NIE VIR SISSIES NIE (DAY 5: PERITO MERINO TO EL CALAFATE)

Topping up with some extral petrol to make the distance

Pategonian wind swept landscape

Taking a breather (no pun intended) with the wind erosion on the mountain in the background

Leaving the karoo type town of Perito Merino we expected a long testing day of 340km of gravel road  and a further 160km from Trest Lagos to El Calafate. We also expected a similar type of environment: typical karoo.

But we were in for a few surprises. The landscape changed very quickly to what we got to know as Pategonia (proper). A barren landscape with vegetation not much higher than 100mm. The reason we also understood very quickly. The Austral wind blew nothing less than 100 km/h with gusts higher than that making it almost impossible to stay on the bike. Luckily a positive surprise was the first section of road (approx 60 km) from Perito, which was re-built and surfaced  against expectation. We were thrown all across the road width and to make matters very interesting, the wind came from the north west, across the road, making it necessary to lean over (as if in a corner) to stay on one of the tracks of the gravel road (for most of the balance of the 340 km).

Ruta 40 is generally in good condition (no potholes to speak of as this area obviously gets very little rain) but the loose gravel between the tracks was thick and kept us on our toes (literally) when we were blown off the wheel tracks. I had a couple of very close encounters being almost swept off the road and visited the left hand edge of the road a couple of times. Dawid, being lighter, had more effort staying on track and was on one occasion swept off the road by a gust and with sheer instinct (and a few years experience) “gunned” the GS back up the slope and onto the road again.

We refueled at Bajo Caracoles, which comprised of a little more than a hotel, shop and filling station, owned by one owner (we did not see anybody else around) and, although he did not speak a word of English, was very helpful in providing us with an empty 5l bottle, which we used for the extra 5l of fuel that we needed as insurance to make Tres Lagos. The window of the shop was covered with stickers of bike rental companies (quite a few of them by the looks of it), bearing witness that it was quite a popular route for bike tourists.

Except for a lot of construction work, for very long sections of the road, there was no evidence of any people staying in the area or of animals. We did notice a few rabbits, three lamas, three birds looking like small ostriches and a few wild horses. The varying colours of clouds (some white and some very dark against the blue sky) and the barren landscape made this a fascinating day.

At Tres Lagos the road bypassed the very small town and we only stopped at the gas station. The owner was probably the friendliest guy in Argentina and filled our tanks, assisted us in getting coffee from his vending machine and had some sandwiches ready in his fridge which was heated, all in a few minutes.

From Tres Lagos we had surfaced road to El Calafate, which made it slightly easier to stay on the road but had to keep our speed  below 80km/h. El Calafate is a very popular and busy tourist destination with many backpackers and tour groups making it a vibrant little town. There are many shops specializing in camping and hiking related merchandise and quite a few tourist operator offering tours to the Perito Moreno and Chalten glaciars.

Our stay at the upmarket B&B facility was pleasant and we finished the day with a “parilla for two” at the parilla across the road.