Craig (no longer the blogging virgin) writes.
Todays journey took us from Esquel to Perito Moreno , a distance of 580 kms.
As we stood at the bar for a change for a pre dinner aperitif , JP was heard saying that the pills weren’t helping the shingles, but two Negronis had done the trick !
Dinner in Esquel was in Don Chiquino where 4 of the old boys had what looked like lasagne bricks with variants of rabbit / hare or lamb. The more sensible amongst us had chicken, or was it ?? We took a photo of John and Lois with the owner , both appearing taller, obviously an optical illusion 🤔
As we leave Esquel it is interesting to reflect that that the Welshman who founded the town were often spoilt for choice in many ways as the picture below shows. 🐑
As we were setting off for the day and I was thinking of what to blog about several one liners came to mind. So see below some classic quotes from one of our travellers, and if you have been following the blog you may guess who , answer at the end of the blog;
* I don’t f#$@*$g swear
* That bed was like sleeping on a diving board
* Fishing is for people addicted to boredom
* For goodness sake how long does it take to fill a child?
* talking about a female rugby player..” she was going out with the coach , and I don’t mean the bus !??”
Now back to the day , as I sat next to Lois , our resident Frenchman it was surprising to read that USA had knocked Fiji out over at the Dubai Sevens . Obviously their 15’s side is now stronger with their recent fantastic result in France!!
We set off promptly at 8am + 20 minutes having resolved exchange rate points of view with the hotel.
We exited Esquel and made our way back into RN40 , after which our Kate on Waze (SatNav) told us the next turn off was in 345km !!
We were back into rolling hills but quite barren landscape.
We did see some vast Pampas with some marshland. Finally some animals, wild horses, sheep , cows even flamingos.
I also saw two birds that were either Ostrich or Emu . After much debate we settled on Ostrich as Rod Hull was nowhere to be seen. Actually it’s a Rhea , a bird found only in South America.
First stop was to refuel at Tecka. We bumped into some local lads who were waiting to take some guests trout fishing. What you see us the frame they fit into dinghies to fish from. We also had the first of two Gauchos, one at the filling station and one out in the fields.
Further down the road and we were stopped at a police checkpoint, unusually this time also pulled over whilst the Gendarmeria checked our passports and driving licenses.
It took 20 mins with much excitement at the prospect of a discrepancy in our paperwork. Finally we were on our way again.
Just before the first driver change Chris set Go pro to film a wee burst of landscape but didn’t realise that he had knocked it and filmed blue sky for a few minutes whilst doing a voiceover about the road .
We then stopped for lunch at Rio Mayo and enjoyed mixed Empandas for all .
On arriving into Perito Moreno we made our way to the Hotel Belgrano, booked for the night. The front door was locked, saying they would be back at 6pm, we were there at 3.30pm. We found a way in the back door to be met by a powerful urine smell. We borrowed a key from the empty reception desk and checked out a room , then made the decision to seek alternative accommodation , even if that meant writing off the cost for a night. On checking trip advisor we retrospectively found that 45% of people had said the Belgrano was terrible.
Luckily we found the hotel Kelman and it was back closer to our usual mediocre standard.
We are now looking for a dinner location and planning the route and stop off viewing points on tomorrows drive which will be a 10+ hours day.
Tomorrow’s journey is 680km plus a detour , making it over 700km in total as we head to El Chalten.
Finally …yes you all guessed correctly , it was Mike with his one liner Mikeisms 🙂
Our America’s Challenge Drive 