Las Lajas, Lago Alumine, Wild camp, Piedra Mala in N.P. Lanin

December 2, 2018 – December 8, 2018

Driving so many kilometres, often on rough roads, means that there is almost always something that needs to be adjusted, repaired or replaced. Probably about 50% of the time when we arrive at a camping spot, one of the first things Derek does after we are set up is get his tools out and work on something. The fridge is finicky and doesn’t always work, screws rattle their way out of the camper and need to be tightened or replaced, one time the electrical connection for the solar panels on the roof was loose or filters need to be replaced on the truck. Sometimes it is more complicated, like when we noticed that the camper batteries were completely discharged and not being charged as we drove anymore. The computer chip governing the relay had quit and so Derek wired a manual bypass… we now have a manual switch in the cab that we need to remember to turn on for charging camper batteries when we start to drive, and off before we shut down the engine so that the fridge doesn’t end up draining the engine batteries. He is one handy guy!

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Lago Caviahue and Volcan Copahue

December 1, 2018 – December 2, 2018

Our guide book for Argentina is not very good. It highlights a few regions of Argentina, but is more focused on luxury hotels and expensive restaurants, and gives only a few highlights of things to do, in only a few regions of the country. So we didn’t really have a plan for what we wanted to see and do in between the larger, well known sites in Argentina. We looked at our map and at iOverlander, and decided to head to Lago Caviahue for a night.

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Atuel canyon, to Malargue to Catch some Cosmic Rays and Volcan Tromen

November 28, 2018 – November 30, 2018

We left the city of Mendoza and drove through several wine producing regions, towards the Atuel Canyon. We watched people raft down a beautiful mountain river as we drove the narrow road built along the base of a cliff. Deeper into the canyon, we began a short series of switchbacks, then entered a tunnel carved out of stone, emerging at the far end to find ourselves driving across the top of a dam. The resulting reservoir was fantastic.

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Officially into Argentina, a Wild camp near Uspallata and Mendoza

November 24, 2018 – November 28, 2018

The next morning we drove through the tunnel, and officially entered Argentina….our 14th country of the trip since leaving Canada. The border procedures were quick and organized…we had read that this border can take 4 to 6 hours if you hit it at the wrong time, as Argentinians cross here to go shopping in Santiago, Chile. We got lucky and it wasn’t busy at all. We were stamped in in about 30 minutes. We began driving through a beautiful valley along a river lined by multi coloured peaks….red, yellow, orange, brown, purple-grey….stunning.

Northern Argentina near the border with Chile.
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Paso los Liberadores

November 23, 2018 – November 24, 2018

The highway to the border of Argentina was in great shape. We sped along through small towns and fields of grape vines, slowly gaining elevation. Then the switchbacks began. Traffic slowed as we followed semi trailers up the numbered switchbacks, about 29 of them in total.

The first set of switchbacks on the main highway.
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Santiago de Chile

November 19, 2018 – November 23, 2018

When I had dreamed about this trip, I had romantic visions of us visiting cities like Santiago. I pictured us getting a bit dressed up, visiting museums, churches and parks, then heading out for a late night dinner, maybe on a patio with a full moon and soft music playing in the background. But after visiting many colonial cities on this trip, to tell the truth, they are starting to all look alike.  In addition, it is hard to “clean up” nicely when you live in a small camper with no bathroom and most of your cloths are dirty and/or slowly deteriorating from harsh laundry service.  Also big cities can be quite a challenge with our truck and the dog….we want safe and secure parking that we can fit into and Piper is not always welcome at all establishments (What!  I know!  They just don’t know her like we do).  That being said, it seemed a shame to be so close to city such as Santiago and not visit…in we went.

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La Serena, Horcon, a Copec gas station and Embalse del Yeso

November 13, 2018 – November 19, 2018

We returned to La Serena to take Seymour into the Dodge dealership for diagnosis. We arrived early, left the truck at the garage and walked, with Piper, to a nearby outdoor mall to kill some time. We moved from shady bench to shady bench as the sun made its way across the morning sky.  We snuck into the Sodimac (South America’s version of Home Depot) to use the washrooms. We watched the security guard watch us. We went for a coffee. We searched for an outdoor plug to recharge our phone and tablet. It was a little like being homeless for 6 or 7 hours, except, of course, we knew we would have a nice warm bed at the end of the day.

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Atacama Desert, La Serena and the Elqui Valley

October 23, 2018 – November 12, 2018

Entering Chile was such a drastic contrast to our last few days in Bolivia. The highway was paved and had wide shoulders, we were driving 80 to 100 km/hr and there were road signs giving distances to the next town. We were headed for San Pedro de Atacama, a small tourist town not too far from the border, where we were looking forward to warmer temperatures, a shower, and a little bit of village life – maybe a nice restaurant, some interesting shops, that kind of thing.

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Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa

October 19, 2018 – October 23, 2018

We were pleased to be on our way to a reserve that we had been dreaming about since we first started planning this trip.  We had seen many images of Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa (I know, quite the mouthful) and were excited at the prospects of being at this really remote, high altitude area in southern Bolivia.

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Tupiza

October 18, 2018 – October 19, 2018

We camped for a night outside of Tupiza near the Canon del Inca.  We didn’t know much about the area before we arrived, other than it was near to here that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed.  Until we read about this, I had always assumed they were largely fictionalized characters.  But no, they were real, and they are generally believed to have died in a gunfight with the Bolivian army in San Vicente in 1908, close to Tupiza, while planning to rob the payroll for a rich mine in the area.

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