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motos al sinfín

~ photo blog of motorcycle journeys

motos al sinfín

Category Archives: 2014 Chile

Trip to the Atacama Desert in Chile

Cuesta de Lipán Video

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Abra del Potrerillo, Cuesta del Lipán, Jujuy Province (Argentina), Purmamarca (Argentina), Quebrada de Purmamarca, Ruta Provincial 52

Recoded on February 20, 2014, on route 52 between Abra del Potrerillo and Purmamarca.  Route 52  reaches an altitude of 4,170 meters at Abra del Potrerillo and from there drops through the Cuesta del Lipán into the town of Purmamarca, located at 2,192 meters above sea level. The 2,000-meter descent takes place in just 17 kilometers.  At the bottom of the Cuesta del Lipán the road goes though one of the most colorful valleys in Argentina, the Quebrada de Purmamarca. See East and Up Up Up into Argentina for more details.

Salinas Grandes Video

07 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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GoPro Hero, Jujuy Province (Argentina), Route 52 (Argentina), Ruta Provincial 52

Recoded on February 20, 2014, on route 52 between Susques and Purmamarca, using a GoPro HD Hero mounted on the helmet. See East and Up Up Up into Argentina for more details.

Home After 4,430 Miles

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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General Las Heras (Buenos Aires), KLR 650, Marcos Juarez (Córdoba), Navarro (Buenos Aires)

Days 20, 21 & 22 (February 27, 28 & March 1, 2014) After spending two days visiting my friends Hector and Sylvia (and Andrés, the oldest of their two children) we rode the last 730 kilometers of our trip. My KLR almost run out of gas near Marcos Juarez (Córdoba). I rode the bike until exhausting the gas in both the tank and the reserve. Adrián and I had to lean the bike over to the left side to allow the fuel caught on the right side of the tank to flow over to the left (where the petcock is). That maneuver provided enough gas to ride to a gas station in Marcos Juarez.

Throughout this long day of riding we took a few breaks to rest and to get gas. The last rest stop was in the town of Navarro, barely 35 kilometers from home. As we were entering General Las Heras and riding by the house where we grew up we saw our dad sitting on the porch. We stop to say hi and then rode to Adrián house, our point of departure 22 days ago. We covered more than 7,130 kilometers through some amazing landscapes in Chile and Argentina. We met wonderful people; we visited dear friends. Our sister Mariel was in our minds every minute of this unforgettable adventure.




Quebrada del Condorito National Park

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Andean condor, Caranday palm tree, Córdoba, Chamical (La Rioja), Deolinda Correa, La Difunta Correa, La Higuera (Córdoba), llanos riojanos, Mina Clavero (Córdoba), Quebrada del Condorito, Stony Brook, Valle de Punilla, Villa de Soto

Day 19 (February 26, 2014) The road between Mina Clavero and Alta Gracia in Córdoba goes through the beautiful Quebrada del Condorito (Valley of the Little Condor). I never thought much about the name until today when we had the chance to see the majestic Andean condor flying high above our bikes. But let me start from the beginning. It was cloudy and cold when we left Chamical this morning. It had been raining all night long and it looked like it could rain again. We moved fast through the plains of eastern La Rioja—an area known as los llanos Riojanos—into the Province of Córdoba.  At Villa de Soto (Córdoba) we turned south onto route 15. A few kilometers from the town we stop at a Difunta Correa shrine placed under the shade of an algarrobo tree. The mythical Deolinda Correa died of thirst while looking for her sick husband who had been abandoned by his troops in the desert in the Province of San Juan. Deolinda was carrying her baby when she died. Miraculously, the baby survived by nursing from his deceased (difunta) mom and was rescued by gauchos. In shrines and altars throughout the country people leave bottles with water as votive offerings to calm Deolinda’s eternal thirst.

