PATAGONIA EXPRESS

You can go from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia following the direct route without wondering what is beyond the Chilean border, ignoring that there are 2 Patagonia, very different from each other, but equally fascinating, or .......

The first time I arrived in Patagonia I did it from the Chilean side and this probably greatly influenced my consideration and knowledge of this fascinating part of the South American continent. 5 weeks spent walking in breathtaking national parks, navigating fjords and getting to know and traveling with exceptional people. The second time, just a couple of years later, adding the backpack and sleeping bag motorcycle, the ride was certainly and beautifully influenced by my previous experiences, transforming a motorcycle trip into a twisted itinerary with no boundaries or mileage. he could distract from his goal: to visit the most beautiful places, travel the most spectacular roads on the continent and navigate one of the most remote and inaccessible areas in all of South America, the fjords of the 11th Chilean region.

Then the years passed and an inexpensive passion turned into an unpaid activity, which allowed me to meet and convince 14 rowdy people to repeat the Patagonian experience. A trip organized following a path avoided by most but which once again allowed the lucky ones who made it to understand the beauty of these places.

Article published in Euromoto magazine in 2007.

Finally! At the umpteenth attempt, everything went smoothly! Of course, traveling alone, the delay of departure and preparations did not affect the prospects of a trip, but with a group in tow, even if made up of friends known around the world, it would have complicated things a lot. A flawless customs clearance ... or almost, but at least respecting the deadlines. The general euphoria is palpable. You can start from the Argentine capital, with a pampas that expands the space that separates us from the first foothills of the Andes and that will accompany the group on the descent towards the southern south. A labyrinthine itinerary that at a point of the Argentine steppe, Patagonia, this land that represents the dream of 99% of motorcyclists, decides to go north for more than 1000km along one of the most fascinating, desolate and spectacular roads in South America, that Camino Austral, Ruta 7, also called by General Pinochet, who wanted it with absolute stubbornness: who knows, if he had dedicated himself more consistently to the road problems of his land, perhaps he would not have done so much damage among the social strata of the population of his village!!

The Argentine parks are beautiful, Patagonia is fascinating and bewitching, but the spectacle that awaits the group, when at the height of the village of Perito Moreno (not to be confused with the national park and the glacier), points decidedly towards the west, in direction of the lake Buenos Aires and Chile can only be defined as extraordinary.

The lake is a very wide arm more than 200km long swept by strong winds that ripple its turquoise blue waters, in which mountains covered by eternal glaciers are reflected. We will go through it all until we get stuck, allow me the term borrowed from the Castilian, the mythical 7.

The dirt road throws us into a lonely world, made up of small fishing villages, gauchos who control their livestock. Not even the injury-collision with a runaway bull by one of the participants, fortunately without consequences for both, manages to scratch the enthusiasm of the group allowing them to reach Puerto Mont on New Year's Eve, for the appointment for everyone expected: boarding the cargo that, for 3 days, will sail through the Chilean fjords to reach Puerto Natales: one of the most beautiful cruises in the world. New Year's Eve in the best restaurant in the largest center of the XI Region and early the next day, I'm at the ticket office for the latest details

"Lo siento mucho"

I don't believe my ears: the boat broke down 2 days earlier, while traveling in the opposite direction: passengers blocked and the season over, it will take 2 months to repair.

And now who tells the others?

Certainly the most difficult moment of the entire trip. Enormous disappointment, anger, nervousness but at this point the decision can only be one: to return to Argentina and descend from 3, on the Atlantic coast, which is the longest route but, certainly, the fastest. A joke from about 2000km: not bad as a New Year's surprise !!!

A ton of km to witness an exclusive sunset on the Perito Moreno glacier and enjoy two days of well-deserved rest in the Torres del Paine National Park, defined as the most beautiful in South America. The excursion to the Torri del Paine is absolutely fantastic, 7 hours of walking, an unforgettable day, with truly extraordinary light and temperature at these latitudes, even in summer.

We are at the end: a few penguins near Punta Arenas, the crossing of the mythical Strait of Magellan, the wonderful road to Urshuaia, the city located in one of the most spectacular natural settings in the world.

Return of the motorcycles and return to Buenos Aires for the last evening with the inevitable tango show.