The Americas 2013

Although people raved about Las Grutas, it was quite a basic seaside tourist town, albeit it with a great location. Our hotel for the night was the crown Casino Hotel because its the only accommodation we could find so we were quite keen to head out early because we are/were planning on spending two nights at the Peninsula Valdez… (the place where the Orcas have learnt to beach in order to nab the seals!).

Our ride for the day

The ride from Las Grutas was more open, hot, flatland although there are signs beginning to appear that the topography is about to become more interesting as we head further south. The ride into the Peninsula itself however was visually interesting with beautiful dramatic bays all over the place.

We are spending the night at the hotel Faro Punta Delgada which translates as the “lighthouse at Punta Delgada” which is really basic and quite expensive for what it is although the food and service here is fantastic!!!

The last 70km towards the hotel was a sandy pebbly dirt road which was “fun” at times but passed quite quickly as we were able to maintain a decent speed. We got to the hotel, had some lunch and I promptly collapsed into the deepest sleep that I have had in forever…which was great!

The old bullet becoming quite the pro at riding l’il Fatty on the dirt!!

The peninsula Valdez is famous for its whales, Southern Right and Orcas and its leopard and Elephant seals. Its famous because of the numbers around here so at 6:30pm we went down to the beach to see the elephant seals which was great and in the morning, Enrico and I are going to ride about 50km north to hopefully see some Orcas beaching to eat seals.

Tomorrows Orca kippers?

Although we were planning two nights here, we have decided that there is not enough to do and see so after riding north in the morning we are going to press on to Trelew, a town about 280km south.

We left Sierra de la Ventana at around 7:45 this morning for a fairly long run of 525km to Las Grutas. The evening spent at Sierra de la Ventana was pleasant but uneventful.

Our hotel in Sierra De La Ventana..

The ride out of Las Grutas was fantastic because we took a dirt road for about 75km that was awesome fun to ride. This was Enrico’s first attempt at dirt on the GS and he did really well although he was slow…not sure if that was him or the BMW?!?

Not bad for a skinny old bullet on a fat bike..

The rest of the ride to Las Grutas couldn’t have been longer, straighter, more boring or hotter. At one stage it was 40C and my feet were burning inside my boots. The area we travelled through was so desolate and hot that it was peppered with salt pans and shrubs for almost the entire ride.

So hot that Enrico shrank!!….

Las Grutas is a coastal resort town that is jam packed with tourists. We struggled to find accommodation because it is peak season but not a town that we would rush back to.

Tomorrow we head to the Valdez Peninsula where we spend two nights.

Happy Birthday Dale!!!!

So the day of departure has finally arrived and we managed to leave the hotel at 08h00….smack bang in the middle of peak hour Buenos Aires traffic!!

Saying goodbye to our ladies!!

As mentioned yesterday, we made a last minute decision to change our destination for today. We were originally going to ride from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata, about a 415km ride, but have decided instead to ride to Sierra de la Ventana (about a 600km ride) as it not only enables us to bank a day and split the 800km ride from Comodoro Rivadavia to Rio Gallegos on Monday into 2 days without affecting our schedule but according to Sandra and Javier from Dakar Motos also gives us a more beautiful ride and authentic Argentine experience.

Our ride for the day versus Mar Del Plata on the south east corner of this photo.

The first 100km was really spent navigating traffic out of BA and its surrounds, thereafter, and for about 400km, the landscape was much like the freestate…flat, beautiful and scented. The last 100km towards Sierra de la Ventana becomes a bit more mountainous and twisty which I was grateful for because the long, flat, straight stretches were becoming treacherous for my heavy eyelids!

Flat and scented like the freestate….

We are spending the night in a quaint little place called hotel Atero where a room costs 200 pesos, (about R300) for the night including breakfast, parking and wifi. Its clean, comfortable and the shower and aircon work well. Argentinean meat is always a treat so dinner was steak, again!!

Tomorrow we head for Las Grutas, a 525km ride to the town next door to San Antonio Oeste which was our destination for Friday night.

The final day of prep was running smoothly and uneventfully…until the BMW developed yet ANOTHER problem!! The valve on the rear tyre snapped which prompted another trip to BMW (on the trusty KTM) to get a new one and a ride to Dakar motos to get them to help out with the replacement. Thanks Javier!!!  This put a dent in my packing and rest time and resulted in us only getting to bed after midnight.

We had intentions of leaving BA at 6:30am tomorrow but its doubtful this will happen!! On the plus side, whilst waiting for the valve to be replaced, I got chatting to Sandra about our ride tomorrow and she has suggested that instead of going to Mar Del Plata we head for Sierra De la Ventana as the ride is more interesting and the town more quaint. Apparently Mar del Plata is akin to Durban, which is fine, but for the fact that we are looking for a more typical Argentine experience.

The Big day has arrived.

