The Real End in Buenos Aires

Location:

Buenos Aires

Leaving Ushuaia is emotional. With most journeys when you turn for home, it’s sad because you always want to go a bit further. However with this journey there is no-where further to travel. We cannot go south any more and this has been our route for five months. So while turning north is a major step and not without regrets, it is the only way we can go.

We retrace our route back to Cerro Sombrero in Chilean Tierra Del Fuego for our last night on the Island and then the next morning recross the Straits of Magellan. It is a choppier crossing than previously but just as quick. Our route then diverts and we turn east to head towards our final land border crossing. We cross on Ruta 3 from Chile back to Argentina for the last time. We have crossed 17 land borders including 7 times between Chile and Argentina. Ruta 3 is basically our home for the next 4 days as we take the only paved route up 2000 miles of the east of Argentina. We stay in a few little oil and gas producing towns, which are basic towns with some lovely hotels to keep visiting workers happy. As we ride north we enter the Welsh settled areas of Patagonia and start seeing dual language signs. Policia / Heddlu! We divert off Ruta 3 to visit Gaiman an Old Welsh community with road names such as JC Evans and Ruta Rodgers. It is a strange mix.

We travel through Pampas terrain. Huge, flat and open with low scrub plants that are trying hard to survive and keep out of the treacherous winds. Guanaco and rhea are still plentiful but start to fade out the further north we get. They are replaced initially with stretches of desert terrain with the sand blowing across the road, and then later with arable farming and then cows and sheep. We ride our biggest day which is 490 miles of Ruta 3 made tiring and challenging by the in-secant cross wind which is strong enough to move the bike, forcing the tyres to slide across the tarmac.

Then without much warning we are staying in a nice remote hotel at the edge of Sierra De La Ventana National Park and it is our last night before Buenos Aires and the finish. A relatively subdued night and then off early for 300 miles before lunch and a re group to ride into Buenos Aires.

Into Buenos Aires and along Julio 9th which is the widest road in the world, and to our hotel, for more hugs and congratulatory pats on the back. This, only after we ride down the incredibly steep slope to the hotel underground car park onto the newly painted concrete floor and in a final moment of symmetry Aaron drops his bike in the hotel car park. (Ed dropped his in the Anchorage Car Park just as we left!)

All that remains is a final night out to celebrate. We are going to Tango Night the night away. Professional dancers and the Argentine Tango close up is absolutely amazing. A truly fantastic way to end the trip.

Spaces for the 2011 Trans Am are limited and filling fast, so to experience the journey first hand e mail us soon!

Reaching Ushuaia

Location:

Ushuaia

Back to the tundra which, while not the last gravel everyone will ride, it is the last very tough section of Ruta 40 and so everyone is solely focused on “don't fall off!”. Over the border once more to the Torres Del Paine National Park and we are staying in a lovely Hacienda. During the evening the owner arrives in his pick up with two young lambs that a puma has killed. We are here for two nights so we can spend a day riding in Torres Del Paine. There are herds of guanaco, rhea and small foxes. Even after 17 weeks travelling, there are still plenty of surprises when several riders see at the side of the road a guanaco giving birth. It takes ten minutes and mum spends most of this still grazing. Within 15 minutes the newborn is walking, somewhat unsteadily but wking all the same.

From Torres, we head off to cross the Straits of Magellan. This means we are at the end of the continual land mass of the continental Americas. We ride past abandoned estancias on the coast and rusting ships on the way to the ferry to Tierre Del Fuego. The ferry runs about every 30 minutes simply on a when it arrives it loads up and goes back timetable. At each end the boat rams the ramp and the captain keeps it driving into the concrete ramp while cars, trucks and bikes load and unload with the tail of the boat drifting left and right in the current. Nothing as time consuming as tying up!

Once on Tierra Del Fuego it is a short ride to Cerro Sombrero for an overnight stop. The next morning we are back on unmade roads and cross the moor like terrain of the north of the island to another border crossing. The island is divided between Chile and Argentina. We ride on and mountains rise in the distance. The south of the island returns to mountains, forests and lakes. We stay on the north side of Lake Fagnano just 65 miles away from Ushuaia where Ruta 3 ends.

This is the most southerly road in the world. The end of the road - literally. We ride away in the morning in convoy and make our way gently over Paso Garibaldi and down into Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world, through the city (more of a big town) and onto the Lapataia national park and to the end of the road after a final 20 miles of dirt and mud track in the park.

We park up and then there are lots of hugs, a few tears and a glass or two of Champagne. This is the first Trans Am where every-one who left Anchorage has arrived in Ushuaia. One rider is now pillion with her husband. One bike is crashed and unrepairable and has been stripped of parts to get another back on the road, but we are all here and all on bikes.

