Los Alerces National Park was beautiful, but we had to keep moving on. You can read about the park here.
We had planned on a few days of driving, with our next destination in mind being El Chaltén. We drove on the world famous Ruta 40 (the “Official” Patagonia Highway in Argentina). This highway is very popular amongst those traveling the famous Patagonia route – as it is the only route for sections at a time. Along this route you will find plenty of cyclists, hitchhikers, and camper vans.
Throughout the drive we saw plenty of llamas, a few rheas (think small ostriches) and a handful of armadillos. We even saw a flock of flamingos drinking from the river at a distance. It was very challenging getting photos, as most are camera shy and run off before a photo. We once tried to get a photo of a rhea, but he ran off so fast and left us in the dust. We are not giving up that we will get photos of them before the end of the Patagonia Run road trip.
I don’t want bore our readers with all the activities of our days of driving. We did do some grocery shopping, sing loudly along to Zac Brown Band, and talk silly. One of the most challenging part of this leg of our trip was the lack of occasional cell data, which meant we weren’t able to check in with family. Don’t worry – they didn’t send out a search party, as we warned them this might happen and continue to happen as we head South.
The road itself was mostly paved, with gravel some times. Every few hours we would come to a small town to refill gas. By small town, I mean it – much less than 1,000 people. The Patagonia is famous for its strong wind – and it didn’t disappoint. The wind made driving hard, as well as camping a little miserable.
There is a possibility we will have to do part of this route again, will let you know.
Night 8
We were able to wild camp by a river, with very minimal wind protection. After our pasta dinner we headed in the van for wind protection.
Night 9
We were able to wild camp right off Ruta 40 near a different river, with better wind protection.
Stay tuned!
