In the past few weeks it has been confirmed that Andrew my younger bother will be taking a gap year and will be joining us on the bicycles from mid Jan 2010 until we return to South Africa at the end of March 2010, we look forward to his arrival! It is on this note I'd like to say thanks to Steve Donald for joining us on the bikes for the past few weeks coming into Buenos Aires its been great having with us! I look forward to spending a few more days with you before you head back to South Africa.
Km600 to Km505: Steve's first day
A week in Mar del Plata flew by before we even noticed it. Most of the time it was just Mark and I with Kell and Sebastian, as Nick was doing a Spanish course and living elsewhere. The week really just consisted of us going to the beach, eating well which included asados (Argentinian braais), lots of facturas (pastries), and ice cream amongst other well know Italian delicacies while enjoying living as if we were back in our own home. We met quite a few of their friends many of whom are life guards and childhood friends of Sebastian. Interestingly in Argentina being a life guard is quite a sought after and well paid job, although seasonal, resulting in many of their friends being incredibly well travelled and very interesting to talk to.
Towards the end of the week Mark and I's life long friend Steve Donald who was also at Northcliff with us and Kell joined us in Mar del Plata. It was now the busy travel season so the bike didn't make it onto the same plane as Steve as planned but thanks to a lot of help from Sebastian it was eventually reunited with Steve. We had planned to depart Mar del Plata for Buenos Aires on the Saturday but when we woke up that morning it was pouring with rain and the roads almost flooded so we resorted to plan B, stay another night and enjoy more good food and good company! Poor Kelly and Sebastian now had 4 boys littering their home for another day but I think Ingwe their very cool cat was loving all the chaos given that he could now not play outside.
The next morning the rain had stopped so we bode farewell to our incredibly generous hosts and off we went. This was going to be the first time Steve had cycled with us and to boot I think it would be the first time he had cycled further than 30km let a lone with his home strapped to his bike. Steve held up well but the usual saddle pains were inevitable. After having cooked lunch on the side of the road we rolled into the small beach town of Mar Azul around 90km out of Mar del Plata. Steve was now beginning to feel the aches and pains quite intensely and as growing weary but unfortunate we were not yet at the end of the road. All the roads within Mar Azul and the adjacent beach towns are sand and having skinny little tyres the cycling around this little beach town proved almost as tiring as the 90km cycle to the town.
We had a swim to freshen up then headed to the local heladeria (ice cream shop) for an ice-cream where I too managed to lose my wallet. Not aware that I had left my wallet behind we headed off to find a camping spot. It was not as easy as normal to just find a spot to camp so in desperation for a warm shower and a sleep Steve checked us into the first camp site we came across. We are now camping at a spot in the next little beach town along called Mar de las Pampas, an incredibly wealthy town where everything is twice the price it would normally be. While cooking dinner I realised my wallet was missing and the last place I saw it was in the loo at the heladeria. So, now I lie here with Steve snoring away anticipating the early morning cycle back a long the soft sandy road to the heladeria where I'll hopefully find my wallet.
Km505 to Km450: Soft sand roads
The camp site was right by the beach so when woke up I was super keen for a swim but first had to go on a hunt for my wallet. The soft beach sand roads had now almost completely dried out so the cycle back to where I thought I had left my wallet was a little tougher than thought even though I didn't have my house with me weighing the bike down. When I arrived at the place where I thought I had left my wallet, actually the bar next to the heladeria (icecream shop) the barman said nothing, just smiled and handed over my wallet. My instinct was to give the barman some cash for finding my wallet but then I thought well he hadn't gone to any effort to get it back to me and I pretty much knew I had left it there so should I be rewarding someone just for not stealing something? I figured not, so thanked him profusely and off I went.
Once back at the camp site I joined the others who were enjoying the sun and sea. The sea here is by no means warm but I actually quite enjoy cooling off in a refreshing ocean every now and again. We hadn't planned to go far that day and had planned to just go on to Pinamar, a bigger more developed beach town where we would have lunch and spend the day enjoying the coast. We only managed to set off around midday so the sand roads were now completely dry and with our heavy bikes, and the skinny tyres Steven I were sporting, cycling was near to impossible. Steve resorted to pushing his bike while I persevered sliding all over the place nearly having about 10 accidents along the way. It's very entertaining watching someone cycling on soft sand, they weave all over the place peddling like mad just hoping they'll hit a hard spot, if not they are either lucky enough to get their feet out of the peddles and catch themselves before falling or if the on looker is lucky they'll get to see them plough into the sand, all very entertaining.
