About Martin Eayrs

San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, Argentina This blog is an occasional dumping/sharing ground for random thoughts and ideas, mainly relating to birding, photography, travel, the English language and the teaching thereof and assorted verse and doggerel. I am a retired teacher/lecturer and now work as a language and education consultant with an interest in evaluation and testing, quality assessment and moderation. I divide my time between homes and families in San Martín de los Andes, Patagonia and Manchester, UK.

Trip down Carretera Austral November 2023: Day 3

It was still snowing. when I got up this morning – ocular proof if required in the photo below, taken from my bedroom window.

Breakfast was provided, but I was more interested in the stag who overlooked the diners: not sure, but the horns seem wrong for a red deer, and fallow it ain’t. I think perhaps a male Pampas Deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus). The Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) has similar antlers but has a black nose as I remember. Either way, a little way from home, but I may be wrong.

Villa Angostura early Sunday morning was quiet as I drove through, and the roads not too bad for the first ten miles or so.

Then of course we had to go up – lots of mountains round here, and it was yesterday again. There must be better ways of spending a quiet Sunday than battling snow storms in the pre-Cordillera.

We were briefly held up by. a lorry that had skidded and shed his load, but by the time I arrived enough had been cleared to go through single file.

The whole day was an alternation between driving snow and driving rain as we switchbacked our way to Esquel, interspersed with the occasional flash of sun which was actually even less welcome because of its reflection on all the white snow.

Stopped at a service station for an inedible media luna and an undrinkable coffee, which increased my desire for lunch inEl Bolsón. I had been looking forward to pizza and a raspberry beer in a place I know, but sadly it was shut midday. Photo included for Caroline.

I did end up in a trendy modern place where I had a very welcome guiso de lentajas (lentil stew), and a good local beer.

The second part of the journey was better, with less snow as the roads flattened and straightened out and I drove by some familiar places: the great museum at Leleque and Butch Cassidy’s ranch house near Cholilla but I was running late (the first half of the day I was averaging 30 mph) so I cracked on to Esquel.

My friend the snowman was waiting to greet me as I drove in to Esquel, and I found my bed for the night – a very comfortable hostería a couple of kilometres outside Esquel, on the road to Trevelin and Chile that I shall be following tomorrow. Once arrived I couldn’t find the energy to go back into town so dined on coffee, banana and biscuits. Cheap and healthy enough.

Tomorrow the plan is to cross back into Chile through the Futaleufú Pass. We’ll see.

Trip down Carretera Austral November 2023: Day 2

Strange day altogether. First of all, a radical change of plan, as I couldn’t get a ferry reservation south to Chaitén. All ferries booked up for at least five days. Decided to cross back into Argentina and return to Chile through a pass further down (see map). Not ideal, but doable. Will teach me not to assume that in low season I can just drive on to a ferry. Adjustment route in orange below, as before from red X.

Left Puerto Varas at midday, after doing some local shopping and sightseeing. Got a call informing me that there were petrol shortages in Argentina; because of this petrol was being rationed in Chilean service stations near the border and it took ingenuity and Google map navigation to get the tank filled up – something I was loth to do as it cost me twice what it costs in Argentina. But necessary.

Incessant driving rain all the way to the Chilean border post made for boring driving, but alleviated inter alia by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Grateful Dead. No photos for that reason. At the border they would only let drivers through who could show they had chains, as a snow storm was brewing. I had my snow sleeves which didn’t really convince them, but the traction controls on the SW4 did, so they let me through.

Fighting my way through an Andean pass in a snow storm is not really my idea of fun, and a first for me in the SW4 but I made friends with a couple of other drivers and we made a mini-convoy. Heavy snow falling, settling to half a metre or so at the very top, but we made it; we saw others who didn’t, scattered at strange angles in the snow drifts. On the way down into Argentina we saw the snow ploughs going up, accompanied by a two-blue ambulance so clearly help was on its way, although more heavy snow was forecast for the night and tomorrow.

So now I’m back in Argentina, in the lovely hundred-year old Hotel Angostura, looking forward to a hot shower and an evening meal. Not sure yet about tomorrow – will decide at breakfast time.

Trip down Carretera Austral November 2023: Day 1

Left San Martín de los Andes on time – a cold, wet morning as I took the Siete Lagos road towards the Puyehue Pass into Chile.

Stopped for a pee at one of my favourite peeing places. An explanation may be necessary here. Lake Lacar, the lake on which San Martín de los Andes is located, is unusual in that it drains not into the Atlantic as one would expect but into the Pacific. This has been the cause of much discussion from Chile about ownership, which need not detain us here.

Anyway, at this particular spot on the Seven Lakes road the stream splits into two. One of these flows into Lake Lacar and thence to the Pacific, while the other drains into the Atlantic. So by peeing into the stream just before the bifurcation you can pee simultaneously into two oceans. Way to go.

Puyehue is the name of the pass, but also of a volcano which erupted a few years ago causing general inconvenience to the locals and also to international aviation. The sides of the road still bear evidence in the form of piles of volcanic ash.

There are many miles of neutral land between the Argentine and Chilean border posts, and at the top of the pass is the actual border, where the mist generously cleared long enough for me to take a photo.

I was the only traveller going westward and got through the two migration and customs posts in record time but coming the other way it was another story: a national holiday in Chile on a Friday meant huge numbers of Chileans coming over to Argentina, probably to Bariloche. The cars were backed up a good eight kilometres from the border.

Once in Chile it was time for a bite to eat and I stopped in Entre Lagos. I couldn’t find any particularly appetising places to stop at, but chose well with a tasty and nourishing stew of beans, spaghetti and sausages. Cheap and filling.

