San Juan Province
I like camping. I don’t care much for other campers.
It’s nearly 1:30 in the morning. I just moved my tent. Several families rolled into the campground after dark and set up 4 tents right beside mine. A lot of campgrounds in Argentina are really tightly packed – not like most Canadian campgrounds where there are a few trees acting as buffers here and there. The close proximity can’t be helped, but these campers kept getting louder, and they sort of spilled over into my area. I could feel the ground vibrating and taste the dust as they stomped back and forth past my tent. And then at 12:30 AM, they turned the music up even louder. Their kids are still screaming and jumping around on the picnic tables. In addition to their own, they decided to light up my barbeque (the one beside my tent), obviously needing more grill space. Argentinians love to barbeque over wood fires. The smoke inside my tent was getting a little too thick for me to breathe.
So, I moved my tent as far as I could. The music is still loud, there is still smoke in the air, but at least people aren’t tripping over my tent anymore.
At least my first night of camping was good. It was quiet – I could only hear the creek below. I had a nice dog sleep outside my tent, literally snuggling with me through the tent wall all night. I woke with a start a couple of times when he shifted in his sleep.
It’s nearly 1:30 in the morning. I just moved my tent. Several families rolled into the campground after dark and set up 4 tents right beside mine. A lot of campgrounds in Argentina are really tightly packed – not like most Canadian campgrounds where there are a few trees acting as buffers here and there. The close proximity can’t be helped, but these campers kept getting louder, and they sort of spilled over into my area. I could feel the ground vibrating and taste the dust as they stomped back and forth past my tent. And then at 12:30 AM, they turned the music up even louder. Their kids are still screaming and jumping around on the picnic tables. In addition to their own, they decided to light up my barbeque (the one beside my tent), obviously needing more grill space. Argentinians love to barbeque over wood fires. The smoke inside my tent was getting a little too thick for me to breathe.
So, I moved my tent as far as I could. The music is still loud, there is still smoke in the air, but at least people aren’t tripping over my tent anymore.
At least my first night of camping was good. It was quiet – I could only hear the creek below. I had a nice dog sleep outside my tent, literally snuggling with me through the tent wall all night. I woke with a start a couple of times when he shifted in his sleep.
I’m in Valle Fertil, the town of Villa San Agustin. It has a very small creek running past the town, a water reservoir, and a lovely valley. There are shrubs and cacti and a wide variety of birds. I saw some extremely tiny birds that look kind of like hummingbirds, but they don’t fly like hummingbirds. And some storks. Some bright green birds that might be a type of parrot. Possibly some condors, but they were so high up that I could only identify them as large, dark colored birds. I went for a walk along the creek today, but the sun is unrelenting and there isn’t much shade, so I didn’t get as far as I would have liked.
I shouldn’t have come to this town at all. I wanted to visit Ischigualasto Park. You can check out the Website. It looks nice. I decided to come to this town because it’s 3 hours closer to the park (tours from San Jan are 12 hours – half of that in transit). The tourist info office said there were tours from here. And I’m heading North anyway, so I thought it made sense. So, I’m here… but… I don’t know if it’s covid or what, nothing seems open. I made some inquiries and only got one reply. They said they didn’t have any tours but could take me on a private tour for $100. Seems expensive.
I did a little more research and looked up photos online. The photos look nice – but I realized that there were really only THREE photos – just from different angles. Not sure that’s worth $100.
I shouldn’t have come to this town at all. I wanted to visit Ischigualasto Park. You can check out the Website. It looks nice. I decided to come to this town because it’s 3 hours closer to the park (tours from San Jan are 12 hours – half of that in transit). The tourist info office said there were tours from here. And I’m heading North anyway, so I thought it made sense. So, I’m here… but… I don’t know if it’s covid or what, nothing seems open. I made some inquiries and only got one reply. They said they didn’t have any tours but could take me on a private tour for $100. Seems expensive.
