Santa Barbara to Buenos Aires, and then some...

The good folks at Goggle Wipes sent me a box of their finest today! Its a great product that I use and like a lot (try them); they will be much appreciated next month in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. www.gogglewipes.com Thank You! Nick via BlackBerry

Gearing up to go south next month; going to challenge Bolivia and Peru again, this time with company. I'm heading down on September 10 to join a couple of friends for a ride leaving Buenos Aires to the norther frontier at Jujuy through Bolivia to Peru (Cusco/Machu Picchu) - alot of cold, high altitude riding - then we will drop down to the coast at Nazca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines) on a challenging/nasty road (I know from experience)and head south through the desert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert), diverting back into Bolivia for the Uyuni Salt Flats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni), and then further south in Chile before cutting back across the Andies at Salta Argentina and then on to Buenos Aires. The photo is our planning session last month.

Traveled Concordia to la frontera at Colon - there was literally kilometers of trucks lined up at the border waiting for some magical paper allowing them to cross. I was greeted by an Aduana officer who couldn't figure out his job to save his life - even after he followed me through to the Uraguayan office asking inane questions (where was the paper I gave him 5 minutes ago...) - three times - before their jefe finally asked what his problem was... While traveling south, cutting across most of the country, I kept seeing these monster trailers loaded with eucalyptus logs that had been stripped of bark - lots of them. During a short lunch six trucks rolled past. I'm guessing there is at least 20 tons of logs on each - all heading to the controversial new pulp mill on the river, so I followed one - Cowabunga Batman, that place is HUGE. Argentine picketers have determined international foreign policy and the border crossing nearest the plant remains closed as a result. My little ...

Did the grind back to Concordia - 660 km of medium to bad roads with construction along 60% of the route. They are building a true interstate system. I'm convinced the cops in Entre Rios have a scam on - my GPS tells me when I'm crossing state lines so as I approached Entre Rios I dialed it back - sure enough, there is a check point just past the border and, true to form, I get signaled over for inspection. All the other checks today it's "where ya from" "where ya going", "have a good day" - at this check point the officers look at the bike, do a quick huddle, and a woman comes over; does she ask for license and title like and other document inspection? Nice try, Guess again... The first word out of her mouth is Seguro! She wants my proof of insurance, required by law, but which no foreigners have. When I reached into my wallet and pulled out my certificate she went bug-eyes, checked it against the bike, and then shouted over to her co-conspi...

Heading south. Route 2 was designed for motos - no traffic, rolling hills with swoopy curves. I took it as far as I could before cutting across the state for the night - the selection further south on that road was slim and none and I didn't want to be forced to ride into the cold night (violins please). En route I stopped at this little wide spot in the road and stumbled into a brazilian barbecue place extrordinaire! All the various meats plus salads and veggies you can eat for $28 pesos including the beer - Tasty! Even better - the place was full of fun locals speaking german with brazilian accents. The owner sat down to chat as he was serving me explaining about his crazy customers - when he got my story he and every teenager around had to go out and look at the bike. The final run into Posadas was uneventful and I'm back at the same comfortable hotel. Tomorrow I divert into Uruguay. Nick via BlackBerry

Traveled all of 130 km yesterday to the Brazilian border and then along the river looking for a little piece of paradise - I found it at a little group of cabins called La Bonita 18 km off the paved road. German suggested it and the locals could believe I found it. I got lucky! It is a winter school holiday now and they were booked full - the owner was on the property (rare) and insisted I take his cabin - he also has an older house on the property but the cabin has THE view. We shared a lunch and then I toured the property and discovered why he bought it - he owns a magnificent waterfall. I later heard the story about his country wide search until, after looking at 50 waterfalls, he discovered this one and found a way to buy it. The posada is run like a micro resort with a wonderful family that oversees all operations and mom must have attended the regional culinary institute - spectacular food. I watched her make everything from the bread, to the soup, pasta, pasta filling (her m...

A beautiful start with a few rough patches. Left Iguazu late morning after finding a little cafe that served a real breakfast and headed for the northern route around Misiones. It's paved for the first 30 km and then turns into dirt, dense red clay occasionally strewn with rocks to be correct. About 10 minutes in it starts to rain and my jungle ride turns into a jungle adventure - the red clay becomes red snot and the slightest incline a slippery slide. If you look closely at the fallen moto foto you'll see where just the slight grade change in the lane caused the wheels to start sliding sideways and me to get a facefull of mud before I even knew what was happening. Helmets are good things. Fortunately I had slowed way down so it was really only a little insulin rush and then putting things right. The shear bolt for the right bag did its shear thing but I carry extra - getting the bike picked up while standing in slime proved to be the most challenge - I had to stomp some br...