What started with a lot of trepidation associated to the unknowns of getting the bikes out of customs turned out to be a breeze. In the run up to this day, there was a lot of talk about the corruption of the Argentine customs process with a lot of “brown envelope” type negotiations taking place. These rumours couldn’t have been further from the truth. Sandra and Javier from Dakar Motos were incredible. Their costs to run this gauntlet are reasonable and Sandra got us in and out of there within a few hours. There are NO bribes or “under the table” type processes contrary to what the rumour mill has to say. Each cost is properly invoiced and receipted and the costs associated with getting the bikes out of customs are no more and no less than what one would pay anywhere in the world for an exercise of this nature.

That’s the good news. On the downside (and I suppose to be expected from a BMW), once we had uncratered, the bikes, ripped off the plastics, put the screens and mirrors on and donned our riding gear, the KTM fired up and raring to go (as she ALWAYS does) and little fatty (the BMW) let out something akin to a burp and just stood there with that blank expression that BMW designers have ingeniously managed to engineer into the GS1200!! Battery flat…courtesy of the 3 million electronic gizmos that can even tell you your sphincter pressure for when the going gets tough!! So, the guys at customs helped us out by sourcing jumpers and we managed to fire her up with the help of a forklift and rode straight to BMW Buenos Aires to replace the darned thing. Riding in 34C is bad enough, but getting to BMW and being ripped R4,350 for a battery was just adding insult to injury.

All of this aside, Enrico and I are both in high spirits about the fact that the bikes are out and we are ready to go. We are going to use tomorrow to do final packing and checks and will leave for Mar Del Plata (about 415km away) at 6:30am on Wednesday the 9th.

Little Fatty and the Supermodel in the crates.

Sandra from Dakar Motos and Enrico

Where most GS’s spend their life!!

Another lazy day enjoying the sights and sounds of Buenos Aires. Tomorrow we start the dreaded customs process to get the bikes released.

After 11 hours of sleep, we feel like new people again. we are staying at an awesome hotel, the Park Hyatt Palacio Duhau, that Rupert and I used to stay at when coming here on business a few years ago and its as fantastic today as it was then. The day started with a leisurely breakfast, followed by some shopping to obtain the items that I forgot to pack in my frenetic rush of the 3rd of January. Cape Union mart would make a fortune here because the concept doesnt exist!!

The remainder of the day was taken at a leisurely pace as we are only able to start the customs process to obtain the bikes on Monday morning at 09:15. Dakar Motos of Buenos Aires are helping us out with customs and we are hoping to have the bikes out by Monday afternoon for a Wednesday morning departure to Mar Del Plata.

The evening was spent having dinner at an awesome little restaurant called Sirop down a hidden little alley in BA with just Jacqs and I.

The Park Hyatt Palacio Duhau

Sirop Restaurant

Erm…if you have to ask, then it doesn’t matter!!

And the day that has been in the planning for over a year has now finally arrived.

Today, my mom, stepdad, Jacqui and I fly to Argentina to commence with the adventure and we are all hyped. To add to the good news, I checked with the pilot and it turns out that both the bikes are co-incidentally on SA226 and will arrive in BA with us although its unlikely that they will come out on the conveyer belt with the rest of our luggage.

The flight itself is like any other long distance daytime flight, sleeping, eating and too many movies! The bonus however is the gaining of 5 hours which makes the jetlag easier to manage and that we still get an opportunity to see a little of Buenos Aires when going out to dinner.

I had forgotten, since it has been about 3 years since I was last here, that the steak houses in Buenos Aires don’t serve steaks, they serve entire cows. Mistakenly, we each ordered a meal, each of which would have been adequate to feed a small village in a remote African country as can be seen from my mothers schnitzel below. (Roland, you should move here…600g fillet for R250 bucks!!) Needless to say, the meal plus a great bottle of Argentine Malbec was an awesome way to start our time in BA.

SA226, carrying us, the supermodel and little fatty to BA.

Jacqs and I

Mom trying to devour a crumbed calf!

Because its the new year, and Jacqui and I are of the opinion that we haven’t partied enough to celebrate the upcoming trip, it was decided that we would do a quick lunch with some friends yesterday to say our final goodbye’s.  This was a mistake!

With 12 hours left to pack and make final arrangements, the hangover inducing behaviour of the day before wasn’t only irresponsible, it was downright stupid. That said, it was a fun afternoon with lovely people that never fail to entertain.

Today however, I have run around like a madman trying to ensure that I have packed everything I need, signing documents and saying goodbye to my kids and unfortunately am doing so feeling like I am dragging an elephant around behind me.

Our flight to Johannesburg for the evening was due to depart at 5pm although was delayed and we only arrived in Jhb at 8. An early night and a good nights rest is essential for our early flight to Argentina tomorrow morning.

Hangover inducing behaviour from the day before…Curse you Clarks!!

Aaaannnddd Merrryyy Christmaassssss!!!

What a beautiful day in Cape Town today. On the build up to our departure, I had the fortunate experience of being surrounded by my beautiful family for lunch and was spoilt rotten with gifts!..

Bon and Paula

Family Lunch

Peta looking uber sophisticated….