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-   -   Patagonia - Is it safe? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south-america/431257-patagonia-safe.html)

McKaye May 10, 2005 1:16 pm

Patagonia - Is it safe?
 
Some friends of mine have plans to visit Patagonia and asked me to join them.
Itīs planned to fly down to Ushuaia, rent a 4-wheel car, drive to the very south (kap horn) and then on to all the other landmarks.

Sounds nice to me, but I since I heard some stories of people being mugged in Buenos Aires, I doubt if itīs worth it.

Has anyone been down there? Is it safe to go there?

Thanks for your help.

YVR Cockroach May 10, 2005 1:32 pm

I haven't been down so far south (just around Bariloche/San Martin, Trelew-Puerto-Madryn-Punto Tomba-Valdes, El Calafate-El Chalten) but I think it's pretty safe crime-wise. You might have to be careful in some of the larger cities (did pass some rough sections of Trelew). Just be street aware like would be around the Frankfurt Hbf at night! :)

What you have to be prepared for is the remoteness and the fact that help may be a long time off in case of vehicle breakdowns/accidents. A lot of the highways thatfar south are unpaved so driving on them can be trickey (pockets/stretches of loose deep gravel, sharp/steep turns, grazing animals, flying rocks from passing vehicles).

A crew cab (4 Dr) pickup truck would be your best bet (2 years ago, my GF and I rented Renault Clios which I would not recommend for the El Calafate-El Chalten road) but bring something (tarp, strong rope and garbage bags) to keep your bags dry and dust-free. A small set of automotive tools and repair supplies may be handy to have too.

McKaye May 10, 2005 1:48 pm

Thatīs FT at itīs very best: 16 mins to get a detailed and very helpful answer. Thank you very much!

btw: Iīm interested in other peoples thoughts, too. Esp. on the Ushuaia area. thx.

cj001f May 11, 2005 11:26 pm


Originally Posted by McKaye
Some friends of mine have plans to visit Patagonia and asked me to join them.
Itīs planned to fly down to Ushuaia, rent a 4-wheel car, drive to the very south (kap horn) and then on to all the other landmarks.

It's definitely safe. There's no one around to rob you. You have to have a high tolerance for god awful boring gravel roads that never end to drive in Argentine Patagonia. I wouldn't reccomend it. You'll also find it impossible to drive from Usushia to Cape Horn. You may try to catch a boat from Usushia and see it from the water, or go across to P. Williams, Chile where you can hire a vehicle * driver and see it from a distance. As of this past year the only choices getting to P. Williams were a zodiac from USH ($100), plane from USH ($100), plane from P. Arenas ($60) or ferry from P. Arenas (which would take a car, don't know how much, passengers are $120). The ferry only sails once a week, so you'd be stuck for a bit.

Gaucho100K May 14, 2005 7:48 am

Patagonia is very safe, and you will find people are very helpful to visitors. As expressed in the various posts above, just make sure you plan the logistics with care, because road conditions vary and getting from one place to the other may require change of vehicles and alternating from land-water-air, etc. etc.

McKaye May 14, 2005 11:41 am

Thanks again everybody. I will definitely go there... ^ ^


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