South of Deolinda’s shrine we stop in the town of La Higuera to take a look at the church. Right next to the church we were surprised to find a very interesting sign that said “Dios es como los piojos, está en todas partes pero prefiere a los pobres” (God is like lice, He is everywhere but prefers the poor”. I bet the priest who came out with the phrase—or at the very least authorized the sign—has a very good sense of humor.

Near the town of Taninga, south of Salsacate, we took a short detour into route 28 to look for hydra under the bridge over Arroyo Cachimayo (or Salado). After searching unsuccessfully for a good half and hour we continued south. Looking east from route 15 one can see the nearly perfect cone of Cerro Ciénaga (there are actually two peaks if one looks at the mountain from the south). The road goes through many patches of Caranday palm trees, a middle size tree with beautiful grayish palmate leaves.

We stop for gas at Mina Clavero before climbing up onto the Quebrada del Condorito. The road ascends in a series of long twists offering wonderful views of the valley below. The air got very cold quickly as we gained altitude. Once we reached the high plains at approximately 2,000 meters we saw the marvelous figures of three or four Andean condors gliding among the low, dark clouds. The Quebrada del Condorito National Park offers protection to the easternmost population of Andean condors in the world. Condors had nearly disappeared from this region until the government established a protection program and declared the Quebrada a national park.

As the road begun to come down into the plains of the Punilla Valley, the low clouds turned into a very heavy fog. We rode very carefully constantly warning each other through our intercoms about passing cars, road obstacles, and the condition of the asphalt. The fog cleared below 1,500 meters and we had a pleasant ride down into the city of Córdoba. We are staying with my old friends Sylvia and Hector. The three of us lived together in Stony Brook, NY, when I was in graduate school. We shared a passion for good music, good food, and leftist politics. It is always amazing to rediscover how much we have in common when we come together after the long periods of separation between visits.






Fiambalá to Chamical

01 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Aimogasta (La Rioja), Anillaco (La Rioja), Bernardo Houssay, Carlos Saul Menem, César Milstein, Chamical (La Rioja), Fiambalá (Catamarca), Luis Federico Leloir

Day 18 (February 25, 2014) We woke up to a cold, cloudy, and windy day. We could hear the whistling of the wind from the hotel room. After breakfast we loaded the bikes, bundled up, and rode south on route 60. We stop at Aimosgasta to get gas and have a coffee. A few miles south of Aimogasta we visited the small town of Anillaco, the birthplace of Carlos Saul Menem—a corrupt and unscrupulous individual who was president of Argentina for two terms from 1989 to 1999. With the go ahead from the International Monetary Fund, Menem applied savage neoliberal deregulation policies with disastrous effects on the Argentine economy.  The Menem administration privatized utilities including the oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), the post office, telephone, gas, electricity and water utilities. These privatizations were carried out through corrupt contracts that enriched Menem’s associates. The Menem administration divested in higher education—an area that has always been of central importance for Argentinians. The country has a long tradition of investing in education. The Argentine education system has at times reached worldwide levels of excellence. For example, Argentina educated three Nobel Prize winners in the sciences: Luis Federico Leloir, Bernardo Houssay and César Milstein. In addition two Argentines have received the prestigious Rolf Schock Prize: Luis Caffarelli in Mathematics and Mauricio Kagel in Musical Arts. The program of deregulation and privatization pursued by Menem resulted in the decentralization of the secondary school system whereby funding became a provincial rather than a federal responsibility. As a consequence the system of high school education was severely weakened. Funding for universities and research was also curtailed resulting in massive emigration of university trained professionals to the US and Europe.

In Anillaco we visited a saddle and leather shop where I bought a sheepskin (pellón) to use as seat cover on my motorcycle. Many motorcycle riders claim that a sheepskin cover would keep you cooler in hot weather and warmer in cold weather.

From Anillaco we rode south through the cities of La Rioja—the capital of the province—and Patquia onto Chamical. It rained very hard for the last 60 kilometers of our ride so by the time we reached Chamical we were ready for a hot shower and a nice dinner. We stayed at a brand new hotel, Hotel Portal del Noa, next to the gas station on route 38. For dinner we took a taxi to nearby parrilla (grill). We had asado with a Bonarda wine (a varietal) from La Rioja.