Later that afternoon we arrived at Pinamar, a wealthy more built up coastal town although popular with local tourists I preferred the more wooded organic feel of the section around Mar Azul. Steve was still feeling a little broken so I joined him for a treat, a big fat burger and icy drink at one of the many posh restaurants over looking the beach. Spending the afternoon relaxing in addition to raising Steve's bicycle seat a little seemed to work a charm as Steve felt much better coming out of Pinamar. It was now late afternoon and things were cooling down and the harsh Argentinian sun was a little easier for us all to bare but soon it began to grow dark so we did our usual trick and found the best most inconspicuous spot on the side of the road and set up camp. After a few nervous moments over dinner convinced that the police were coming to chase us away I now lay here suffering from numerous mosquito bites while trying to keep my arms away from the side walls of the tent. I can hear all the mosquitoes outside just dying to have a bite to eat, that will serve me right for deciding against buying the insect repellent I spotted while shopping in Pinamar. Insect repellent should carry a warning indicating: If you do not buy this product after considering it, that night Murphy will ensure you camp next a mosquito infested swamp.
Km450 to Km350: Material goods
Early the next morning Nick realised he had left his beloved CamelBak water bottle behind and was going to cycle back about 10km to see if it was still at the internet café in Pinamar where he knew he had left it. I've learnt a lot on this trip and one thing is that having fancy things just creates more stress in life. For example we need a water bottle but why not just use the free one you get with your Energade because then if you loose it so what, this can be applied to so much in life. The more expensive something is relative to the average material good the more attached and the more petrified of loosing it we become. Anyway, so off Nick went to fetch his water bottle, its a nice bottle and being only 10km away from having it back why not go back and get it. So far I have lost an electronic English/Spanish translator and an expensive lock which I wouldn't have lost if I hadn't have been so paranoid about loosing. I had decided not to leave my lock attached to my bike while my bike was being serviced in Santiago so instead decided to carry it around with me for the day and in the process left it on a bus! As for the translator well I think I left it in a hostel somewhere in Peru but given it took me 5 days to discover that it was missing I figured I was better off without it and it would be one less thing to keep track of.
We had planned to meet Nick back on the coast later that day as we would be stopping there for lunch giving him time to catch up. As we got half way up the road the wind started to gust strongly into our face so we were very grateful it was not us cycling 10km in the wrong direction only to have to cycle all the way back into the wind. We were soon back down on the coast passing by the tourist office of Mar del Ajó where we were informed that the towns name meant Sea of Ajó a local indigenous word different to Mar del Ajo meaning Sea of the Garlic in Spanish. The sea thankfully didn't smell anything like garlic but the water along this coastline is also anything but blue. The tourist office was incredibly friendly and had provided us with a pile pamphlets about the region including a very handy map of which roads were tarred and which weren't so we decided to go on to the first coastal town, Lucila del Mar, which we could get to by tar then stop there for lunch.
In Lucila del Mar we found a very cool restaurant set on a pier where we relaxed and had lunch popping down to the beach every now and again for a refreshing swim in the sea which Steve aptly a likened to swimming in a cold cup of cappuccino. We had expected Nick to be only about an hour or so behind us but about 3hrs later Nick came stumbling onto the pier quite annoyed that the road was far longer than thought and the wind rather unfriendly but nonetheless he had his bottle, so all was good. Once rested we set off again for the highway a little further inland following a long tree lined avenue to reach it. We now had a friendly sea breeze pushing us up the avenue towards the highway so decided to take advantage of it and try a few tricks we had been talking about trying for the past few days. One of which is to lie flat on the bike making like Super Man which was successful and far easier than thought but needless to say rather uncomfortable on the crotch!
