Argentina, Estancia L`Angostura - Off to the Races

Got off to another early start and headed off to the border to again cross into Argentina.  This would be the first crossing without our 3rd member.  The chilian side was surprisingly quick which was a little bit of a contrast to the Argentina side, who again hassled us about the bike papers.  After giving us our new papers, he went through the all the luggage, which was a first for the crossings.



We new going in that the day was going to be a long ride.  It was 150 km of dirt and 270 km of road.  Some of the road ended up being under construction and instead weaved its was around the road and consisted of everything from dried beds of clay to loose gravel to full out mud pits.  All in all this was pretty interested ride and the obstacles kept us busy during the long ride.

The landscape has changesd once again to a dry desert like roads.  The roads are some of the straigtest we have riden and with a 70 to 80 kmh tail wind it is easy to get carried away.   Although when that wind becomes a cross wind as the roads turn it gets a little hairy especially with some loose gravel.  On the cement it must make for quite the site since we are going sideways down a straight road as if in a tight corner.

We finally reached our destination, Estancia L´Angostura.  An estanicia is the Argentinian version of a ranch with places for people to stay since there is little to no towns in these large Argentinian Plains.  These are spotted around Argentina representing the orginal division of property once the conquistadors relinquished the land.  The estancia itself was an oasis, going into a ravine and the landscape became green once again and all of a sudden were surrounded by horses running about, flamingos, bison, beef, ducks, and many others.  This was a genuince experience to be had, including the 3 course meal in the main house with the a English and an Kiwi couple which also stayed at the estancia.