Fiambalá

28 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Aimogasta, Chumbicha, Copiapó (Chile), Cuesta de la Sébila, Dakar, Fiambialá, Paso San Francisco, Saujil, Sierra de Mazán, Terms de Fiambalá, Tinogasta

Day 17 (February 24, 2014) Fiambalá is a small town at the foothill of the Andes in the Province of Catamarca.  In the last few years Fiambalá has been in the news because several editions of the Rally Dakar passed through the town. The huge dunes north of the town provide the perfect terrain to test the skills of the Dakar racers (motorcycles, cars quads, and trucks). Fiambalá is the last major settlement in the road to Chile (Copiapó) through the Paso de San Francisco (198 kilometers from Fiambalá).

The road from Catamarca to Fiambalá takes you through a varied assortment of landscapes. We rode south to Chumbicha and then took route 60 across the Cuesta de la Sébila and the Sierra de Mazán into the town of Aimogasta (La Rioja Province). From Aimogasta we moved north towards Tinogasta following the intermittent course of the Río Salado or Colorado. We crossed tens of road dips (badenes) many of them partially covered with sand which had been washed onto the road by the recent rains.  We made a rest stop at the central square of the charming little town of Tinogasta where we met a group of high school exchange students from all over the world. We had a nice talk with two kids, one from California and another from Washington State. Before and after Tinogasta route 60 goes through a plethora of little villages (Copacabana, El Alto, La Puntilla, Santa Rosa, San Roque, El Puesto) and miles of vineyards and fruit orchards. Fifty kilometers north of Tinogasta we finally reached Fiambalá. We found a place to stay (modest Hotel Santa Rita), unloaded the bikes, and rode to the famous hot springs Termas de Fiambalá. The views from the road to the hot springs reminded me of Death Valley in California. The long sandy valley of Rio Fiambalá or Saujil is flanked by the massive Sierra de Fiambalá to the east and the foothills of the Andes to the west. The hotel complex at the springs offers cabins, a restaurant, and a series of connected pools with water at different temperatures. After visiting the springs we rode back to town and then north to the village of Saujil. There we took a sandy road into some vineyards—hoping to get access to some grapes—and had a great chat with two older men who were tending the vines. They told us that they inundate the vineyards once a month to water the plants. We talked about rain—rare in Fiambalá and Saujl but more frequent in Tinogasta—electric storms, the Dakar, motorcycles, grape varieties, and wine making. The younger of the two men seemed very educated despite his very simple attire and general demeanor. He let us try the deliciously sweet black grapes that according to him were Jerez. The grapes used to make the fortified wine of Jerez de la Frontera in Spain (jerez, sherry) are actually white grapes (e.g. Palomino or Moscatel) so it is hard to know what those black grapes were. That night we had dinner at a restaurant two blocks east of the central square—which, by the way, has free WiFi like many squares in Argentinian towns. We had meet, french fries, and Stella Artois Noire.





Yungas in the Rain

25 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Amaicha del Valle, Amerian Catamarca Park Hotel, Cloud forest, San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, Sierra de Ancasti, Sierra del Aconquija, Tafí del Valle, Tucumán, Yungas

Day 16 (February 23, 2014) We left the Hostal Río de Arena after a very special breakfast with home made bread, plum preserve, and dulce de leche made with goat milk. Craig, the Canadian KLR rider, joined us for breakfast but asked for scrambled eggs (Argentinian breakfasts are too wimpy and sweet for a genuine lumberjack from Alberta). We felt very lucky to have found this place to stay. The hostel is a perfect place to rest. The rooms of two old houses have been turned into large, modern sleeping quarters with private bathrooms. Roberto, the friendly owner and host of the hostel, has clearly put a lot of thought into this place. Most of the cooking is done in wood ovens giving empanadas, breads, and meats a very unique flavor. Roberto produces his own Río de Arena wine from the vineyards adjacent to the Hostal. A new cellar is currently being built. If you prefer the country to the city or if you want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of a city, you will enjoy this hostel.