After an hour or two, beating off curious tourists we turn and head north. We haven't really done this for 5 months.

We have two days in Ushuaia to reflect and enjoy Antarctica. Time to visit Penguin colonies and boat trips out towards the cape. The second day is Mac's 60th birthday and a bit of a lunchtime party follows. The rest of the day is spent quietly to get fresh for the 3047km ride north to Buenos Aires and the real end of the journey.

Carretera Austral & Ruta 40

Location:

El Calafate

From Fuetaleufu we ride to the Carretera Austral. This is the dirt road connecting the top of Chile to the bottom built by Augusto Pinochet's Chilean Army in the 70's and 80's. It was originally only there for the army but opened to the public in the late 1980's. It varies from deep sand and gravel, hard compacted surface two lanes wide, to rocky narrow twisty hairpins. Two stretches of newly graded sand catch at least three riders out as they are soft with no tracks to follow.

Puyuhuapi is on a sea inlet and is a small fishing town with little reason for existence other than it is on the road. Lots of German families and influence here and this town is no exception. We stay at a four storey wooden Bavarian style house with a shallow roof. It is very welcoming and friendly, with a small black cat tucked up behind the wood burning stove, who if picked up will make a brief appearance before returning to the best seat in the house.

The next day is more gravel initially very narrow, wet with rain and winding around the inlet. In the rain this is challenging and slow as there is always the promise of oncoming trucks and buses. After a while the dirt is replaced by perfect tarmac, and the road wends it way through beautiful autumnal red foliage and trees despite this not being autumn. The coarse grassed fields and pastures are all littered with dead grey timber lying haphazardly in huge numbers. It is quite striking and forms a lovely backdrop to smooth swooping roads.

Chris has a bad day when he locks the front brake on a switch from tarmac to gravel and goes down. He is remarkably fine, once again we avoid serious injury, but the front of his bike is missing. With no instruments, ignition lock mechanism trashed, no brake or clutch master cylinders or levers, and us in the midst of rural Patagonia, the bike is unrepairable. This despite Jeff’s best efforts, over two nights. The upside is Chris's swinging arm is fine and he very generously tells Jeff to strip it off his bike and fit it to Andy's so they have at least one functioning bike.

Off again and the scenery of yesterday afternoon continues as we get back on the dirt and travel down a valley with snow capped mountains framing the ride. We stopped and had Papa Reinas for lunch, which are stuffed baked potatoes with meat and veg filling. A cross between shepherds pie and a Cornish pasty.

Another border crossing today. The day is spent circumnavigating the deep blue lake largely on or directly above the shoreline. We arrive at the Chilean border post, which is a shed by the side of the road and complete the normal formalities. Ride on and they are building a cathedral of a border crossing, only months from completion. Why on this no traffic gravel road? When we get to the Argentinian side we realise why. On May 21st they opened their new border crossing point. Much nicer than the shed but now shortly to be outdone by the Chilean Cathedral. Oh and they have tarmac on their side as well - so there!

From here we are heading back to the famous Ruta 40. Another top to bottom road it stretches the length of Argentina. We hit the gravel and climb as the terrain fades to scrubby wind blown plains. And it is wind blown. The gravel is deep and you have to keep to the tracks cleared by previous vehicles. You are riding leaning into the wind but when it gusts you can be moved left or right involuntarily and into the deep gravel. It is a challenge to keep to the road and negotiate your way back to a track. We stop for fuel and a sandwich at, well, the only place that sells fuel and coffee and makes sandwiches. However the man making the coffee also serves the fuel so don't be in a hurry for either. Fortunately his daughter makes the sandwiches! Our destination for the night is a working estancia (farm). We arrive to flasks of tea and coffee and the most incredible location. Built in a natural bowl there is no wind and the coarse grass land on which they raise sheep is littered with their horses and the farm sheep dogs. After Lamb from the Parillia (BBQ) we retire to the main room and read, play a Finnish card game courtesy of Perti, jenga, and are serenaded by Max on guitar.

El Calafate is the entrance to the Argentinian Glaciers National Park. We are here for two days two visit the park and the Glaciers before the final weeks ride down to Ushuaia. A visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier is a must for most riders.

Still more Ruta 40 dirt to contend with along with Patagonian winds and a crossing of the Magellan. Still it is not over until the fat lady sings, or for us until the thin lady tango's in the Argentine Tango bar in Buenos Aires, the now traditional last night out!

The Lake District (Chile & Arg)

Location:

Fuetalufu

Leaving Santiago we have two days on the Pan Am to move the whole game south. The first night we stay at Salto De Lajo, where someone appears to have installed a not so mini Niagra Falls outside our cabins. On to Osorno where we are all fitting knobbly tyres at Moto Aventure Chile for the long stretches of dirt and gravel roads to come. This is a BMW hire bike company with a fleet of 40 R1200, 800 and 650 GS's, so if ever you are in Chile and want one...

