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During our journey on the Argentinian roads, our budget didn’t allow us to get a roof and a bed every night. So, we mainly camped. But camping in the nature or on an official campsite was not always relaxing.
We went through two days of storms and heavy rain in Gualeguaychu. With the heavy rain, the campsite turned quickly into a swimming pool. Each tourist dug a trench around their camp trying to evacuate the water.
During our crossing of the country, we have been disappointed by many official campsites with hygiene and facilities which were not what we expected. In addition, the price was quite high according to the offer. This explains certainly that during the summery time, the campsites are empty. The Argentinian tourists cannot indulge themselves to this kind of holidays due to the economic crisis of the country.
On the straight lines of the Ruta 5 and Ruta 40, the wild camping spots where not memorable. In the middle of the “pampa”, there were no sheltered area or amazing surroundings, plus we couldn’t turn sometimes through the nature as it was sometimes inaccessible due to the barbed wire on the roadside. Therefore, we didn’t have any other choices than camping at the YPF petrol stations.
On the El Condor beach, famous spot for the local fishermen, we set up the tents at the bottom of the dunes. The site was nice and perfectly equipped for us to camp. But this time, it was when we woke up that we had a surprise. By opening the tent, it was a “Hitchcock” scene under our eyes. Like “The Birds” movie, hundreds of parrots have replaced the crows on the electric wires nearby. They screamed loudly creating a deafening din for our breakfast. We didn’t have the attacks like in the movie but it was in a surprising atmosphere that we had our morning coffee. This spot was still a little piece of heaven for us.
Thirty kilometres towards North of the seaside city of Puerto Madryn, we wanted to visit the Peninsula Valdez, famous natural park with many sea and land animals.
A the entry of the peninsula, a few kilometres before a checkpoint symbolising the entry of the park, we turned on the left on a track going along the coast. After five kilometres, we arrived on a long and nice beach over many kilometres. The campsite was protected from the wind behind dunes. While we were enjoying a nice sunset over the Atlantic ocean and a chill Escudo beer marking the end of the day, we had the visit of a flock of cows. Not really disturbed by us, they went along the tents to go back on the beach.
When we woke up, we enjoyed a nice breakfast on the warm sand of the beach before exploring the peninsula. After a day on the tracks, by the Magellanic penguins, sea lions and armadillos, we went back to our wild camping spot for a sweet night…
