Reaching Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Capital

Mark, Maya, and I had plenty of time to reach Buenos Aires when we left San Rafael earlier than planned, as we bid farewell to our friends, who needed to prepare for their departure from South America as well. Our flights to the US wouldn’t leave from Argentina’s capital until June 11^th and it was only May 22^nd when we began our boring three-day ride east, across the continent and country.

Realico

Our first driving day consisted of five uninspiring hours in the car on this flat stretch of Central Argentina. Because of the decent, straight roads, we could let our “pothole guard” down, listened to Spotify music through our Starlink antenna, and clocked decent fuel mileage.

In grey, rainy, and cold Realico, we found many mosquitoes, a free municipal campground where we spent two nights, and the cheapest gasoline in months. Especially since the exchange rate for the peso had finally gone up. Three weeks out from temporarily leaving our life on the road behind, we started to plan meals around getting rid of all our food – dry and fresh.

Junin

As I mentioned before, Mark and I never know what to expect when we pick a potential campsite in our iOverlander app. We usually have a back-up in mind, when things don’t turn out upon arrival. Well, after another boring drive east, Laguna de Gomez in Junin offered extensive areas of green grass, level spots, and a peaceful atmosphere. We loved it from the moment we arrived, took Maya for a walk, and settled in for a few days.

Except, this was the night I described in my expense report of May 2024; when the temperature dropped well below freezing, the butane in our propane tank failed to produce gas, and we couldn’t cook or heat our camper anymore. Mark poured warmish water over the tank after heating that up on the struggling pilot-size flame of our stove, which saved us from shivering more. We needed a better solution!

(As always, click on or hover over the photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Our options: top up the now half-empty butane tank with propane, which would make everything function again in cold weather or move to a location where it wouldn’t freeze. Since it was a holiday Saturday, nobody would be able to sell us propane. So, after a nice walk with Maya and the discovery that our electric lock had a problem, we left our wonderful spot by the lagoon.

San Antonio de Areco

After another three hours of driving, we reached San Antonio de Areco, an attractive town not too far from Buenos Aires. Due to a parking ban, there is really only one decent place to wild camp, near the museum on the edge of town. The weather forecast promised above-freezing temperatures here and we would top up our propane tank first thing on Monday. Due to all the cold weather, condensation had become a problem and mold was growing in the seams of Bella’s walls. We attacked it with a bleach-water mixture and lifted the mattress with a fan blowing underneath.

The center of town was relatively attractive as far as Argentina goes (but still nowhere near as cute as its Colombians counterparts) and within walking distance of our camper. The nearby park was great for dog walks as well. A restaurant in the neighborhood threw awesome Sunday asados (grilled meat fests). While appealing, we passed due to the frigid weather. We hope to return for this meal in the future.

At 3am the following morning, we heard our heater struggle once again. One glimpse outside told us the grass was frozen and we faced the same problem as the previous morning. We could see our breath inside, Mark warmed up water, I suggested wrapping the propane bottle in a towel, and a combination of all our efforts and ideas allowed us to return to bed by 5am. That Sunday, we continued our fight with condensation and mold.

Monday was not so great either. After a handful of sleepless nights, we had left the heater off and cuddled under the sleeping bags. This prevented us having to listen to a funky heater and be dripped on by condensation, the sound of which frightens our anxiety-ridden dog. Once the sun attempted to warm our camper, we started our day. We needed to be very careful with our electricity use as well, since the weak sunrays didn’t do much for our solar panels.

We drove to the propane filling place and were told to come back at 2pm; they had run out of gas. We kept ourselves busy in the parking lot of a frigid grocery store, returned by two, and waited to get our tank topped up. Then, we drove an hour to a peaceful camping spot, but the hordes of mosquitoes chased us off. We eventually settled for the night in a small town called Torres.

Torres

The town had a lot of loose dogs, but appeared relatively quiet. We parked in a public green space and asked the neighbors if it was okay to spend the night next to their house. They didn’t see a problem with that, but when they turned this particular weekday evening into party central with loud music, we moved to the parking lot of an old train station.