That evening we rolled into the last beach town along the coast before we would get to Buenos Aires, Las Toninas, where Steve insisted we would be staying at a camp site even offering to pay if he could just have himself a shower. Being the marketing manager for a large range of personal hygiene products certainly required him to have a far higher hygiene standards than the one we have become accustomed to that's for sure. Once in town Mark and I went off scouting the various camp sites and while Nick and Steve were distracted by an old man advertising an apartment for rent which Mark and I had ignored assuming that it would be way pricer than the camp site. We all know what they say about assumption and a few minutes later Steve and Nick came cycling along saying that they had found an apartment for only AR$80 (R160 or $22) between the 4 of us.
The apartment was very quaint and the shower made me laugh, it was a bucket stuck up on the wall with a kettle element inside it. The sign above the apartment said it all 'Es lo que hay' meaning that's just the way it is, a saying which is often used by locals when passing through red lights or to explain some strange Argentine behaviour, kind of like 'only in Africa'. Unfortunately we couldn't get the bucket to fill up so we had to change apartments to a slightly fancier one which very disappointingly had a normal shower, I was quite looking forward to having a shower underneath what was basically a kettle stuck to the wall. The old couple renting out the apartment were just so sweet and friendly making sure we had everything we needed, and were quite surprised that the gringos knew how to make an asado (braai). That evening over a braai we chatted with a few locals who chose to share their Fernet and Coke (popular local drink) with us as they passed by discovering that the kid next door was sporting a SA rugby t-shirt but again he had never heard of South Africa let alone their rugby team.
Km350 to Km270: Hostal Policia
We had made plans to spend Christmas in La Plata, different from Mar del Plata, with Isa and Tamara whom would be flying to from Chile for the event. La Plata is a quite a big city with a population of over 700000 and is located just south east of Buenos Aires so given that we yet be in Buenos Aires by Christmas we would need to catch a bus up the road in the very same direction that we would later and pass again by bike. We had worked out we could catch a bus from a small town en route called General Conesa which we had now allowed a day and a half to get to however the wind had other plans and as we started heading inland the wind picked up from behind and blew us down the road far quicker than planned. Before we knew it we were in General Conesa a day early and now needed to find a place to sleep then the following day find a place to store the bikes while we would be away. We had noticed a very strong presence of police in the town of about 1000 people and wondered if they wouldn't know of a place we could store our bikes if not against a pole outside the station. We knew that given that it was such a small town there wouldn't be much of a security risk and had also noticed that all the restaurants and bars just left their patio furniture outdoors untended.
At first the police were a little hesitant because they didn't want to be responsible for the bikes but a little later they came back and said it would be fine, then in jest we were being offered to spend the night in a cell as we had told them we had nowhere to stay. Literally this town did not have any accommodation so eventually one thing led to another and we landed up camping out the back of the police station. All the police were very kind but we were quite confused as to why there we about 5 police on duty at any one time and nothing really seemed to be going on so we enjoyed many cups of 'mate' (local tea like drink) and watched numerous bad game shows with them in their staff room. They also had showers and a place to cook so it actually turned out to be the perfect hostel. Before we knew it we were part of the furniture and were strolling in and out as if we were staying at 'Hostal Policia'.
That evening we went out on the town to see what has happening at the local bar only to discover it had some kind of concrete bowling alley where they were playing a sport that looked like a mix between bowls and Petanque, the French game of Boules. Everyone seemed very into it and paid very little attention to the strange group of 4 gringos who had wondered in, well that was until our friend from earlier that day arrived. Argentina and the UK have had a rather sordid history so while sitting in the bar we had just agreed that from then on we would tell people Nick was Swedish as he is half Swedish although born and bred British, just to keep the peace especially since we were now sitting in a rather rowdy locals bar. Having come up with our guise for Nick we were trying to keep a low profile when a local we had met earlier that day, who had become quite excited about the fact that nick was British as he loved British football, came strolling and shouted across the bar and game of Boules 'Hola mis amigos!'. We now had everyone's attention as they were all looking over to see what all the fuss was about but that wasn't the end of our friends outbursts, next he strolled over to Nick taped him on the shoulder and looking proudly round to everyone at the bar announcing 'El es de Ingleterra!' (he is from England!) at which point we just sank back in our chairs, frowned and just pretended we weren't with Nick or this crazy man who was now shouting around the bar. Fortunately nothing came of his outbursts and everyone just carried on doing what they were doing before his outbursts.
