing up my adventures in north Argentina before hopping on a plane back to Buenos Aires the next morning. I immediately rented another car at the airport and drove about five hours south to Argentina’s surfing capital, Mar del Plata. It’s time to start exploring the southern half of Argentina, also known as Patagonia. Mar del Plata is just a very pleasant and convenient stop on what turned out to…
After driving most of the day, I finally arrived at my next stop, Calilegua in Jujuy Province. I’ll be starting in Calilegua National Park, but this first day all I had time for was to check in at my hotel in the town of Calilegua. I would describe the town as exceptionally uninteresting. It’s not a bad place, just boring, but it’s the most convenient base for my next round of exploring, so here we go. Calilegua National Park is…
After returning my rental car and spending one obligatory night in Córdoba, I jumped on a plane to Argentina’s far northwest. I’ll be starting in the city of Salta, but this post will be about all of Salta Province. It looked like the weather was going to be quite nice for my stay, 70°’s mostly, but on my main exploration day the thermometer jumped all the way up to 98°! Yowza! It was a sweaty day. I also think I…
After one quick night in very non-touristy San Luis, it was a relatively short drive west to Mendoza, the gateway to the Andes Mountains. Miraculously, I found a place on the street to park the car just a half block from my hostel. Awesome! I checked in, got settled, and then decided to walk a few miles to the Monument to the Army of the Andes high up on the hill in Parque General San Martín. If you guessed that…
I drove west from Córdoba in a ridiculously small Renault with, as it turns out, horrible gas mileage and a teeny tiny eight gallon gas tank. I rented a mini instead of an economy car because it was cheaper. Lesson learned. Anyway, after several hours of driving I’m now in the very small and very very remote Villa San Augustín, my base for the next few days. There really is not much at all in San Augustín and there’s hours…
My flight from Puerto Iguazu to my current stop of Córdoba was quick and painless, though the change in weather was another brutal shock to the system. The hot humidity of Iguazu was suddenly cold again, even colder than Buenos Aires. Luckily, as the days wore on it warmed up a bit, but the first couple of days took some getting used to. Anyway, the city of Córdoba was founded in 1573 by this guy, Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera. I’ve…
From Buenos Aires I hopped on a plane for a quick flight to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina’s far northeast corner. Most of Argentina is pretty dry and arid, but this tiny little panhandle of a province is the exception, extending into the jungle region. It’s hot! It’s humid! I went from the refrigerator straight into the oven. Puerto Iguazu, my base for the next few days, is situated right at the confluence of the Iguazu and Paraná Rivers, forming the…