I did a little more research and looked up photos online. The photos look nice – but I realized that there were really only THREE photos – just from different angles. Not sure that’s worth $100.
So… I haven’t done much here, and despite the “fertile” nature of the valley, this town is a dustbowl. And there are a LOT of flies. I’ve wandered. I hiked as much as I could stand in the hot sun. I’ve done a lot of reading. Drank a lot of beer. Internet sucks. It’s too hot to hang out inside my tent during the day – I tried to nap but I got too sweaty. There isn’t any place to relax in the shade, other than on concrete park benches. Nothing is open until 8PM (probably because of the flies). And I’m bored. Well, I also got bit by a dog, that was exciting. Not much of a bite, just a warning. But I guess the sidewalk on the main street is his territory, so I pass by him on the road now.
And when I went to the bus station to buy a ticket out of here, I found out that the next bus north isn’t until Friday. Friday!? I can’t stay here another 2 nights. Especially with these obnoxious campers. They’re even louder now. And one of their noisy cars has been idling for the last 10 minutes. I’m so glad I moved my tent. But… I probably should have moved it out of the campground altogether. I could be enjoying some quiet right now down by the creek. But was too lazy to take my tent down. I just pulled out my backpacks, unpegged my tent and carried it over in one piece.
Tomorrow I’m backtracking to San Juan. From there I’ll try to catch an overnight bus north, maybe as far as Salta. This province hasn’t worked out well for me so far. It’s really the kind of area you need a car to explore. I guess it’s time to move on.
Anyway, I guess I’ll put my headphones back on and try to get some sleep. Try… I think some of the campers just returned from a beer run. They seem to be winding up, not down…
And when I went to the bus station to buy a ticket out of here, I found out that the next bus north isn’t until Friday. Friday!? I can’t stay here another 2 nights. Especially with these obnoxious campers. They’re even louder now. And one of their noisy cars has been idling for the last 10 minutes. I’m so glad I moved my tent. But… I probably should have moved it out of the campground altogether. I could be enjoying some quiet right now down by the creek. But was too lazy to take my tent down. I just pulled out my backpacks, unpegged my tent and carried it over in one piece.
Tomorrow I’m backtracking to San Juan. From there I’ll try to catch an overnight bus north, maybe as far as Salta. This province hasn’t worked out well for me so far. It’s really the kind of area you need a car to explore. I guess it’s time to move on.
Anyway, I guess I’ll put my headphones back on and try to get some sleep. Try… I think some of the campers just returned from a beer run. They seem to be winding up, not down…
Backing up a bit: a little about San Juan. I bought a sandwich on the street, and it tasted good, so I ate the whole thing. And it was huge. And… I discovered the next morning that it wasn’t so good after all. I spent most of the day in my hotel room – I don’t need to elaborate.
There wasn’t much to do in town. I walked a lot, didn’t see much of interest. Only one tiny museum was open, everything else is closed. I did pop into a casino because I had to go to the bathroom (it was clean!!!). I decided to look around the casino: only slot machines. All of them familiar! I only saw two machines that were Spanish. Otherwise, I saw old favorites. I decided to play a little Lobstermania. I was enjoying the AC, so I sunk 400 pesos into a couple of machines and I more than quadrupled my money! I made like… 9 bucks!
There really isn’t much more to talk about. When I get some internet, I’ll upload this with whatever good photos I can find!
There wasn’t much to do in town. I walked a lot, didn’t see much of interest. Only one tiny museum was open, everything else is closed. I did pop into a casino because I had to go to the bathroom (it was clean!!!). I decided to look around the casino: only slot machines. All of them familiar! I only saw two machines that were Spanish. Otherwise, I saw old favorites. I decided to play a little Lobstermania. I was enjoying the AC, so I sunk 400 pesos into a couple of machines and I more than quadrupled my money! I made like… 9 bucks!
There really isn’t much more to talk about. When I get some internet, I’ll upload this with whatever good photos I can find!