La Plata and Christmas
We spent the next day chilling in the small town just waiting for our bus to depart just watching life go by and enjoying a few pastries at the local bakery while waving at the local police/house mates as they did their rounds. At 4pm we were finally off to La Plata and arrived at our hostel at around 9pm where the Chilean girls were already getting the party started. It was now Christmas eve and the girls had done a shop for drinks and food for the asado (braai). There were a few other Argentines and some Colombians at the hostel so we all decided to get into the Christmas spirit and party the night away together. The Colombians had a little more than just the Christmas spirit at hand which they had brought from Colombia, boxed Colombian Rum and boxed Tequila/Sambuca, both of which were a recipe for disaster.
After a delicious asado (braai) we opened our presents which were sitting around the Christmas tree which the girls had built from a bunch of paint buckets. We had managed to find Tamara her favourite drink, Absolute Vodca, and Isa some delicious Argentinian delicacies but we were totally out done by their generosity. The girls had given us some great t-shirts and some pisco from Chile which would now be put to good use. Fully loaded with drink supplies the Chileans, Colombians, Argentines and South African's gathered for a game in which everyone was bound to loose. The drinks flowed and the crazy dancing began ring in a very Merry 2009 Christmas day.
I awoke with a sore head surprisingly early on Christmas morning given what time we had gotten to bed, I think it must have been the excitement of opening my card and chocolates from home. My mom had sent a Christmas card and chocolates from the family with Steve and I had specially kept it all just to open on Christmas day. It was so nice being able to open up a handwritten card frm the family and enjoy a few South African chocolates. The family was all together in Pretoria, South Africa enjoying a great family Christmas day so fortunately I managed to catch them all in one place. After a good catch up with the family we all set off for tour of La Plata. First was the neo-Gothic style cathedral of La Plata, the largest church in Argentina where we all sat at the back and enjoyed a few carols echoing through the enormous chambers. After that we felt we had done our bit for tourism so spent the rest of the day chilling in park and recuperating at the hostel.
Km270 to Km159: Fire Station
After a few relaxing rainy days in La Plata we returned to our bikes which were being stored in a police cell in General Conesa. What we didn't know is that our bus would drop us off at the turn off to General Conesa which was still 2km from the actual town down a beautiful tree lined avenue. Fortunately for them, otherwise they would have received a 'very strongly worded letter' from Nick, there was a guy waiting for his family to arrive on the same bus so he offered us a lift to town on the back of his bakkie (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bakkie). We only got back to the little town of General Conesa late on boxing day so we decided to spent another night camping behind the police station. We again headed out for night on the town heading straight for the local bar/ice cream shop (yes a bar that sells Italian ice-cream), while I think the town folk were amazed to see the 4 strange gringos come into town in the first place I think they were even more amazed to see us back! One man even followed us for while in his car and then stopped asking with quite concern in his voice whether we were lost and if we needed any help. The blonde attractive ice-cream/bar lady was just too happy to see the that 4 glutinous gringos had return and queried as to whether Steve was a famous movie star, Mark was a little slow on the draw here and said no. Movie stars or not I'm sure the people of this town won't soon forget the time 4 strange looking gringos frequented their tidy little town.
Leaving the policemen and lady with a parting gift from La Plata we now headed off on the final stretch to Buenos Aires. We made good ground that day and arrived at another little town called Lezama. I had noticed General Conesa had a Bomberos (Fire Station) next door to the Police Station so figured that given that Lezama was a bigger town they must too have one. I was was right and within 500m of the highway we found it. They had a nice big patch of grass and a great entertainment area with shower and kitchen which they gladly offered up for us to use. The Argentinian civil servants have just been so generous to us making it hard to keep your expectations in check but we are aware that no everywhere can we expect this kind of hospitality.
