Buenos Aires to Patagonia: Day 25 – One Last Day in Patagonia

The Trip

In April of 2009, my wife Bobbie and I did a road trip across Patagonia in a pickup truck camper; driving down the Andes on Argentina’s western highway Ruta 40, coming back east along the Straits of Magellan in Chile, and then back up Argentina’s Atlantic Coast highway Ruta 3. We camped along the way in national parks, municipal campgrounds, truck stops, and many times just alongside the road; and we stopped at every place possible, both famous and not. You can see our route of travel here.

This travel blog is a daily journal of the trip, along with a few pictures (see http://parkenbi.zenfolio.com/patagonia for more photos). The "Last Entry" below is the trip summary, but our journey actually began at a train station in Florida so you'll want to start there ... go to "We're Off".

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day 25 – One Last Day in Patagonia

Peninsula Valdes to El Condor

WE TURNED OFF of Ruta 3 onto a coastal ripio road today, as a way to stretch out Patagonia. The coastal route was fascinating; passing by very poor rancheros, a salt marsh full of flamingos, and ocean cliffs dropping to rocky beaches. We are camping tonight in the town of El Condor at the mouth of the Rio Negro -- the campground gates are open, there is electricity, but no one is here, and so far we haven’t paid anything. The bathrooms are locked so we’ll have to find other solutions in that department.

Early tomorrow we will cross the Rio Negro, and in so doing we will officially leave Patagonia. It is still about 800 miles to Buenos Aires, but we will cross that distance in a different frame of mind.

Umm … did you get the sunset symbolism?