A few kilometers south of the hostel we stop to help a guy who was having trouble with his motorcycle. His name was Juán and the problem was that the chain of the bike kept coming off because the tension adjuster was not working. Juán asked us for tools but it turned out that he had very little experience with motorcycles so Adrián and I ended up doing all the work.

We got gas in Amaicha del Valle and then continued onto Tafí del Valle. From Tafí route 307 goes down—following the Río de los Sosa— through the cloud forests that cover the eastern slope of the Sierra del Aconquija. The stretch of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains in Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina is known as the yungas.  At higher altitudes the forest here is dominated by alders (alisos); a species of tree that is not very common in Argentina. It was raining lightly as we were riding down. At times we rode through heavy patches of fog. Down at the valley we turned south on route 38 in the direction of the city of San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. This fertile valley of the Tucumán Province is heavily planted with sugarcane and tobacco. As route 38 enters the Province of Catamarca, the road climbs through the Sierra de Ancasti. We stop to rest at a Gauchito Gil shrine which had several offerings including a bottle of red wine and few energy bars. We reached the city of San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca at around 5 pm and got a room at the Amerian Catamarca Park Hotel near the central plaza. That night we had dinner at Restaurant Valmont located next to the basilica cathedral of the city—bifes con papas fritas and Stella Artois Noire.







La Cornisa & Quebrada de las Conchas

24 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Alemania (Salta), Cafayate, Jujuy, KLR 650, La Cornisa, La Viña (Salta), Pan American Highway, Quebrada de Las Conchas, Quilmer Ruins, Salta, Tumbaya

Day 15 (February 22, 214) Today we left Purmamarca in the direction of Cafayate. A few kilometers south of Purmamarca we visited the charming little town of Tumbaya. From there we dropped into the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, the province capital. From the sun of the Quebrada we rode into the clouds and the rain of the Jujuy valley below. From Jujuy to Salta we took—like we did two years ago—a section of the old Pan American route (Ruta 9) known as La Cornisa, the cornice. This narrow road through the cloud forest is truly special. The beauty of the lush forest was enhanced by the intermittent rain. We stop frequently to take pictures, listen to the birds, and marvel at the tall trees covered with epiphytes and hanging mosses.

From Salta we took route route 68 to La Viña and Cafayate. Approximately 100 kilometers from Salta, the old train station at Alemania offers a sad reminder of the destruction—by corrupt civilian and military governments—of the once very extensive railroad system of Argentina. Alemania was the last station of a line that provided access to the valley of the Calchaquí River (Valles Calchaquíes). Today, the buildings of the station are used for a snack bar, a gomería, and a auto repair shop. In Alemania we met Reginaldo, a Brazilian cyclist who had ridden his bike all the way from San Pedro the Atacama. We did the same road in our motorcycles and find it amazing that Reginaldo was able to ride his bike at those altitudes (most of the road stays between 3,000 and 4,900 meters). It took Reginaldo several days to cross from Chile to Argentina so he had to carry extra water and had to camp up there several cold nights. Amazing! Reginaldo told us that Cafayate was a zoo and that we were going to have a hard time finding a hotel there.

South of Alemania, route 68 goes through one of the most colorful quebradas (valleys) in Argentina, Quebrada de las Conchas. I will let the pictures do the description for me. The reds, ochers, yellows of the mountains on both sides of the rive—Río de las Conchas—are unforgettable.

Reginaldo was right. There was a festival in Cafayate so the normally charming town—located in one of the major wine-making areas of Argentina—was jam-packed with of people. It was hard to move through the town let alone find a hotel so we decided to continue south in search for lodging. We were very lucky to find Hostal Río de Arena at El Bañado de Los Quilmes, located only 3 kilometers from the entrance to the Quilmes Ruins. Staying at the hostel was Craig—a Canadian motorcyclist on a 2007 KLR650—who joined us for dinner. We had empanadas and humita with Río de Arena wine—produced by the owner of the hostel.