The last night camping at the police station had been a bit of nightmare because I discovered that we had set up the tent on-top of the hole leading to the home of some kind of animal. The first time we had camped there I had heard something crawl past the tent in the night but I had figured as long as it was outside the tent all was good. So that night when we were just nodding off to sleep on more or less the same spot of grass I again heard a noise but just told myself to chill out go to sleep but all the while secretly petrified of what it could be when suddenly 'whaaaamo' something rammed my arm form underneath! Steve has been sharing the tent with me while he as been out here so when I jumped up and started screaming like a little girl (yes I 'll admit it just like a little girl but I'd like to see how you react) he too got fright and was like what the hell is going on. I think what had happened was that we had put the tent over a snake or mole's hole and the first time it came up it figured something, i.e. my arm, was in the way so it just gave it a forceful nudge. I was in no mood to move the tent so I just slipped my mattress over where my arm had been and made sure all my limbs were now firmly on-top of the mattress, as long as it don't touch me I was ok but then I slowly started getting paranoid and was like what if it is a snake and it punctures my air mattress! Thankfully it didn't and was almost relieved to later feel it slowly slither out from underneath my mattress hoping that once it left it would be coming home, however it did but only at about 6am and thankfully it is was Steve that received the nudge this time.
That night at the Fire Station was not much better, as I fell asleep I again felt something bumping me but was persistent in not allowing myself to worry about it and just forced myself to keep my eyes shut and try fall to sleep. All through the night I was convinced there was something outside the tent brushing past me every once in a while only to discover that it was actually Steve rolling a round on his not so comfortable none existent mattress. Thanks to the confusion of being half asleep I had forgotten that we were now sleeping the opposite way round in the tent due to the slant on the ground and the side wall was in fact on the other side of me.
Km159 to Km51.5: Petrol Station
We had made excellent ground since leaving Mar del Plata so we decided to head into Buenos Aires a day earlier than planned and as a result used this day to cover as much ground as possible hoping to make the next day's as short cycle as possible. Sorrel one of Kelly's friends living in Buenos Aires had kindly said she would take us in so when she said it was ok to arrive a day early it was all systems go. As we left the Fire Station in Lezama it began to rain but we were prepared for it and spirits were high so there was no getting us down. Given that it was warm rain we actually had a great day ridding along in the rain and it even got to the point where we were so wet that we gave up trying to stay dry. It got to the point where we would deliberately cycle up close to passing trucks and buses so that we could get fresh gush of warm water being thrown up off the road, laughing historically as as it came washing up into your faces. After a fun day on the bikes it began to dry up up bit just as dusk was beginning to fall. Us and the bikes were now filthy so we were lucky to come across a petrol station just 51.5km outside of Buenos Aires with a hosepipe and showers where the owner gladly invited to set up camp for the night.
Km51.5 to Km0: A highway escort and the cycle into Bueno AiresA
It was Steve's last day with us on our bikes and it looked to be a perfect day after riding all day in the rain the previous day it was now clear skies. We were heading into Buenos Aires on their main highway but after the rather scary cycle into Santaigo, Chile we didn't really know what to expect. Buenos Aires has over 12 million inhabitants and it is a relatively wealthy city so we knew to expect big highways but were not sure if there would be a hard shoulder for us to cycle in on. Approximately 25km outside of the city we came to a split in the road we now had follow the road that would take us directly into Buenos Aires but a policeman at the toll gate on the off ramp spotted us taking the fly over and indicated for us to come back. We had come this far and knew of no other way into the city so given that he wouldn't get to us until we were over the other side of the flyover we decided to continue on and plead ignorance when and if he gave chance. Over the other side of the flyover there were the main toll gates leading into the city. They had received the news that we were coming so as we arrived at the booths we were very quickly waved down.
They were not very impressed with us but once we explained how far we had come they started to think of solutions. They were just implementing the law, no bicycles on the highway, so we couldn't be annoyed with them but we really wanted to cycle into the city and needed to do it the safest quickest way. After a few discussions making it clear to them we would not be taking any form of public transport into the city we were giving 2 options; wheel our bikes back across the grass and take the off ramp a little further back and then pass through the outer suburbs of Buenos Aires, or have one of them escort us to the next off ramp just a 5km on and then take the parallel main road into Buenos Aires. The first option did not excite us for numerous reasons but the main one being that when he said we could cycle through the back suburbs he caveated it by saying we were most likely to get shot en-route, while this would have made for a great blog entry it would have made for miserable New Year. So, the second option seemed far more sensible as not only did it not involve us getting shot at but it also meant we would be getting a police escort down the highway with flashing lights and all! We apologised for ignoring them in the first place and accepted the offer for the escort trying not to look too pleased with ourselves.
