Hello from Sierra la Ventana

I'm writing from a gas station in this little town south of Buenos Aires.  We've found that gas stations have the fastest Wi-Fi and that we can sit down in the cafe for long periods of time without imposing on anyone.  I have also discovered that men's bathrooms at gas stations have showers while women's rooms do not.  Bummer.

Anyway, my traveling partner is a Canadian guy who is well traveled and has done extensive car camping in Mexico and Belize.  Score!  I haven't ask him if I can write about him in this blog, so I'll just call him CG (Canadian Guy).

We left Buenos Aires late on Wednesday 2/16/11 and drove as long as we could.  We managed about 400 kms in about 6 hours and stayed between Tandil and Necochea.  We found a little camping spot off of the side of a rural road without much traffic (I think I heard one car go by all night) and crashed.

[Sunset from the car]

[Camp site at sunrise]

Thursday we explored Necochea and Quequen, including some picturesque but not very interesting shipwreck off the coast.

We walked around Bahia Blanca which is the where the headquarters of the Argentine navy are located.  It was a gritty beach city.... hence the total lack of photographs.  We ate an early pizza dinner and hit the road again, hoping to find a campground near Sierra la Ventana.

Before making it as far as the official campground, we took a turn off the main road onto a "tourist circuit" on which we saw little of the touristical value but happened upon the perfect camping spot-- a sandy ledge right next to a river.  So, we settled for the night.  We drove about 530 kms this day.

[CG (with the headlamp at right) makes a campfire under a full moon]

Day light revealed that we had settled in a really lovely spot!!  The tourist circuit was worthwhile-- nestled in between rolling hills and surrounded by huge, grass filled beef cow ranches.  We passed a few farmers on the road and waved hello.  They were all wearing big, floppy berets.  I could have stayed longer.

[Baby llama drinking some milk for breakfast]

Okay.  I'm losing my patience for loading pictures.  That's all for now.  Will update in a few more days.