Gonzo, is not moving away. He is our personal dog-watch and for sure one of the most faithful dog south of Rio Negro. We are here on a campground for two days to have a bit of rest after this long rides of the last days we did. In Camarones, a small fishing village we found a shady place under a Ombu-Tree.
But we should start from the beginning and give an overview of the last four weeks.
... Gonzo, our faithful dog-watch
Michaela is already a week before christmas travelling to Vienna, were she awaites 23 passengers, with whom she does a cruise on the MS Delphin as a tour-guide. First they fly to Lissabon, where they board the ship. Wonderful ports of call are on the list, like Madeira, Canarian Islands, Kap Verdian Islands, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo or Buenos Aires. The trip is called „The great Christmas and New Years cruise“.
... MS Delphin in the port of Mindelo - Kap Verde
My small travelgroup is a very spezial one. Every one of them makes it very easy for me, to miss this year my beloved christmastime in the midst of my family. The time on board of the MS Delphin is for my passengers and myself a most wonderful one, with lots of interesting Ports on the list.
... MS Delphin in the harbour of Buzios - Brasil
There is as well a good varity of attractions on board, especially on the days on sea. Starting with the wake up call – radio, different excercises like Pilates or jogging, slideshows of the different port of calls and as well the evening entertainment. For this there were different artist on board like W. Plathe, wellknown in Germany in a doctors-serie, which presented humoristic writings and songs, Hill Gutt, her reportaire is from Hildegard Knef to the great singer Zarah Leander, Randell Cooper, who did sing – with the voice of an angel – Broadwaymusicals and others and a magician, named Kalibo, who brought the passengers to big asstonishment.
... Rio de Janeiro - Corcovado in the mist
In the beginning I thought, three weeks will be a long time, especially since christmas and New Years eve will be included. But time did go by very quick and I really have to say, even I did already looked forward to Raimunds and my Southamerica tour, I did go off board with tears in my eyes. Certainly, since part of a journey is much depending on the people you meet during that time and I did meet most wonderful ones, whith whom I do hope, will be staying in contact as well in future.
... Sambashow in Rio de Janeiro
Fryday, 05th of January was Dday. All three of us, should arrive in Buenos Aires. Michaela with the cruise ship, our bus with the container and myself with the plane. It have been a very long flight al the way over the Atlantic, with a short Stopp in Madrid. At 6.30 am (Buenos Aires time) the aged Boing 747 of Aerolineas Argentina landed in Buenos Aires. Now I still had to sit and wait, since I waited for Michaela, who should arrive around lunchtime at the airport with her passengers. Well, already from far away I could see her in a bus with the sign in the front „MS Delphin – Aeropuerto“. Now we are already two of us. Our VW-Bus we will just get on Monday, since the cargoship first have to be reloaded and weekends the people from costums don´t work. For the next three nights we have ourselfes booked into a small Hotel in the middle of this 14 Million people Metropole. Most of the places of interest we can do on foot.
... Obelisk, the emblem of Buenos Aires with Avendia 9 de Julio, widest street of the world
You don´t have to hesitate walking during evening and nighttimes in the middle of this city. At all corners of the street there are police-man/ woman. A fantastic smell make it´s way to our nose from the lots of Asado-Grills. In the month of summer in the south part of this world, people from Buenos Aires do sit till morning hours in one of the coffee-houses or restaurants and enjoy the great athmosphere of it. Who ever is in the birth-city of Tango, should not miss out one of the fantastic Tango-Shows. Randy, one of the artists of the MS Delphin and a person who loves and knows Buenos Aires very well, get tickets for us in the Theatro Piazzolla. We see a great performance there and enjoy the evening with him and other colleagos of the MS Delphin. Even that ones, which are not so much interested in dancing (like me!!) do enjoy it at it´s best.
On Weekends at lots of places in the centre of Buenos Aires are performances of Tango and singing.
... Nostalgia pur – Reininkarnation of Carlos Gardels
But here in this city there is as well another side. The south part of Buenos Aires are the Slums. Lots of the people, which are living here do not have any work and have no drinkwater-pipelines. Over 20 Million of rats are sharing theire home. The costums harbour, where we get our bus is right next to this Slum-area. Therefor it is not so easy to get a taxi-driver, which drive us over to this part of the city. But the portier of our Hotel find us a reliable one. On the day before we already did the paper work for the costums, know we just have to pick up the bus. The costums officer asked us to be there at 10.00 am, he himself came at 3.30 pm. At our agency Hamburg-Süd they told us already, that in the worst case, the officer will ask us for some extra money. Rodriguez, one of emplyee of Hamburg-Süd did help us to work out all the papers which we needed. Well we are lucky, our costums officer already wants to finish work for today so he just have a quick look into our bus from outside and fix the rest of the papers. Everything done!!
... Buenos Aires - 14 Million Metropole
It is already 4.30 pm. By no circumstances we want to stay any longer in this mega city. So we drive till St. Clemente, about 160 km far away at the coastline and south of Buenos Aires. It is already dark as we reach the camp ground there. Now we just have to fix the bus the next day, before we can start our journey. Everything is cleared out before it comes to it´s right position in the bus.
...all on it´s place
The wooden box with the spare tools moves onto the roof of the bus. Michaela have to do this out of „Weight-problems“. Now we are ready and can go!
... we can start
We arrive over a small street the Routa National No.3. This street leads all the way from Buenos Aires over 3000 km through Patagonia down to Feuerland, to the town of Usuhaia or like people as well say „To the end of the world“. Day after day we drive through the Pampa. The Pampa is as big as the country of France but flat like a pancake. The word Pampa means: plain – without obstacles. What that means – we´ve gone through.
... Routa National No.3
Emptiness, plain and again plain, so far as your eyes can catch it. The street is only straight on towards the South. The sun is very hot, it flickers on the Asphalt because of the heat. Very often the temperature in the bus is over 50 degrees celsius. The fields with the lots of cows in the beginning are getting more seldom so more we come south. Now we have our first control of foodstuffs on the Rio Colorado. We are stopped and have to leave here our apples which we had with us. They are worried about illnesses and therefor they don´t want us to carry them over to the next region of Argentinia. At the Rio Negro the next controll of foodstuffs, this time about beef. But we don´t carry beef with us. Later on at a next controll of foodstuff we have to give them the tomatoes.
Slowly but surely the landscape changes over to bushes. No houses, no people, no trees anymore.
... endless plain
Traveller which are going South gets a recommandation, never to leave a place without enough drinkingwater, petrol and whereever it is possible to get more petrol. Especially in the time of harvest – which is now – it could be, that some of the petrolstations do not have enough petrol and if so the farmers get them priority to travellers. That´s the reason, whenever we see a petrol station we drive by even if our tank is just half empty. By the way the price for the petrol is 0,30 Euros.
... somewhere in Patagonia
The heat of the last days is over. But now we have the problem with the wind. In this tree-less region the wind can be so strong that it blow up to 200 km/h. Sometimes the wind is so strong that our bus does not reach the 80 km/h. If then one of the very rare sidestreets is coming up and the day comes to an end, we drive into, with the hope that a fiew dunes at the seaside will bring us a bit of rest from the wind for the evening.
... Overnight at the patagonian Atlantik coast
Most of the time in this endless Pampa we are lost in thoughts or philosophize and it seems that this 3000 km are a preparation for the spectaculare „end of the world.
Finally short before the Tierre del Fuego we have some change on our program. But this we will tell you the next time.
Hasta luego
Michaela u. Raimund