Mark and I cycled as slowly as possible to the off ramp with our escorts in tow just lapping up all the strange looks from passing traffic, we really were hoping they would just say ah don't worry about the off-ramp we'll just escort you all the way in but no such luck I'm afraid. The suburbs that we now had to cycle through were by no means wealthy but we didn't feel unsafe and enjoyed a little snack at great corner café before tackling the city centre. Once we had navigated the suburbs we came to river and the only way we could see to cross it was now to get back onto a highway but there was not hard shoulder and the traffic was not looking friendly at all but then we spotted another little bridge that had no traffic on it. The other bridge we found was new and was just about to be opened to traffic, we of course took the just do it and apologise later option and ducked under the barriers and peddling our way quickly and across the pristine new bridge that we now had all to ourselves. Quite prod of ourselves we were now on the edge of the city centre just few suburbs away from our destination.
Once in the city we navigated our way to Sorrel's house, a friend of Kelly's who would be hosting us for the fist 2 days. Sorrel has a beautiful home with a terrace on her roof where we could store our bikes out of the way and an entertainment area with bathroom where we could sleep so it was just the perfect place to stay especially since there are currently 4 of us, quite an ask for anyone to have over so we are all very grateful to Sorrel and her other house mates for taking us in. Shortly after arriving at Sorrel's place the heavens opened making us all the more relieved we had made it into town early. Sorrel had mentioned to us earlier that day that we were going to be having a chilled asado (braai) that eve so we picked up some meat and waited for her to come home form work at around. Everyone in this city seem to leave work really late so Sorrel only finished work around 9:30pm and when she got in she mentioned she had invited a few more people over for the asado and that they would all be coming after work at about 10:30pm!
By 11pm the roof terrace was alive with her friends from all over the world, New York City, Sweden, Canada, Brazil and even few token Argentines. The fire was only just getting going but fortunately we had come to know the customs around here and were not expecting to eat dinner until well into the early hours of the morning. Drinks flowed and eventually after fantastic night of cultural exchanges we headed off to bed after having been up for over 24hrs. Lucky for us we had the whole of the next day to recover but the rest all had to head to work the next day, I really don't know how these guys do it. We went to bed on the roof terrace so by 7am we were all wide awake sweating in the sun which was actually quite fortunate because we had made plans to meet up with Pablo for breakfast, a friend we had met in Neuquén at around.
Pablo had planned to come cycle with us a from Buenos Aires but he has landed a good job for 2 months over the summer as life guard on a river near Neuquén so he decided just to pop into Buenos Aires for visit. It was great seeing Pablo, he is just such a kind gentle guy and seems to attract some rather bizarre happenings when he is around. Just after we had met up with Pablo and were walking down a street we walked past a doorway with an old bent over lady shouting for us to help her. We all were a bit confused by the call and went back to find a very old lady asking if we would please help her down here stairs and walk her to the end of the block. Palo quickly jumped into action helping her down the stairs. This lady was hilarious because when she first asked she was very polite but once she had reeled us in she was very instructional to Pablo, she demanded 'put your arm higher, don't walk too fast, hold me here, do this and do that' but she was only getting started, once she found out Mark and I were foreigners she had even more to say 'what are you doing here, the president is terrible bring back Paron, go quickly to Paraguay its much better there, maybe Argentina needs the South African to come here and be our president, I am a very lucky old lady to have 3 young boyfriends' as she smiled and laughed. She was such a demanding yet friendly and likeable old lady but we were quite relieved to deliver here to her destination, the local café.
The bizarreness didn't end there and carried on through breakfast with a French lady passing out just next to our table needing to be loaded into here taxi by her family as we enjoyed our coffee and 3 medialunas (croissants). Then after that the debacle was over 3 young ladies came walking into the coffee shop all sporting Brazilian football tops and started taking photos with all the staff causing passers by to pop their heads through the window so they could get involved in the mini photo shoot.
It has been a crazy start to our time in Buenos Aires having not even been in the city for 24hrs and already experienced so much. I have a good feeling about this city and am looking forward to New Years and a pending visit to the South African embassy early in the new Year!
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