SOUTHERN ARGENTINA

Hi you Tynda

from Los Antiguos (Argentina) we went straight to Paso Roballo and further

via Bajo Caracoles to Tres Lagos. The Routa 40 wasn´t that bad, the wind was

bearable. On the way to El Chaltén Ricardas suspension broke down (after 5

minutes the oil was gone). The new one we got from Mendoza!!! It was just

good for less than 6 weeks and only 4500km!!! And further more, the

suspension of my bike also started leaking, but less than Ricardas. (Both BMW 650)

After 2

brilliant and lovely sunny days in El Chaltén we drove, or lets say, we were

hopping in 5 hours to El Calafate. There we arranged and organized 2 (!) new

suspensions from BMW Argentina (because the bikes are still under warranty).

There was only one problem: the next BMW dealer is almost 700km away from El

Calafate in Rio Grande. For that reason we drove just directly to Rio

Grande - 700km in 2 days. And - you probably know the way - there are 200km

more or less bad gravel in Chile and in Argentina just before the border. So

that wasn´t funny at all, we can tell you. On that second day we were

driving for more than 9 hours, from Rio Gallegos to Rio Grande (380km).

We were staying in this Club Nautico, were you can sleep inside and park the

bikes inside as well. There are always people around, so it is not going to

be boring here. And the Argentiniens are very friendly and helpful. The

shock adsorbers were already there in Rio Grande. They came by plane. We

fixed the bikes together with a mechanics from the BMW-Dealer in one day.

After the bikes were finished, we were going down to Ushuaia, coming back to

Rio Grande, and then went west to Punta Arenas.

From Rio Grande we had quite a wet time on the chilean side. The road to

Porvenir was wet and a bit bit muddy, the same with us, but more wet than

muddy. And it was freezing cold, so we decided to take a room in Porvenir.

The next day, we took the ferry to Punta Arenas. Fortunately, the passage

was quite and easy. Since 4 days we are in Punta Arenas, still waiting for

better weather. Every day it was hardly raining, and we have seen in the

newspaper, that the Nationalpark "Torres del Paine" is more or less under

water. So, probably for us, there are almost no reasons to go there.

greetings & see you soon

torsten (& Ricarda)

Return to HOMEPAGE FOR ARGENTINA