Day 16 – 7th December . Adios Patagonia.

El Calefate – Rio Gallegos 310 kms (45 kms Track)

Total Distance So Far: 3,965 kms

Travelling south-east today I was to end up on the Atlantic side for the first time. The road was paved so it was an easy ride, crossing through and over very rounded hilly terrain and valleys. I had the wind coming from the rear and right side so it pushed me along a bit. For the first time in a while there was quite a bit of traffic too – I’d guess a couple of hundred cars over the day.

I have to say the days of t-shirt riding in the Pampas in 30 degrees seem a long time ago. Still in a couple of weeks I should get the sun back for a while.

I met one chap whose wheel bearings had shattered. He’d been stranded for about 5 hours and had already given a few messages to passing lorries going to El Calefate (120 kms to the west) to pass on to a garage to come and collect him. He used the sat phone to call the garage directly to speed things up, who had not yet got any of his earlier messages. He was in a strange kind of limbo not knowing if the breakdown garage had been contacted or not, or when they could come and collect him today or tomorrow. A real pain. You don’t realise until you get into a fix just how important being able to call for assistance is.

I saw plenty of guanaco roaming the hills, and darting in packs back and forth across the road.

Rio Gallegos, my base for the night, was a bit of a run down place. There was a student demonstration going on in the city centre about a young girl had been run down and killed by a drunk driver who was only given a 3-month jail sentence and feelings were running high. The police stood back and watched, and after a few hours it all ended calmly.

Rio Gallegos was the main military base, along with Rio Grande on Tierra Del Fuego, used during the Falklands war. Monuments relating to the conflict are found in every town, and even more so here. The Falklands which are just 500kms east of here, seem to mean an awful lot more to the Argentineans than the British, and are still a topic of everyday conversation. The issue of its ownership is likely to continue for some time, as in the recently adopted Constitution it listed regaining 'the Malvinas' as a priority. A few days ago Daniel told me the Falklands were much more than a strategic base. They were also a rich source of income to the Crown for selling fishing and whaling rights to various countries including the Japanese, who pay handsomely to fish around the islands. It is also becoming a tourist attraction, and with the recent discoveries of natural gas under the islands too they have become even more valuable.

Whatever the outcome many Argentineans think the main positive benefit of the conflict was it brought down the military dictatorship that had controlled the country for decades, and brought about the introduction of a democracy, which persists to this day.

I would have to add throughout my time in Argentina I have not met a more friendly and welcoming lot. I came here a few years ago, and jumped at the chance to return when a time slot for this trip came along. I could quite easily spend some time here. Just to clarify, that would be soaking up the café life in Buenos Aires and not in Patagonia!