“It'll be cold” says Kevin about the ride over the Andes back to Argentina. This turns out to be a bit of an understatement. The ride to the border is cold, very cold, and as we approach the border we see a snow plough coming the other way covered in snow. We should have taken this as a warning! We pass out of Chile but have 30 miles to go to the Argentinian side. This, for 15 miles has 2-3 inches of snow settled on the road! We pass a man fitting snow chains and a Mack truck stuck in the snow wheel spinning and going nowhere. It is very cold and slippery. When we get to the Argentinian side the customs ladies look out their window and laugh at us. This tells us a lot.

We ride on into the Argentine lake district. It's like Windermere and Scarfell Pike on growth hormones. What in the UK lasts for minutes, here lasts for hundreds of kilometres. “I fancy a cheese and ham toasty and a coffee” says one rider at a stop and at the end of the road we come across an alpine lodge. The menu includes “Queso y Jamon sandwiche tostada” Excellent!

San Martin Los Andes is a lake front town where many riders have their first taste of Patagonian Lamb, which is barbecued over a real fire in the restaurant windows. The next day has an optional dirt side road. It has among the best views of the trip. Sharp edged mountains capped with frosty white snow, round hills with porcupines of fir trees, turquoise gem stone lakes with white horses, it is incredible.

It is a bad day for Andy though as he hits a pothole with a square rock at the far edge that lifts his front wheel high, flattens the tyre and trashes the wheel. It also allows the swinging arm to hit the rock before the rear wheel with disastrous results.... It snaps in two!

We have a day off on Barriloche, also known as Chocolate Town, which allows us all to prepare for Ruta 40 and Carreterra Austral. We have over 1000 miles of dirt roads to do and we need to be fresh and energetic, or at least something close! Again we are riding to Chile and traversing the Argentinian Lake District which remains incredibly beautiful. Lake, Mountain. Lake. Lake, Mountain, but you can't get jaded as each corner brings a new vista that takes your breath away. We cross the border at a shed at the end of 40 miles of gravel at which the guards are very friendly and relaxed. Their chubby tabby cat is highly furr'ed and needs to be at these temperatures. A whole seven kilometres later we arrive at Fuetalufu. A frontier town with a nice grassed central square and little else. The hostel is log construction with high ceilings, an unusual collection of old tills and typewriters and a great roaring fire. Perfect…

Northern Chile & Argentina

Location:

Santiago

Today we enter Chile and the last but one country on the trip. Arica to Antofagasto is 470 miles through the Atacama Desert and the desert valleys this morning are full of clouds. We cross the plains above them surrounded by miles of rock scattered sand and then descend through the clouds into rift valleys suddenly emerging under the clouds into the valley, then cross the valley and repeat in reverse. From Iquique we follow the coast road all the way to Antofagasto. The road is two lane wedged in between the huge sand dune on our left and the pacific on our right.

After a few days in Chile we are crossing to Argentina for the first time. It's a 300 mile day with 120 miles of dirt on a road used only by us and the Dakar Rally earlier this year and again in 2010. This is all at over 4500m altitude. The road is initially well compacted and grippy, and progress to the border post is swift and uneventful. Then Nick goes down on the soft sand and while unhurt, the combination of high altitude and the crash sends him into shock. Jeff arrives with the van and in 5 minutes flat, his bike and Nick are in it. As all this is happening Simon rides back to say that Paul has also gone down but is up and about, although his bike is pretty battered.

When Jeff arrives with Nick at Paul’s accident they realise while Paul's bike is a definite non runner, Nick's in the van is a go’er. Paul is OK to ride and so in 3 minutes flat Jeff unloads Nicks bike, loads Paul's and speeds off. At the border the Argentinian customs guys could not be more helpful. A guard accompanies Nick and Jeff to Fiambala and the local hospital, where after an X ray and now out of the high altitude Nick is given the all clear. Paul and Nick spend the evening comparing bruises!

The next morning is a nice simple tarmac 200 mile day and so 4 riders promptly get lost leaving town (as does Jeff in the van!) and ride 20 miles down the wrong road, 20 miles back to town and then leave again! After yesterday we need an easy day and we get one to Villa Union and a lovely hotel with a fantastic restaurant that serves the best steak of the trip so far. Welcome to Argentina proper! The next day passes without incident as dirt sections are treated with unsurprising caution by all. Then we have a group ride into Santiago where we will be for four days to get the bikes serviced and to rest up, get Paul and Nick to hospital to get checked out and generally re-group.

