Happy Birthday to my baby sister, Lisa; and to my sister-in-law Deborah.
I arrived at Dakar Motos on Thursday a day ahead of what I originally planned. I had received an email from Dakar Motos telling me they would reopen their shop a couple of days earlier than previously planned. There was nothing to keep me in Azul so I made the easy 200 mile ride into Buenos Aires. I wanted to be as close to the airport as early as I could be without undue expenses of staying in expensive hotels in Buenos Aires.
Dakar Motos is a husband and wife shop that caters to the overland motorcycling community and they are the folks who are coordinating the shipping of my motorcycle with the airlines.
While waiting here I have received updates from two different groups of fellow travelers I have met telling me they have incurred gasoline shortages on their way south to Terra del Fuego. Apparently, there is a labor dispute between the oil field workers and the petroleum companies. I’m just glad I only have 20 miles to go to the airport and I have enough fuel in my tank to make that. On another front: while we were eating dinner Friday night, there was a news item on TV showing where demonstrators had blocked the highway on the way to the airport. Maybe that will be cleared up by tomorrow. These demonstrators were supporting a group of squatters the government has been trying to evict from their squatter village for about two weeks. Last week four persons were killed during one of the squatters’ confrontation with the police.
That is the good news. Friday afternoon, Sandy, the lady at Dakar who is coordinating the booking of my bike shipment came to me and said she had good and bad news. The bad news was that there has been a change in the U.S. Government’s security rules on what will be allowed to be flown into the USA. Apparently, the new rules forbid the flying of certain personal effects. The shipping company said motorcycles fall under the personal affects category. Sandra said she lobbied hard that the motorcycle was a vehicle and not personal effects. Continental Airlines told her that they would probably ship the bike on Monday as scheduled, but that I may not be able to include my riding and camping gear in the shipment. At this time we just don’t know. If they rule that they will not ship my bike to the USA, then my options are to ship it to Mexico or Canada. Although neither one of those are good options for me, if it comes down to that I will select Canada.
I am not really worried about it because I think it will work itself out. Sure hope so since I went out on a limb and bought my personal ticket for a Tuesday night departure .– available seats were getting thin as Christmas week approaches
Now my observations on Argentina. I will spare you anymore stories on the vastness of the country, its flatness or the ever present winds.
Argentina is more European than I would have imagined. Much of the architecture is very central European looking. The majority of the automobiles on the road are European brands. The Japanese brands just have not made the inroads in Argentina that they have in the rest of the Americas. Seems the most popular brands are Volkswagen, Peugeot, Fiat and Renault. There are a sprinkling number of Toyotas, Fords and Chevrolets. Even most of the large trucks are European brands and surprising to me Volkswagen is a major player in this market.
Most stories open early, but then close for 1:30 p.m. to about 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. and then reopen until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.
The Argentineans eat late. Most restaurants don’t open until 8:30 p.m. or later. Friday night a group of us went to a Parilla (BBQ place) for dinner. We arrived at about 8:30 and took about two and a half hours for dinner. As we were leaving a large group came in for their dinner. This was at 11:00 at night. No wonder they need a three hours of rest time in the afternoons.
The people have been extremely friendly and courteous especially to this non-Spanish speaking gringo. Everywhere I stopped, a group would come over and inspect my motorcycle and we would try our best at conversation about my trip. On parting they always wished me luck and good travels. Many times, I have had cars pass me with the driver or passengers giving me a thumbs-up. I have not felt threatened anywhere except by winds.
In the previous post, I mentioned the La Posta motorcycle club in Azul. I went by there one evening and hung around for about two hours. They were just a group of normal guys gathering to enjoy one another’s company. One was an appeals court judge, another was a lawyer, another was a cattle salesman, another was an office worker and a couple of more whom I did not get their occupation. We all had a couple of things in common – our fondness for motorcycles and an affinity of just hanging out with the guys (ladies pay attention.) Language is not barrier when people want to enjoy one another’s company.
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