Two hours later, at 11pm, when sleep embraced us, sirens next to our camper jerked us awake. I saw blue flashing lights, put more clothes on, and chatted with two police officers who requested our passports and car permit. All was fine, but this was a first. Usually, these officials only ask for paperwork at checkpoints during the day.

We appreciated the free WiFi signal at this spot, because our Starlink system was drawing too much power. Turning it on was kept to a minimum. We had to move on, though, because the bloodthirsty mosquitoes (some of which spreading dengue fever) prevented us from taking Maya for walks.

Zapparancho in Villars

Being this close to our final destination, it was time to check out options to store Thirsty Bella during our absence. I had contacted four campgrounds/storage facilities and we were adamant about visiting them all, before making a decision.

Little did we know when arriving at Zapparancho that it is the property of an intrepid and adventurous Argentinian family. Herman greeted us, showed off the classic car – a 1928 Graham-Paige – that he traveled around the world with for 22 years, and invited us to join a communal lunch.

After gathering more information about the cost and facilities of this popular campground and storage option, Mark and I decided to stay for lunch and one night. We fixed the door lock, filled our fresh water tank, met other overlanders, and started cleaning parts of Bella’s interior. Herman and I exchanged travel memoirs as well. The mosquitoes were still horrendous.

Buenos Aires

Storage places

Zapparancho certainly was an option for leaving our camper for 3.5 months, but we were looking for something a bit cheaper and more convenient. Before settling in the capital for a couple of weeks, we stopped by Cabañas Adelia, Ayres de Etcheverry, and Guarderia Central, stumbling upon a camper manufacturer along the way.

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero is an upscale island in Buenos Aires and the most popular place for overlanders to camp. Until the month of May, when we arrived. That’s when parking fees were enforced, like in other downtown areas. We installed the parking app and checked the prices, which added up to about $4 per 24 hours (8pm-8am is free). Not too bad for living in an attractive capital city!

But the roads were extremely busy and loud. Because this location is within walking distance of the historic center, we paid until the next afternoon, so we could explore that part of town with ease. We picked the quietest street on the island, but the noisy cars, trucks, and motorcycles still kept us awake.

Historic Center

The next morning, our trio set out on foot under cloudy skies to visit some of the most iconic buildings in Buenos Aires. The mosquitoes were less overwhelming here and we enjoyed our day of sightseeing. First, we walked to Plaza de Mayo and Casa Rosada (governmental palace) with its balcony made famous by Eva Peron (Evita) and Madonna.

We inspected the cathedral with its pretty interior and meaningful last resting place of liberator General San Martin and the Cabildo (town hall). Every site was bursting with groups of schoolchildren.

Then, we headed towards the Palacio de Congreso, modeled after the capitol of Washington DC, and Teatro Colon, world famous for its excellent acoustics.

Florida Street forms a huge pedestrian shopping area that houses Galerias Pacifico, a busy mall with beautiful ceilings. It was nice to stroll south, away from cars and exhausts, to Barrio San Telmo, which soon became our favorite neighborhood.

San Telmo

The Mercado was housed in an attractive iron-wrought structure, but was a tourist trap, with souvenir stores and overpriced food stands instead of fruits and vegetables. We didn’t last long this time, but we returned with friends a week later to eat real Belgian fries.

Plaza Dorrego, however, captured our hearts. This funky area breathed good vibes and a relaxed atmosphere. It is surrounded by old buildings, hosts patios with chairs and tables, and promotes live bands and tango dancers.

San Telmo is where tango originated. A couple dancing for tips mesmerized us. We happily grabbed a bench and watched the scene for a while. A week later, we would return with our friends Marcia and Kilian, to check out the weekend market and look for more entertainment.