For some reason all the service stations on the Ruta 5 seem to have disappeared so I didn’t get my coffee until Puerto Varas, where I caught the last half hour of the Argentina-England World Cup rugby playoff for third place. Close game, with England scraping a win.

I got to my destination on time, a friendly family guest house with good wifi, lockup parking and a comfy bed. Good enough for a first day. `Didn’t feel like eating much after my huge lunch so bought some bread and cheese at a despensa and retired early. Tomorrow, Hornopirén.

Trip down Carretera Austral November 2023: Day 0

Thursday, 26 Oct – San Martín de los Andes

Tomorrow I start a short trip down the Carretera Austral, Chile’s Route 7, which runs southwards through Patagonia Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins, a distance of some 1,2225 kms (about 770 miles). I’ll be coming back through Argentina, on more familiar roads up the RN40

The road ahead is mostly tarmac (asphalt) with patches of gravel (ripio), and in the early stages three or four ferries (my route marked in red on the map below).

I’ll be travelling in my SW4, freshly serviced, wheels balanced and aligned, tank full and boot packed with things I probably don’t need, won’t use but it’s good to have. Kindle and camera batteries charged and space on the passenger seat for bins, camera and long lens. Not much preparation needed as I intend to stay in hostels and pensiones but it’s good to be prepared.

So, off at dawn, with Canned Heat all set up on the iPhone as I drive off for the Chilean border.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 – Postscript

So, my ‘long road trip’ to the north is now over. For those interested in stats I offer the following:

• The map below shows approximately each place I slept and refuelled. I occasionally used jerry cans (bidones), so there may be long stretches without apparent refuelling.

• I spent 52 days on the road and covered a total distance of 12,206 kms / 7585 miles. 

• My average km per litre was 9.75 (22.93 mpg) – but this varied enormously day on day according to speed, road surface and the need for 4WD.

• My total cost of fuel was A$236,002.20 (US$1,540, £1,315), but this also varied enormously as some provinces/service stations have discounts or surcharges. My vehicle (Toyota SW4/Fortuner) is a 3.1 Diesel.

I have no idea how many birds and other wildlife I saw but I took over 6,000 photos, some of which I am still processing. I do know that so far I have photographed 62 bird ‘lifers’, that is species that were new to me. Some of these were endemic to the area and one was only recently identified and may not be in older bird guides.

When I started my trip I set myself the task of photographing and designating one bird each day as ‘bird of the day’.  The second photo is the product of this.

Because I cut the trip short (illness, general exhaustion, etc.) I ended up with fifty-one birds instead of the planned sixty. Birds/photos are shown here in the order they were shot and in two cases replaced with a better photo of the species from a previous trip. All photos are mine and the image is uploaded here in low resolution. 

All individual bird photos are numbered and you might have fun seeing how many you can identify. A key will eventually be available on request.

Finally, special thanks to all those I met on my trip and whose help and company I enjoyed. With no wish to be envidious, special thanks to Walter Cejas, Horacio Matarrasso, Ariel Ocampo, Leslie Cook and Alejandra Boloqui, with apologies to Patricio Cowles Cooper, Guy Cox and Gerardo Cerón whom circumstances prevented me from meeting.

Was it for this … ?

The sown seed feeds within its host
Then severs ties, reveals its face,
Gurgles crib bound for a while,
Soon occupies an infant’s place

Is weaned and house-trained, fed and schooled,
Embarks upon life’s sweat and toil.
Sows its own seed where it can
Revelling in life’s vital coil.

But flesh betrays and memories fade
All seeds now sown, the clock ticks down.
By Stygian gates he sits and waits
Reflecting on life’s hollow crown.

October 2020
San Martín de Los Andes

Home thoughts from abroad

Doors bang and voices shout.
Harsh footsteps tread the bare timber stairs
Downstairs a door slams shut
Somewhere a dog barks
A car revs up and drives away
Its exhaust unashamedly roaring into the night.

While upstairs
Shabbily sprawled across the bed
Lies Katya
Drenched in sweat and shame
Thinking of a faraway home
And where it all went wrong.

San Martín de los Andes, 
October 2022

Synchronicity

Through wet and windy years
In quiet, consecrated ground
Words, once boldly chiselled,
Morph into faint, unclear glyphs.
While on wet and windy weekends
Floral tributes come no more;
Cut flowers replaced by weeds,
Dwindling memories by silence.
In happy harmony, remembrance dies
In lockstep with the mason’s fading art.

October, 2022
SM de los Andes

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 52

Date: Sunday, 09 October 2022

Trajectory:  Plottier – San Martín de los Andes

Distance covered: 435 km

This last leg was almost a formality. Familiar roads, and I drove slowly to good music. Coffee in Piedra de Aguila, and was in Junin by lunchtime, where I treated myself to a fish lunch at Ruca Hueney.

In San Martín by 14.30 and checked in with Tiso, then went to a cabin I have rented for four days until I can move into another cabin I have rented for a month. It’ll be gtreat when I have my own house again!

Bird of the day was fittingly the Black-faced Ibis, ave emblema of San Martín de los Andes.

And I guess this is the end of the blog, which kind of petered out in my long drive home. A long trip, and probably the last of this length I’ll do.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 51

Date: Saturday, 08 October 2022

Trajectory:  General Acha – Plottier

Distance covered: 465 km

Up very early to drive to Plottier, taking in zoo at Bubalco on the way. Not very impressed by zoo, other than its large aviary and impressive collection of Psittaciformes. For want of a bird of the day I shot a southern lapwing.

Trip all but over now. Treated myself to a swish hotel, by far the best of the trip, but with iffy wifi (story of the whole trip). Deo volente shall be in SM tomorrow.