Argentinean Patagonia's steppes

Having driven through southern Patagonia in our motorhome Vdos, we left the glacial and coolish climes of El Chaltén and the Los Glaciers National Park, heading for the warmer desert-like Argentinean steppes.

Rainbow in our rear vision mirror as we drove out of El Chaltén, Argentinean Patagonia

With a rainbow in our rear vision mirror, we began our drive out of El Chaltén. We had an 8-hour or more drive north ahead of us, and had been told that there were no fuel stops or shops on the way. So, our first task of the morning was to fill Vdos with diesel.

With that done we carried on, initially heading east. It took us around two hours of driving alongside the scenic Lago (Lake) Viedma, before finally arriving at the intersection to turn north. We were now back on Argentina’s famous Ruta 40, one of the longest roads in the world at 5,224 km, and one of the most challenging.

Muddy and rutted Ruta 40, Argentinean Patagonia

As expected, the condition of the Ruta 40 road was not so good. It was paved until we reached the tiny hamlet of Tres Lago, then it turned into a dirt and ripio (gravel) road. Because it had rained the night before, the dirt road was churned up into muddy strips and ruts, and other places were full of corrugations and holes.

It was a very long, slow and lonely drive across the windy steppes of Argentina. We did not see any other vehicle on the road over that time.

Then we came across a lake, which we didn't expect. It turned out to be Lago Cardiel, so we stopped on the roadside for a look and a break. 

Lago Cardiel, Argentinean Patagonia

The lake is around 480 square kilometres in size. The water flows from the western mountains gathering minerals from rocks along the way, giving the water a high saline level. Sand is also gathered along the way, and coupled with the sand blown off the steppes by the westerly winds, the lake looked brown.

Those same winds were blowing us around, and gusting and carrying plenty of sand, making it a difficult drive.

Leaving the lake, the official Ruta 40 turns east to the wee town of Gobernador Gregores. However, we took a shortcut onto the old Ruta 40, now called Ruta 29, to stay north. We had been advised against this shortcut because of its remoteness and road conditions. But we were going to save ourselves over an hour of extra driving, so took the risk.

Animals on or beside Ruta 29, Argentinean Patagonia

And it was worth it, as we saw so much activity on this route. Alongside the road we saw several herds of guanacos (like wild llamas) and rheas (like an ostrich), and on the road we drove around geese and wild horses, and very many potholes.

The surrounds were desert-like, but with lots of colourful soils and desert plants. This more than made up for the loss of snowy mountain scenery that we’d left behind that morning. It also made it an interesting drive. 

Around 63 km later, we met up with Ruta 40 again. Then, all of a sudden, the road was sealed with nice tarmac – Yaaay! We had been driving for over 7 hours by now and were pretty tired, but wanted to get as close as possible to a UNESCO site that we planned to visit further north.

No end of the road in sight, Ruta 40, Argentinean Patagonia 

So, we decided to carry on, and enjoy the tarmac road while we had it. We could see what was ahead of us as the road ran in a dead-straight line right up to the flat horizon.

After another 100 km or so, we reached the tiny commune of Bajo Caracoles (population 33) which had a few houses, a hotel, and a fuel station. The fuel station consisted of just two pumps – one for petrol and one for diesel. They looked like solitary sentinels guarding an oily patch of sandy dirt. 

The solitary sentinels of gas, Bajo Caracoles, Argentinean Patagonia 

At first sight, we didn’t know whether these pumps worked or not as they were very dusty, old-looking, and covered with travel stickers. But we needed fuel so we went into the nearest house to find out. It turns out that the pumps did work, so we filled up.

We wanted to make Bajo Caracoles our stopover for the night, and had heard that you could camp behind the hotel. Unfortunately the hotel, a small sandstone-block building, looked as though it had been shut for years. We looked behind it to see if we could park safely off the road there, but it was incredibly windy, windswept, and bleak. 

The windy steppes behind Bajo Caracoles, Argentinean Patagonia 

On top of that, the next town was about 3 hrs away - not promising when its already sunset and you’ve been on the road for almost 9 hours!

But then we noticed that the house on the corner had a ‘camping’ sign out front, and a local man who was whistling like crazy, indicated we could park there for a small fee. It had no power, but was sheltered from the wind and we were able to fill up with water - all good – we decided to stay there.

The whole commune of Bajo Caracoles, Argentinean Patagonia

The best thing about Bajo Caracoles, was that it is only about 3 km south of the access road to our next destination, the Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands).

So the next morning, we drove to Cueva de las Manos having another bumpy ride for about 50 km on a ripio road – but again, the drive was worth it. 

The Cueva de las Manos is the site of prehistoric cave paintings, made on rugged cliffs that look down into the beautiful Pinturas Canyon. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pinturas Canyon, Argentinean Patagonia

The cave paintings were created over four different periods from up to 1,300 to 9,300 years ago, and are amazingly well-preserved. They are believed to have been made by the Teheulches people, and are considered to be one of the most ancient artistic expressions of South American natives.

The name comes from the paintings found in the caves - they are mainly of hands (manos in Spanish), of all sizes, and in a few basic colours. 

A small portion of the rock art in Cueva de las Manos, Pinturas Canyon, Argentinean Patagonia

The paintings were made by pressing a hand against the rock, then using a blowpipe to blow colour onto the hand, leaving the hand outlined on the rock surface. There were also paintings of guanacos (llamas) which the Teheulches people would have hunted. 

After a couple of hours walking the canyon and admiring the caves, it was time to move on. So we bumped our way along another dirt road, past more guanacos and rheas, and eventually met up with Ruta 40 again, where we picked up our northerly route. 

Colourful soils along Ruta 40 toward Perito Moreno, Argentinean Patagonia

It was a windy but sealed road from there through some spectacular scenery, including some beautifully coloured hills. Then we reached the small town of Perito Moreno.

We had read that we could top up our gas bottle there. We had free-camped a lot over the past week or more, and used quite a bit of gas for cooking, hot water and heating. So we went looking and asking around town, for gas. We finally found the right place, and after lots of sign-language, ended up buying a new bottle.

We then left Ruta 40, turning west to cross the border back into Chile. It was a lovely drive with great views of Lago Buenos Aires along the way. 

Proud of their fish in Los Antiguos, on Lake Buenos Aires, Argentinean Patagonia

We soon reached the small town of Los Antiguos (pop 3,400), located on the shores of Lago Buenos Aires and right on the border with Chile. It is a quaint place, and seemed to be full of fishing interests and small farms selling fruit.

As it was late afternoon, we decided not to cross the border that night, but to find a camp and cross in the morning.

After a bit of a search, we found the Municipal Campground with its abundance of beautiful big trees adorning the lakeside. It was a nice quiet spot to spend the night before crossing the border into Chile again.

The above is part of our 4-months of independent travel in South America.