Day: 6
Trajectory: Los Antiguos – Perito Moreno – Bajo Caracoles – Gobernador Gregores – Tres Lagos – El Chalten

Distance covered:   711 km

Today’s journey, a long haul

A long drive today, in an attempt to make up for lost time faffing about in the menuco, and a little longer than it should have been owing to a map misunderstanding and nonexistent road signage. But first we had to get the car sorted. This involved cleaning the mud out of the inside; repacking; washing the extra mud off the wheels and underneath the car to restore some sense of balance, etc.

The Jeep had to be cleaned thoroughly inside as it was full of mud, so everything had to come out and be repacked

Then we had to get the car up on a ramp and get all the mud hosed off the wheels, etc.

We paid a quick visit to a mechanic to check everything was ok and then we were on our way south again, a little behind schedule but in great spirits.

Checking everything was strapped down tight

We made good progress as we drove south, passing through some small towns and even smaller stops. One was Bajo Caracoles, a ten house village with a hotel and the only fuel for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. And often it didn’t have any fuel at all, but this was not such a huge problem as there was a hotel (of sorts) there where the traveller can wait until a tanker arrives. We had to wait an hour or so for the owner to arrive as he was having lunch, but we passed the time talking to a Colombian biker and some guys heading south to fish for salmon.

The combined petrol station and hotel at Bajo Caracoles

We passed through Gobernador Gregores too. We shouldn’t have, but we somehow missed a turn and paid for it with some extra kilometres. It seemed a tidy place, with a big gaucho statue in the middle of the main drag – perhaps Gobernador Gregores himself.

Is this the onetime Governor of Santa Cruz province, Juan Manuel Gregores?

All in all, compared with the previous two days, a quiet journey, only disturbed by getting a little lost in Gobernador Gregores, and punctuated with road kill and road fill.

The roadkill – a mulita, hit by a passing vehicle (not us!)

.. and the road fill – we were glad that we were carrying the extra jerry cans

We drove into El Chalten late at night, and more by luck than management parked outside a nice bistro type restaurant next to a trekkers’ hostel that had space. Our luck was still holding out, it seemed. We went to sleep tired but happy, in a room called St Exupery – which amused me as I had been reading Vol de Nuit only a few weeks ago in preparation for the journey.

Our room in the Hostel at El Chalten

El Chalten was a lovely little town – but more about that in tomorrow’s blog post.