Northbound on Ruta 3 the wind was a problem, a big problem. I could barely keep the bike on the highway, much less in my own lane. At one point as an opposite direction semi was approaching me, a gust of wind blew him over into my lane, and when he tried to correct, the trailer tilted so wildly that I thought it was going fall over and take me out. Fortunately I was only doing about 50 mph due to the winds (any faster and I couldn’t control the bike) so I launched off the edge of the highway into the ditch, fully compressing the suspension, and launched off the other side, getting a bit of air. Luckily, I stuck the landing and came to a stop with only a little bobble. The trucker managed to save the trailer, but he did take up both lanes doing so.
Suffice it to say that the wind was strong.
When I would stop at gas stations, people would just stare at me. When I passed cars on the road, they would honk and flash their lights at me. I found out the wind was blowing at around 80 mph with higher gusts. Now I know that everyone thought I was crazy. Maybe I was.
After that scare I promptly consulted the GPS for an alternate routing off of Ruta 3. There are plenty of options that more or less follow the highway within 10 to 20 miles. Still battling the wind, but not the terrifyingly erratic movements of oncoming traffic, I opted to stay on the ripio as much as I could.
The next day proved to be windy, but only blowing about 40 mph. It was a nice break. I arrive once again at the Atlantic Ocean. I think I might be seeing quite a bit of this ocean in the future.
I stopped at a place called Punto Tombo, about 100 miles south of Puerto Madryn and camped for the night. The next morning I got up to have a look at the penguin colony. This is a gigantic breeding ground for Magellanic Penguins. They migrate here every summer from southern Brazil to nest and lay their eggs.
They are literally everywhere. I stayed here for about 4 hours just wandering around and looking at these curious flightless birds. I felt like I was back in the Galapagos. If you come up Ruta 3, this is a must see destination for sure. Show up in the evening and camp in the parking lot next to the store (its free, just ask the folks living there), then get up and go in the park right when they open at 8 am, and you will have the entire place to yourself for at least several hours.
How’s this for a pair of funny looking creatures, Penguins and Guanacos.
Busy pedestrians at lunch hour.
I was there. And it was pretty cool.
After Puerto Tombo I headed north to Azul, then onto BsAs. I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Dakar Motos. Dakar Motos is kind of a landmark for moto travelers. Its bascially four bunk beds in a motorcycle workshop. The owners, Javier and Sandra were very welcoming. Sandra brought over Christmas Eve dinner and I had dinner with the whole family. I appreciated that gesture very much. Many thanks to Sandra and Javier! I’m sure BsAs is a very nice city. I can tell you that its a huge city. I dont like big cities too much. So I decided to split.
After a short Christmas stay in BsAs, I caught the ferry over to Colonia, Uruguay and headed to Montevideo to take care of some business.
I had an interesting thing happen in the port as I was checking out of Argentina. In migracion, they paged through my passport and asked to see my Argentina visa. Huh? They said that all U.S. citizens must get a visa and it cost USD $180. They would not let me pass. I pointed out that I have crossing into Argentina on 7 different occasions in the last 3 months, and not one time was I ever asked to show a visa. I then said that I would be happy to buy this visa now, just direct me to where I could get it. They said that they didn’t know where I could get one. Interesting. Finally after a hour of sitting around and letting them know that I would miss my ferry to Uruguay, they simply let me pass. I have no idea was going on there.
While the Brazil consulate was accommodating, and efficient, the same cannot be said of US consulate. To get new pages on my passport I had to make an appointment. Here is the best part. They have 2 appointments available 3 days a week for US citizens. On top of that, I get to pay $82 USD for the privilege of getting more pages taped into my passport. Punishment for daring to be a long term traveler I figure.
To get a Brazil Visa, I just had to fill out an online form, show up, drop off my passport, and pay the fee. Took all of 5 minutes, literally, and you can pick up your passport with the visa the next day. Why is it so complicated to get new pages taped in my passport?
Saludos, Vicente