Parque El Rosedal, Palermo

After six hours of sightseeing, we drove Thirsty Bella to Palermo, a neighborhood known for its plethora of amazing parks and green spaces, and “settled in” for the remainder of our time in BA. To our surprise, we saw other campers doing exactly the same and wondered if this would become the new parking favorite for overlanders.

The three of us loved our surroundings and felt privileged to “live” in such an attractive part of the capital, but it was still quite loud due to bustling traffic, thumping disco music, the proximity of the regional airport (with its jet engines and cannons scaring off birds; poor Maya), and nightly visitors to the park. The location was wonderful to walk Maya, reach stores, bakeries, and hair dressers, and to explore another highlight of the city, namely the Recoleta neighborhood.

Recoleta

Like Palermo, Recoleta is a green and attractive part of Buenos Aires. It is where the Museum of Fine Arts (free entrance) and famous Recoleta Cemetery ($8 a person) are located. Mark and I took turns checking out the magnificent sculptures (a room full of Rodin, anyone?) and paintings (how about some Monet, Picasso, Gauguin, or Degas?) of the museum, while the other person waited outside with Maya.

Most cemeteries in the world are free to enter, so we wrongly assumed Recoleta would be the same. When I discovered the entrance fee was a whopping $8, I initially passed. Mark encouraged me to go, since I had looked forward to this visit. I recalled some regret missing out on the Mummy Museum in Salta (Northern Argentina) earlier this year, for the same reason, so didn’t want to repeat that.

So, I paid, entered, and explored this “City of the Dead,” a graveyard full of mausoleums of the rich and famous. The only person I knew of was Eva Peron (aka Evita), a prior first lady, who died young and had been buried in the tombs of her family; the Duarte mausoleum. It was the most popular site in the cemetery.

La Boca

Locally, La Boca is known for its Boca Juniors, the soccer team where Diego Maradona once played. Mark, Maya, and I shared an Uber to San Telmo with our Dutch friends Marcia and Kilian, from where we walked, through more green parks, to La Boca.

The highlight of this colorful neighborhood is Calle Caminito, which consists of brightly painted houses, bars, stores, and restaurants, some of which sport balconies with statues of iconic Argentines, like politicians Juan and Eva Peron and famous soccer player Lionel Messi.

Our other days in Buenos Aires were filled with errands like shopping, cleaning, and laundry, research, work, socializing, walks with Maya, preparing our camper, truck, Maya, and ourselves for our imminent departure, eating our stores, and drinking our remaining bottles of wine. That was the fun part!

Less ideal was the lack of sun and therefore power, which meant the engine had to run daily for two hours or more, we had to be careful using Starlink, so being online was kept to a minimum and revolved around work, and we moved the camper to another – noisier – spot with free WiFi a few times. Nights were loud and restless. On our last evening in the city, we ran out of drinking water.

A day before leaving the country, on June 10^th, Mark, Maya, and I drove Thirsty Bella to Cabañas Adelia in the town of Santa Rosa, where owner Julian welcomed us with open arms. We certainly have no complaints about our host’s hospitality, help, and friendliness, but those last 30 hours in the country were pretty rough.

Wires had to be lifted for us to drive anywhere on the property, the resident dogs barked each time Maya showed an appearance, the water pressure was insufficient to wash the camper or fill our water tank (so we resorted to filling and using water bottles for cooking, dishes, and cleaning), the washing machine took hours, I didn’t manage to dry the clothes and linen outside because of the morning fog and short days (we held the items in front of our heater that night to dry them), dog poop surrounded us, and the shower was lukewarm at best.

But we persevered and worked hard to wrap up our camper, winterize it, and dry it out by running the heater a lot and lifting the mattress. Bags packed, one last hiccup, and off we were, whisked to Ezeiza airport by Julian and ready for a red-eye flight to Boston, Massachusetts (via JFK). Once in Newburyport, lots of doctors’ appointments, family and friends, and a break from the road awaited us!

Next up: Our monthly expense report for June 2024

Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics with dogs, check out my compelling, inspiring, and refreshingly honest travel memoir: