Continuing from my TR about NW Argentina late last year.
Note: To save bandwidth, the photos are thumbnails. Lick on them for a larger photo.
28 November – Unplanned evening in Bs As
We spent a slow day around Salta buying local dulce de leche and chimichurri mix at the local Walmart, hanging out on the plaza, and seeing if there was anything else to redeem the city. None so off we went to SLA and checked in for our flight. 4M check-in agents were dickering with pax on overweight bags but we were still well within limits. National Alamo weren’t around so I had to leave the keys with Avis. The security line again wasn’t the hold up but the federal police checking IDs of everyone boarding (internal passport controls?). 4M staff were a bit slow and not in a hurry to board the 320 so the flight ended up at least 15 minutes lack but enough slack was built to get the flight into AEP ontime. Flight path between SLA and AEP seem to involve flying over TUC in either direction. 4M pretty much has the same food and beverage service all day, it would appear.
Salta by day
Landed at AEP ontime. My bags were among the first out while PoA’s was the last out (she was worried they wouldn’t send it down to Patagonia, our next destination). I went out first to stand in the taxi line and was virtually at the front when she got her bags and came out. Taxi driver took a short route to the Ibis Obelisco on Corrientes which we got a good rate of ARS 249 (though there is a promotional rate of ARS 100 less) made much better by the USD 60 coupon A-Club was offering for signing up. Check-in was swift. We even had a message waiting from AR asking us to call and reconfirm our flights (PITA thing to have to do). Room at the Ibis is small but well laid out. Quite comfortable and the windows are fairly well insulated against street noise.
Walked down Corrientes and turned down Florida, looking for leather goods (to no avail). We noticed that there seemed to be a lot more street vendors cluttering up the middle of Florida than before (maybe we haven’t been on Florida on a summer Saturday evening before), and also noticed that there were many tourists from the Americas who once saw Bs As as too expensive but now as a relative bargain.
Had dinner outside our hotel at what seemed to be a preferred place for locals. Pictures of old time tango musicians decorated the place which is why I guess it was called Los Immortales.
29 November - Security we like
Quick checkout from the Ibis and a short ride to AEP for our 6a flight to REL. We had woken up earlier and noted that the last patrons left los Immortales at around 3a or 330a and then staff closed up just when we got into our taxi at 415a. In case you ever wanted to know, the choripan and other parrillida stands by AEP are open at 430 on weekend mornings, and are quite busy too. Found an efficient AR agent (AR just has you line up behind an agent, supermarket checkout style) who was taking only 30 seconds a passenger if that, and then headed upstairs. Security doesn’t open until 5am and there was a pretty good line already (3 other flights depart before 6). I went to get coffee (good but quite expensive) and got back to join Linda just as security opened. It moved fast and there was no way we could drink our very hot coffee before we cleared security. Just put your bags on. Little old Argentinean ladies who beeped through the WTMD were just let through, an older American woman who beeped got frisked even though she protested she had hip and knee replacements. We placed our coffee on the x-ray belt and were told to take it. “Normal”, said the guard, so we just carried our coffees though. FWIW, 2.25l bottles of water are fine to take through security in Argentina. You just lose it all at the gate for flights to the U.S. (bit not to Mexico).
Bussed out to the 737-700 for the flight down to REL. Forward part of the a/c sat pax headed for REL. Rare of the a/c sat pax headed for FTE. I guess the tourists boarding at REL for FTE took our seats. AR crew were a bit slow in starting service. Breakfast consisted of a medialune, packaged toast (melbas), and butter and dulce de leche. Hit some turbulence caused by interesting clouds (bumps and dimples) which disrupted service. They made sure everyone got something to eat and drink before descent for REL started. REL has exit customs as a measure to reduce biological contaminants being introduced.
Waiting in line, we eventually got our car from Avis (I made an application to Hertz Argentina as they had lower rates but they never replied as cars were sold out). Make reservations in the high season as not one car was available (a Spanish couple were turned away and it’s not a good place to be stranded). The famous Patagonia wind was blowing outside as we first made a stop at a YPF to refuel our Chevy (Opel) Corsa before finding the bypass route around Trelew (saves a bit of time and a route I remembered from out last visit). Quick drive down the highway to the new turnoff for the Punta Tomba nature reserve. This paved road reduces driving over a lot of dirt roads which are poorly signposted. On our way, we noted not one Guanaco unlike our previous visit. Did see a Patagonia hare (not a old world hare at all) which is apparently getting to be a rare sight.
Patagonian hare
Eventually getting to Punta Tomba, our hearts sank as the parking lot is now before the guard post and you had to walk in. It appeared to be just enclosed walkways now which would ruin the up-close experience you get with the penguins (the penguin sighting areas in Australia and New Zealand don’t compare to Punta Tomba). We had arranged this visit in the early austral summer to see newly-hatched chicks as we had seen nearly-fledged ones on our last visit (early March). A walk along the path showed us that the reserve hadn’t changed at all other than to protect penguins from vehicular traffic, and access at the end had been improved, at least for human visitors.
Guanacos at Punta Tomba
We had a chance to see many newly-hatched chicks, with at least one trying to peck its way out of an eggshell, and parents clumsily sitting ontop of their young. The best sites are under the protection of thorn bushes to keep predating birds at bay. We also saw over 30 guanacos here, as there was some stream with adequate water to provide a lush feeding ground.
There’s a self-serve cafeteria and gift shop now to serve the larger number of visitors coming for the day. We ordered some empanadas wich were decent. I’d recommend visiting Punta Tomba in the last two hours before it closes to have the place to yourself.
Leaving Punta Tomba, we made out way south towards Cabo Raso and Camarones. There are some guidebooks that make a mention of Cabo Raso, what they call a small fishing village on the coast between Punta Tomba and Camarones. One envisions a quaint port where one can find a nice meal overlooking the harbour. In truth, Cabo Raso only has one standing building other than the primitive lighthouse, presumably the lighthouse keeper’s quarters. Every other building - some 20 - are derelict with all their roofing, doors and windows removed. There was what appeared to be a tunnel or bunker entrance in a hill but we didn’t go see what it was. The Argentinean nuclear programme? The road here is truly deserted and I don’t recall passing another vehicle so ensure you have fuel and can survive in case of a mishap.
Passing the biggest estancia visible from the road, we rolled into Camarones which is a fishing town with some charm. There are a few nice stone-built buildings including the church and the town hall (or federal government offices). Around the corner from there, corrugated metal buildings housing a carpenter’s shop and oddly a building serving as a museum to the Peron family (Juan Peron’s father apparently ran an estancia not too far away and Peron spent his part of his youth there).
Building in Camarones
Our accommodation for the night was the Complejo Indalo Inn. Getting there near our appointed time, we found it locked, but with an “abierto” sign. Nothing to do but drive around the town, noticing there was one other hotel/restaurant, a fuel/service station, supermarket, large sports/gym facility, and a bus station. Eventually the hostess/owner returned (also the town’s lawyer which we wouldn’t have guessed) and showed us the room in the upstairs extension that they added (no banisters on the stairs, bath room with a window but none for the bed room to facilitate plumbing). The Indalo Inn used to be a one-storey affair but these new owners had added a second floor with some 10-12 rooms. It also seemed to get just about one guest room occupied per night during the slow season and it was only us this evening. The rooms were small but functional, but oddly the bathroom was placed along the outside wall (presumably to facilitate plumbing) so the room had not view but the bathroom did. The stairwell must have been built on a cheap and poorly-thought design: slick marble flooring and no hand rails. Better, I suppose than the hotel in N. Cyprus with uneven stair steps.
There wasn’t much around town (a grocery shop, a gas station, bus station, community rec centre, 2 hotel/restaurants of which only ours appeared to be open, and what sounded to be the howl of some kind of compressor). We elected to eat in the hotel where the staff (apparently the son and daughter of the proprietors) were there just for us (the restaurant could have sat well over 50-60 patrons). Given the lack of patronage, I looked at the various photos around the dining room and it would appear the visit by a cruise ship a few years back was a highlight in the town’s history. The menu of course was all seafood so I asked what was fresh, and got the reply “todos” which I was a bit skeptical of as there wasn’t a fishing boat in the pier that evening or the next morning. We ordered the calamari and got small whole squid cooked in garlic and their own ink. A bit pungent but nice if you could get around the generous lashings of oil. The only dessert was some flan that could have been in the fridge for days so we passed. As soon as we left the dining room, the staff a.k.a. the proprietors’ children split.
Estancias in distress
It seems the ganaderia are having a tough time in Argentina. We had noticed that several estancias marked on our ACA map were simply not there anymore. We had intended to stay in Punta Tomba, making Cabo Dos Bahias a day trip, and had found an estancia listed on the internet. Their email bounced and I asked Hiddy to make a call, which resulted in a disconnected number. We contacted another estancia which owns the puntatomba.com domain. They had a seriously unrealistic marketing plan, charging a pretty stiff rate which we were about to pay, until we found the activities and meals we were led to believe were included were not. A counter offer was requested but I don’t think we could have reached an agreeable price. On our way past, we couldn’t find any trace of the estancia either and it couldn’t have disappeared in a few weeks.