Nov 13 SA de Areca to Ollivarria

The hostel manager has figured out our system, up early to drink coffee then after about an hour of that we want something to eat. We are the only guests in the place so he has set out the instant coffee and fixings, but has left the loaf of bread in the fridge. We had bought some eggs yesterday so we can have those with toast and coffee this morning. The storekeeper wrapped the eggs in newspaper to keep them from cracking in transport. No need for ½ dozen cartons like at home. After a nice quiet breakfast it is time to pack up the bikes and get on the road, the manager said he would be in by 10am and true to his word that is when he showed up and not a minute earlier. We would have left but we had no means of locking the front door behind us so we had to wait for him to show up. No biggie, we had basically just finished getting the bikes out of the lobby and loaded up when he pulled in.

The direction today would be to the South West (Sur Oeste), there was no set destination we figured to just head in that direction and see how far we got. We also did not want to ride on pavement as there seemed to be lots of big trucks enroute to Buenos Aires or somewhere. Whatever the case, I punched in the next town to the SW and let the GPS pick the route, which turned out to be basically farm roads in a grid system similar to home. The roads however were much more fun than our rural gravel roads.

After a while the roads were starting to get a little more damp on the sides and soon enough the road turned to an impassable mess. No worries we just found another small blue line on the GPS and went that way.

This area of Argentina is called the Pampas, which refers to a vast region of lowlands covering 750,000 square kilometers in Argentina, most of Uruguay and part of Brazil. This area is the comprised of rich farmland and large cattle ranches due to the rich soil, lush grasses and lack of trees. Although we do see trees they are much like in the Canadian prairies and are located along driveways and around farm yards. The rest is just crops and cows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampas

Ollivarria is a bustling town and by the time we get to it we decide that we should stop for the day, the dirt roads are fun but they are not great for making a long distance in a day. We are happy with approx. 400km of distance today. This also allowed us to do a dirt run test of the bikes with the new Altrider luggage, all good there, even on the rough stuff it stayed securely attached and did not shift on the bike at all. A quiet evening of tending to bug bites, I seem to be the main course this year, and direction planning then it is time for bed, wow made it to 10pm.

From Ollivarria we decide to go to a little beach town called Necochea, just to see what the Argentines consider to be beach living. We once again take the roads less travelled and corner our way South East (ish). The last two days has also allowed us to by-pass BA, once was enough. The scenery is much like yesterday with the addition of more wetlands. I am surprised to see livestock standing belly deep in water, I don’t remember our horses and cattle just standing around in water.

What we thought would be a quick fuel and lunch stop turned into 2.5hrs, it seems that we arrived in this little town during siesta. That means most of the restaurants are closed, so we find a fruit kiosk and buy some bananas and oranges. They are tasty but it also allows for the police to roll up and ask for our documents. Nice, this happened yesterday as well and will likely happen many more times. We smile and hand over our documents but pay them little attention as we continue to eat our fruit. One officer hands back our papers and politely says “Excuse Me”...no problemo Amigo.

We finally find a restaurant in a hotel and are lucky enough to find the daughter of the owner speaks English. Cecelia helps us with the menu and shares a bit of her travel experiences with us. We normally ask anyone who speaks English where they learned it. Most of the time it is from music, movies or the internet. In Cecelia’s case it was from travel. Anyway, after a fantastic steak and mashed potato lunch we are in search of a gas station and after circleing the town a couple of times we stumble upon a well hidden station. The average cost of fuel here for 95octane gas is 13.40peso/liter and using the official exchange rate of 8peoso:1USD that equates to $1.67USD/liter. Now add 12% for the conversion to Canadian and the cost of fuel is $1.87/liter. Ouch. But this will seem cheap compared to Chile or so we are told.

Ok fed and fueled we get back on the road and are treated to more of the same, crops and cows. But all this water in the low areas is making me think that sooner or later we are going to find another impassible section of road, and sure enough late in the afternoon we come to a section that is completely flooded. Judging from the fence that disappears under the water I assume it is too deep to cross with the bikes. As sure as problems arise, so do solutions because about 1 mile back we passed a rancher pulling a horse trailer with a couple of ponies in it, he was also chasing a young calf that must have gotten out of the fence. I remembered him because as we passed the calf bolted through the trench (ditch) and ran into the fence. The young rancher is now parked at the corner and opening a gate into the pasture. I figure he must know of a detour around the flood, he is standing on the running board of his truck looking in our direction so we go investigate our options. He seems quite happy to chat and after waving his arms in the general direction of the shore on the opposite side of the flood we figure he knows a way. The calf is now in the trailer with the horses. Sure enough, there is a path around the flood to a gate at the opposite corner of the pasture, we thank him for his help and proceed on our way. 

The next flood is not so easily navigated and we are forced to find and alternate route. No problem, the grid system is easy to use and soon enough we find a small paved road that leads us to Necochea.

The beachfront town is a bit in contrast with itself. There are lots of hotels but lots of them are not open. There are a few properties on the water that are derelict and others just being built, we are not sure if this place is on the decline or incline, no matter, we find a nice hotel a couple blocks to the beach and make ourselves at home for a couple of days.

We are pleasantly surprised to find a very nice and very large beach with powdery soft sand. The beach stretches for miles and is flanked on one end by a man-made water break that serves as a fishing spot for the locals. They use large fishing poles to cast far out into the water, and aside from one very ugly looking fish it seems that the usual catch is a hand sized fish that resembles a Perch. I am not sure what the ugly fish is, but I am sure it looks good next to fries. A totally unexpected treat was a few groups of sea lions sunbathing on the shore beside the pier, people seemed to not care that they were there as we were one of a few who were paying attention to them. After a long walk on the beach it was time for a siesta and more sunscreen. Mucho Caliente 28C today.