BMW Chile have supplied the Carabineros with a fleet of R1200RT's and they have arranged for us to enter Santiago with a Police escort, stopping traffic and blocking roads with red lights flashing. Their uniforms are dark green with highly polished black riding boots and elbow length white gloves to stop the traffic. Great fun as they race past our nice staggered formation directly at on-coming traffic that swerves to avoid them. They are scraping the engine bars around corners as they swoop in and out and we arrive at the hotel like royalty on tour, although we look decidedly scruffy next to them. This is all filmed by the main Chilean news channel and shown that evening on the 9pm news!

About four weeks to go to Ushuaia but this includes 1500 dirt miles on Ruta 40 and Carretera Austral. In some ways little time is left, but still 5000 challenging miles and 5 weeks...

Peru

Location:	Arequipa
Mileage:	15,800

We cross the border with ease. It is very quiet and we ride south to Chiclayo. It’s a ride across the Sechura Desert. There are no facilities on this road. No fuel, no services, no food or drink. This 130 mile stretch almost catches a few riders out, as they crawl into Morrope on only fumes. Riders are quite shocked by Northern Peru. The change is immediate. Life is obviously hard. Houses are straw mats in the desert, no water and no electricity. Rubbish is dumped on the edge of town and blows across the scrub, plastics clinging to the small thorny trees.

There is some relief in the small seaside town of Huanchaco. It’s on the coast and we get some blue sky before the normal low mists and fog swirl in and drop the temperatures so we need fleeces again for the first time in many weeks.

From here, we take the gorge road of Canyon del Pato. It’s pretty rough this year and roadworks on part of the section does not help as riders struggle over stretches of deep gravel and some sandy hairpins. We have four riders with passengers. Their efforts constantly surprise us, as they all make the canyon without dumping their passengers or bike on the ground. Maybe they don’t get too testosterone fired up, to rip up the road when their loved one is on the back. Everyone enjoys a cold beer in Caraz and then take Kevin out for birthday celebrations.

From here we take the tarmac road back down to the Pan Am, have a noisy night in the rough and ready town of Barranca, then battle our way around Lima in the rush hour, before making the relative calm of Nasca and at last, our first rest day since Colombia. The flight over the Nasca Lines turns a few green! We’ve been joined by two other GlobeBusters guides (Peter and Alan), who have arrived early for the Patagonia trip (it’s a standalone ride with ten customers booking for the five week stretch from Santiago to Buenos Aires). They spend time with Jeff the Van Man to try and sort out Paul’s bike, which gradually has been getting more problematic to start each day. They identify a problem with the starter motor, which is resolved and the bike now starts first time, every time.

We are now on the gringo trail of Southern Peru, taking in Cusco and Machu Picchu, Puno and Lake Titicaca and the white city of Arequipa. It’s the first time we have had contact with tourists for a long time and it also means that the quality of restaurants and accommodation improves too to cater for the mainstream holiday maker. We have only few problems to sort out over this period – a few riders are suffering from altitude symptoms and Jim’s bike has conked out. Between Van Man Jeff, Peter and Alan, we manage to get the one Suzuki V-Strom back on its feet and Jim is all smiles, narrowly escaping van riding until Santiago. It’s great that all the bikes are still rolling; the only time the bikes have ended up in the van is because the rider is not too good.

We have a final group meal in Arequipa to mark the end of Peru. Everyone is in high spirits. So far, so good.

Ecuador

Location:	Chiclayo
Mileage:	13,700

We have a bad border crossing into Ecuador. There is only one guy issuing bike permits, one computer and a bad internet connection. It sometimes takes him 45 minutes to do one permit and there are 20 bikes waiting. By the time he finishes, it is dark. We have 80 miles to ride to Otovalo and the final group does not make it in until 11pm. Everyone is pretty exhausted, but our hostess, Margaret is amazing, the fires are blazing and food and drink await. The difficulties do not dampen the smiles that we are now in our tenth country.

Ecuador is home to the Equator. This is a huge milestone for the group. There is much congratulation as the bikes line up on the equator line. We have all come so far and it is a very special time. This is our first time that we have led a group across the equator, thanks to riding in Colombia – now we are riding south over the mid-point of the earth and it feels different.

Ecuador is also tiny. It only takes us a few days to ride north to south, through Quito and down to Cuenca. From there we have some amazing mountain roads to get the border. For Nigel, it’s a bad day. He is caught out by a drifting vehicle, a tight bend and a little too much speed. Once again, we are lucky. He is hurting badly, is very bruised and his bike looks battered, but he manages to crawl into town. The next morning, he still climbs aboard the bike to continue the ride to the border. Riding all the miles is a non-negotiable for many.

Picture - The Equator: another milestone