Too Legit To Quit

April 6, 2015February 2, 2016 Eric Leave a comment

We thought Bertha was totaled, done, finished. I even wrote her a eulogy. Well, I should have known better. Maybe I was in shock from seeing our van destroyed only days after handing it over? (more…)

21,863 Miles Later

January 11, 2015February 2, 2016 Eric 1 Comment

After a quick drive where we nearly ran out of gas thanks to limits on how much fuel you can buy per day at gas stations, we arrived in El Calafate and wasted no time driving straight out to the Perito Moreno glacier. It was astounding. When we drove around the corner and saw it for the first time I was absolutely astonished by its size and how close we were to it! (more…)

Planning on Selling Your Rig at the End of the World?

We had done a great deal of research into this and still found ourselves surprised when we tried to execute the steps. The process seemed pretty simple:

Sign the title over
Go to a notary and get a power of attorney
Go to Aduanas to cancel and reissue import papers.

We visited three of the four notaries in Ushuaia and were told the same thing at all of them. Apparently they cannot issue a poder if the title hasn’t been officially translated into spanish. This, we were told, could only be done in Buenos Aires.

So, we did the best we could with what we had available:

First, we downloaded a standard bill of sale for used vehicles in both spanish and english and printed them out. We then signed and exchanged a version of each with each other.
I signed the title over to him and made a copy of it for my records.
I photoshopped my Colorado registration for the vehicle and replaced his name with mine. We never used our title at borders, only our registration paper. And although this registration would be a fake, there didn’t seem to be a more effective, better option.
Finally, we took our papers to the Aduanas office where a woman canceled my import permit in her computer but told him he could get his new import paper only at the border. We inquired as to whether it was okay to drive without import papers to the border to which she responded that he needed to carry the bill of sale, title, and my (supposedly) canceled import paper with him.

Apparently this all turned out fine at the border. He exited without issue and had no problem with the registration when importing into Chile. Unfortunately, there will be no updates as to how things progress in the future or at other borders as the buyers promptly rolled the van on a dirt road near Porvenir, completely wrecking it.

Chile

If you’ve been following our climbing posts we didn’t want you to think there wasn’t anything good in the Northern and Central parts of Chile. Unfortunately because we were having mechanical issues with our van that forced us to high tail it to Mendoza we were unable to stop at many spots that we would have otherwise not missed.

One place was about an hour south of San Pedro de Atacama called Toconao (Quebrada de Jerez). Definitely bring supplies to camp and climb in the morning or evening when it’s cooler. There is also a ton of climbing around the Santiago area, too much to list here having not been there ourselves.

Hopefully when we get further south we’ll dip back into Chile and update this page accordingly.

Patagonia

This page will include info for both southern Chile and Argentina. Click here for information on northern Chile and here for information on northern Argentina.

Border 1: Paso Dorotea

Argentina side – Rio Turbio

Pull up to unmarked green building. Stamp out at migracion. They will look at car permit and take your tourist card.
At Aduana hand over permit.

Chile Side

At migracion stamp in, give registration or title for them to look over, fill out tourist card, and get paper that they will stamp.
Adauna next. If you are already in their system like we were, they will look at the registration but will already have info in the computer and print out a new permit.
Go to SAG for declaration. Remember to put yes if you have any milk, meat, fruit, vegetables, or eggs. If you don’t do this they can fine you if they find these items in your car. Give them the ticket with stamps.

Border 2: San Sebastion

Chile Side

Park after the hosteria. Migracion first to stamp out, show permit to them and give over tourist cards.
Adauna next, hand over permit.

Argentina side (a few kilometers down the road)

Migracion: need reciprocity paper if from US. Stamp in, no need for tourist card here.
Aduana: give driver passport and registration. They issue a new permit.
Quick search of car for fruits and vegetables by personnel.

Our Route – Mainland (Esquel to Punta Arenas)

Our Route – Tierra del Fuego (Porvenir to Ushuaia)

Patagonia Tips

Not only is it a long way between gas stations, but some of them don’t have gas all the time, and others might limit how much fuel they will give you. Never pass up a chance to get gas!
Most of Route 40 in Argentinas side of Patagonia is paved now. We had a very current paper map and of the several hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of dirt it showed, only 100-200 of it was dirt and it was nearly finished being paved as well.
A tailwind will make you feel like you don’t need gas at all! A headwind will have you wondering if you’ll even make it to the next gas station!
Gas on the Argentinian side of Patagonia is way cheaper then the rest of Argentina or Chile.
There is a quicker and more laid back border just north of Rio Turbio if you’re heading from Calafate to Torres del Paine (or vice versa) but the be advised there is no ATM and often no gas. For us this meant driving to Puerto Natales regardless of which border we took simply to get Chilean pesos for Torres del Paine.
The fairy from Punta Arenas runs twice a day. It was approximately $40 US for two people and our van. Might be a good idea to make a reservation the day before in the busy season. We heard the other ferry on the 257 further north is cheaper and runs all day.