Iguazu Falls

I finally left Buenos Aires, heading north for the world famous Iguazu Falls.  On my way I was stopped at a Federal Police checkpoint where they fleeced me for about $150 (US) for driving with my headlight off, during the day!  The ticket was supposedly $400 and according to the officer, I could not appear in court to take care of the fine - I had to pay THEM, right THEN and THERE.  But they found it in their corrupt little hearts to charge me less than the full amount.  Only after threatening to keep my bike until I paid the full amount and me refusing to pay any more than the cash I had at hand - I was just about ready to walk away and let them have the bike.  I’m still ticked off about the $150 dollars.  The next day I was stopped at another checkpoint where they attempted to fleece me again! But, I wasn’t playing this time.  I was cordial at first and slowly worked my way up to stark raving mad! They walked thru the same steps from the day before: ask for my documents, check my lights. My headlight looked like it wasn’t working when looking at it from an angle but it was working and you could see it if you looked strait on.  But the officer was not seeing it.  About then I started seeing red.  Angry colorful language began to flow from my lip.  I doubt they understood exactly what I was saying but I am absolutely positive they knew that I was pissed off.  By now my documents had been handed off to the head guy, just like the day before.  His next move would surely have been to take me to their little office and tell me how much the ticket would be.  But, I was done playing!  I snatched my documents right out of his hands!  “GIVE ME THAT!!!”  I walked over to my bike, put my documents in my pack, and rode away.  Bear in mind that there were about 10 Police Officers in the immediate area.  I looked into my mirror as I rode off and no one tried to follow me.  Perhaps my actions had taken them by surprise or perhaps they just weren’t going to bother with me.  I don’t know!  And I don’t care!

Anyway I made it to Puerto Iguazu a day before the start of a big motorcycle rally.  So, I saw the falls and stayed a couple more days for the rally.

Uruguay

Went for a short ride across the border into Uruguay with a friend I met in Buenos Aires.  Nicky is from England - she had come to Argentina to learn Spanish, do some volunteer work and possibly even stay.  Unfortunately, my bike decided to stop charging its battery.  And, it stopped running when the battery died, just short of the border for Uruguay.  Luckily, it stopped right across the street from a battery store where we were able to get it charged again.  We had to stop and charge it several more times before we made it back to Buenos Aires. And, it died again just before we got back to the hostel. Luckily, it died right near the very last subway stop in the downtown area of Buenos Aires.  So, we were able to catch a ride back on the tube.  I had my battery quick charged and then took the subway back to get my bike.  Other than that :), it was a fun little excursion to the small town of Frey Bentos. 

 

 

 

What Now? uh… NORTH!

After careful analysis of my options, being that I was pretty much out of roads to ride going south, I decided to head north with a couple goals in mind - I wanted to see some penguins, and I wanted to go to Buenos Aires : )

I still needed to replace my chain and sprockets as they were badly worn.  So, I stopped in Rio Gallegos and bought the parts I needed but decided to wait on installing them until later as I felt like riding and wanted to get some miles in that day. This proved to be a mistake as I later discovered the Suzuki Dealer had given me the wrong rear sprocket. Poop!  I was several hundred miles from where I had purchased the parts and had no desire to go back.  So, I forged on.  But my sprockets were worn to the point that the chain was slipping badly.  Riding very slowly, I made it to Bahia Blanca and found a moto shop where they offered to exchanged my sprocket for the right one. The owner also offered to take me to a shop where I could install may new parts. The first shop we went to was closing shortly.  So, he took me to small moto repair shop behind the mechanic’s home. He introduce me and made sure I had everything I needed before he left.  The mechanic was really nice guy.  He introduce me to his family and his wife and daughter brought me refreshments while his son help me install my new parts.  They also invited me to use their shower and even stay the night - I took them up on the offer to shower but didn’t feel like imposing to the extent of staying the night.  But, they made me feel very, very welcome.  After installing my new parts and showering, it was getting late. And, I wanted to get out of town and find a nice place to camp for the night.  But, I was unsure which way to go and stopped to look at my map.  A bicyclist stopped almost immediately to see if he could help.  And, he was giving me directions when a moto rider stopped and offered take me there.  So, I followed the moto rider for a mile or so and he took me to his house.  He started introducing me to his family and asked if I really needed to leave tonight as it was getting dark - he said I was welcome have dinner with them and stay the night. This all seemed quite strange to me as I am from the Los Angeles, California area where this kind of thing just does not happen. I was enjoying their hospitality but couldn’t bring myself to accept their generous offer as I still felt like I would be imposing. So, I bid farewell to another nice family and headed for the edge of town where I stopped to fuel up before heading off into the darkness. Then I started questioning what I was doing.  There seemed to be something special going on here in this friendly little town.  So, I decided to find a hostel and stay a couple days.

While I was there, I met a couple gals, Linsey and Natalia who were traveling the globe, volunteering on farms. We set out to see a bit of the town.  After wandering around for a few hours talking we discovered that none of us had yet experienced the cultural phenomenon known as “Mate”  So, we found a small café and tried to order some.  As it turns out, this is more of a ritual that is shared between friends.  And, it is not on the menu at any restaurant.  However, the café waiter talked to the manager/owner and they offered to let us use one of their personal mate cups to experience this small but significant part of their culture for the first time.  And, they acted as if it were a privilege to do so.

Ushuaia Argentina - the city at the bottom of the world

5 star camping spot right on the beach

 

1 star camping spot right next to the road