Quebradas de Humahuaca & Purmamarca

23 Sunday Feb 2014

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Aimará, Elementos Malbec, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Quebrada de Purmamarca, Terrazas de La Posta, Tilcara

Day 14 (February 21, 2014) We decided to stay an extra day in Purmamarca so today we took a short ride to the town of Tilcara in the Quebrada de Humahuaca. We also rode through the Quebrada de Purmamarca to enjoy the great colors of the mountains. For dinner we had beef (Bife al Champignon, Bife a la mostaza) with Elementos Malbec from Cafayate.









East and Up Up Up into Argentina

23 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Daniel Martínez Scavino in 2014 Chile

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Amalaya Gran Corte, Camel, Cuesta de Lipán, Daniel Martinez, llama, Paso de Jama, Purmamarca (Argnetina), Reserva Natural Los Flamencos, Salinas Grandes (Argentina), Susques (Argentina), Terrazas de La Posta, Vicuña, Volcán Licancábur

Day 13 (February 20, 2014) The ride from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to Purmamarca in Argentina was amazing. Most of the trip occurred at altitudes above 3,000 meters and at several points the road climbed above 4,500 meters. We left San Pedro in the morning after breakfast. As we were leaving the hotel on our bikes we met a Chilean rider, Andrés, on a BMW GS 800. Andrés is working in San Pedro as an adventure motorcycle instructor.  We chat for a while when we met again for a second time at the gas station. Route 27 leaves San Pedro in the direction of the international crossing—Paso de Jama—and immediately begins to climb getting closer and closer to Volcán Licancábur.  As we climbed the vegetation begun to change, the shrubs on the sandy soil around San Pedro gave way to grasses, which are the main food for herds of llamas. As we climbed the air got very cold so we had to stop to put on some more clothing. Route 27 goes through several high altitude passes and at one of them my GPS registered 4,900 meters (16,076 feet—taller than the highest mountain in the Alps).  The air was very thin and we both had a hard time breathing. Before reaching the Argentinian border we rode through several marsh-like areas with small ponds where flamingos spent time munching presumably on small crustaceans. I looked for hydra in one of the ponds but the water was clearly too salty for hydra. A thin sheet of ice had formed on the surface of the water. These areas together with Laguna Miscanti near Socaire are part of the Reserva Natural Los Flamencos. At high altitudes the herds of llama are replaced by small groups of another camel, the elusive vicuña. Vicuñas have the finest wool of all camels and are protected in both Chile and Argentina.

He had a little scare on the Argentinian border because we were missing some documents and the customs officer did not want to let us back in the country. For a while we attempted to reason with her about the craziness of the situation—we had already left Chile but we could not enter Argentina—until she finally let us through. The road from Jama to Susques continues to offer expansive views on of the mountinas around, some with snow-covered peaks. We could tell we were back in our country when we begun to see a typical inhabitant of Argentinian roads which is almost extinct in Chile, the pothole. Potholes of all shapes and sizes are endemic to Argentinian roads. In Susques we visited Gomeria El Milagro—where two years ago the rear tire of Adrián’s BMW was miraculously fixed. We made a stop at the Salinas Grandes to enjoy the stunning reflections of mountains and clouds on the salty lake.  After Salinas Grande the road climbs up again to 4,200 meters and then snakes down the endless curves of the Cuesta de Lipán.  At the bottom of the Cuesta, the magnificent Quebrada de Purmamarca offers them most amazing colors of any mountains I have even seen. In the town of Purmamarca we stayed at the hotel Terrazas de La Posta. For dinner we had a lamb (cazuela de cordero and pierna de cordero) with a bottle of 2011 Amalaya Gran Corte from Cafayate.










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