VENTURING SOUTH on DRZ's

Enough said. I can't imagine being anywhere in S.A. in the 70's. You must have some tales to tell.

Made my evening!

Drove the short 10 miles to Iguazu National Park to see the waterfalls.



Weather Conditions: Cloudy (no sun), Humid, about 65 degrees.

Water Conditions: The volume of water flowing from the falls was approximately twice that of usual. This is what one of the guides told me.

Because of this a few things happened; water was muddy brown, and it created so much mist that it was difficult to actually see all of the falls.

Here is my impression: On one hand it was cool that we got to see this mega falls with double the amount of usual water flowing but it really took away the beauty that you see in typical photos. The raw power of the falls was mind blowing…..but the picturesque qualities were simply not there. Don’t get me wrong, this was definitely the coolest waterfall I have ever been to but I do have some regrets. I think that I should have traveled down the Andean range in Argentina just camping, drinking wine, eating steak, and hanging out in the dry dusty weather (humidity and low lying marshland is not for me).

Flying across the country just to see this was really not worth it in my opinion. But then again, I’m not a crazy waterfall nut either.

Also, I would like to note that the people do not seem nearly as friendly over on this side of the country. I hope that Buenos Aires is good and has a similar atmosphere to that of the Salta region.

After reading the above it seems quite negative. The visceral power and shear strength was very very impressive, I was just expecting some sort of elegant beauty and finess that only mother nature can provide. Anyway, enough rambling....this is what I saw.















Riding the train:































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Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice photos!!

And Al got his mop topped! :eek1

It was pretty funny. he drank half a fifth of whiskey, walked into the bathroom with a piece of cardboard and some clippers, walked out with a decent haircut. I could have never done that...

Just want to say, Awesome!!!! Great ride report, love the explosives, just awesome! You two keep havin a great time and continue to Piss Excellence!

Is that why it stings when I pee?

You Rock! Thanks for the compliments.

Out of Iguazu we rolled through heavy cloud cover and pounded our way over to the east side of Argentina on the Uruguay river.



Really nothing notable here except for all the timber industries. You can’t find firewood in the campsites but you spend a good portion of your day dodging trucks full of trees and passing by sawmills.



Quick stop in an attempt to chase some Emu's.



Made it to Santo Tome, traversed some mud and wound up on the river bank for some free camping. Really wanted to hit Brazil with a rock but with the breadth of this river that sure as hell isn’t going to happen. Picked up a couple milanesas in town and cooked them up after starting a fire with dead brush and driftwood.

Woke up and saw that after Alex tried and tried to start a giant fire in/on top of the grill it didn&#8217;t go&#8230;..even after adding gas&#8230;&#8230;and cross threading my fuel pump onto my bottle&#8230;.and too drunk to get it back into the bottle holster. Oh Alex&#8230;.



We hit the road with no breakfast and then stopped 40 miles down the road at a gas station. Coffee, empanadas, and media lunas. Argentina has the whole empanada thing figured out. Due to the delicious factor of these bad boys we made it a point to stop every 60 miles and try another at each gas station we saw. Good stuff.



The plan was to camp in Curuzu Cuatia&#8230;..185 miles down the road.



Rolled through town, checked out some of the camping and was not impressed in the least. We did however see this crazy ass thing. Look like a mega hamster f*cked a nutrea on steroids. Somebody help me out here....





Continued an additional 100 miles to La Paz on the Parana river. There are police checkpoints everywhere in Argentina. Thus far everyone has waved us through almost like they don&#8217;t ever stop motorcycles. On this route we were stopped twice. Both of us pretended not to speak any Spanish at all&#8230;.no fumar Espanol thank you throttlemeister. Anyway, they kept asking for documents, insurance, and one even asked for a tip. The most I would produce was my fake driver&#8217;s license and then continued with the no Spanish bullshit. Soon enough they got tired and just let us go. Sweet!



Cloudy all day but when the sun broke in a far off distant corner of my world I had a snap a pic....cotton in the foreground.





Tonight we opted for a hotel because there is a lot of camping in front of us. Nothing special here but we hope to get some fishing done in the next few days. We are now close to Buenos Aires and the trip is slowing down. Starting to feel a little nervous about having to go home and jump back on that hamster wheel.

That mega f*cked nutria is a capybara; the world's largest rodent. Pretty good with Tabasco from what I hear!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capybara

Pics

FWIW my good men. You can get a fast ferry with your bike from Colonia del Sacramento UY to downtown BA for around $16. It leaves at 10.45 and arrives in Buenos Aires at noon. One may advance book online at Buquebus.

Just in case you want a relaxed diversion before entering the metropolis. Colonia is where Portenõs go to escape the hustle/bustle, and it's always fun to roll into a city on your bike from the water.











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Learning new things everyday. I'll try to find it on a menu and let you know....I've been packing Tabasco for the last 2,000 miles.

That doesn't sound like a bad plan but I have to admit I'm not real interested in another border crossing. Also, does it cost to get into UY? Does it cost to get back into Argentina?

I'm also trying to minimize my distance because my front sprocket has taken a turn for the worse. No more wheelies for this guy. I hope there is a Suzuki shop in LA that carries the stock front sprocket.

Been catching up with the thread for the past few weeks. THANKS for the great read. I've really enjoyed it. Makes me ready to hop on my DRZ and just keep riding. Although my stock gas tank won't get me too far.

Man, I'm totally blowing off studying for the LSAT and just reading your thread. I can't believe you guys are almost done! Way to go; don't get back too soon.....Oregon isn't as fun as South America. I haven't ridden a moto all week due to the rain.

I'm blowing off bar prep. Good luck with the LSAT and God have mercy on you for going to law school.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulyses
Man, I'm totally blowing off studying for the LSAT and just reading your thread. I can't believe you guys are almost done! Way to go; don't get back too soon.....Oregon isn't as fun as South America. I haven't ridden a moto all week due to the rain.

FYI, addiction to adventure, travel and motos doesn't go away after law school or passing the Bar exam. I have blown a lot of billable hours reading both this and Ulyses' threads. Beware taking on so much debt to go to law school that you can't live/travel like you want. Every decision has its risk, costs and rewards.

Unfortunately Romanousky and Johnsonal will be coming back to reality soon. Huge bummer for the lurker community. Great reports guys! When your story is finished it will be hard to replace the daily dose of debauchery you have provided. Thanks for bringing us along!

No, Thank YOU for popping your cherry on this one! That DRZ of yours is one tough SOB....go slap it around a bit.

I can't believe you are studying!!...for anything!

I'm thinking that when I land in California i will have to swing out and ride Nevada, maybe Utah & Colorado, and then back up to Oregon for the beginning of July (and my 30th B-Day ) for the good weather to begin. Money is getting tight though so we will see.

I'm still planning to buy you that beer sometime this summer....some delicious Oregon Beer!

Best of luck on the studies Bryce!!

Very true on the debt (Private school wasn't worth the six figure debt just in case you wanted to know). But by all means go for your dream if it will truly make you happy.

I think I have some of the same sort of feelings as Bryce in that (correct me if I'm wrong) but I want to do something completely different and out of the norm when I return. I don't know if this much traveling screws your mind up or straightens things out...yet to be determined.

Thanks for the compliments. I'm sure we will get into at least one or two more dubious situations before the end.