Rio Gallegos - Getting attacked by a skunk, Laguna Azul, Best family in all Argentina, Terrible Kawasaki dealership in Buenos Aires!

So today I finally received word that there was no other admission valve available for my motor. It has been now 9 days I’ve been in Rio Gallegos waiting on parts and the one I need isn’t in Argentina. 

So I called Santiago Chile and Brazil, they said it would take 3 weeks to send me the piece at a ridiculous high cost of course. Not to mention I would have to take a 6 hour bus to Chile myself to Punta Arenas to pick it up, as they don’t do international shipping.

Well as much I like waiting, this is not a suitable option. So it looks like we’ll have to use the already pretty used up valve that was already in the engine, luckily the one valve that didn’t get too messed up was the old admission valve, I only hope it’ll hold up.

On a side note, for those of you with a KLR in Argentina, there’s really only one dealership and it’s in Buenos Aires, called Cordasco Motorcycle Center. I called these guys for the parts, they were good with the speed they got my parts to me. But after they forgot to send me the admission valve( personally it sounded like they didn’t have any in stock and didn’t double check), they and gave me a flimsy excuse as to why they didn’t send it (that all the ones they had were fissured)(like I said, I think they made mistake and didn’t have another in stock from talking with a few of the guys), and they didn’t notify me until I personally called them, they even had my email address and everything and didn’t bother to tell me to make other arrangements and look elsewhere, and worst of all they charged me for it.

I urged them to find another valve around town, and they just gave me the run around of call later to see if they found one. This went on for 5 days, “oh we’ll find out tomorrow, so give us a call then, then the next day the same thing, “were still looking call at the end of the day so we can tell you”, 5 days of this crap.

So my recommendation is good luck with these guys, now I’m trying to get my money back for the piece they didn’t send and it’s not going to be any easier. So beware of Cordasco Kawasaki in Argentina!

So I hope now, that in 3 days time I will be off again on the road. A little relief to say the least!

My time here in Rio Gallegos has been boring to say the least. 

Got kicked out of this ice cream place for using the internet for free for after 6 hours .

Then this place after hacking into their Wifi after another 6 hours, 0123456789 is not the best password by the way.

I saw an annual celebration of some sort on the street.

Hit the gym

But I did visit a nice volcanic crater called Laguna Azul.

I even got attacked by a skunk!

A little too close for comfort

Yes the skunk is biting me

And I know what you’re thinking, isn’t he cute right?

He’s been operated so he has no stink glands. His life was saved when the boyfriend of one of the daughters of the family I’m staying with rescued him off the street when he was about 1 month old when his mother was run over by a car. He was quite cute and fun to play around with.

I also saw this painting and it reminded about my hitchhiking.

I was also lied to by this pastry shop.

As a daily routine I have been buying endless pastries and treats for the amazing family I’ve been staying with as my sign of appreciation.

I cannot begin t describe the appreciation I have for this family, not only are they kind, courteous and generous, but they are loving and humble. My bad luck of a breaking motor has turned around with the compassion of this family that rescued me on the side of the road.

My entire perception of random kindness has completely altered thanks to this wonderful family; through this experienced I have come to realized many things about life and its inner workings. I’ve come to appreciate life a little more, the ability to travel much more, and the u understanding of what family love is really about. A whole new realm was opened to my eyes by having the wonderful opportunity to live with this Argentinean family for so long.

the yard

My experiences and observations of their life are vast and complex and I am extremely grateful for my experiences with them.

There’s Mariela, who is an active young lady whose boyfriend is the one who has the skunk as a pet.

There’s the young girl named Leila, who is 9 years old. She is the happiest little girl I’ve ever met. She loves her cat Juli and is extremely smart.

There’s Marcela, her mother, who love her daughter very much. She’s a strong woman who’s been through some tuff stuff, but is dedicated to her daughter tremendously and loves her very much.

The alley that separates the two houses

And of course the grandmother who was the one in the vehicle who rescued me off the side of the road after 3 days. She’s my hero for the moment, without her I would have had serious issues. She is again a strong tuff woman just like her daughter and is a great church going women that preaches the word of God to young youths.

One of the houses

There were two houses where I was staying. One house had Mariela, the grandmother, and Leila and the other just had Marcela living there and there was an extra room being repaired there, so that was my room for my time there.

My room

This house had a lovely atmosphere of love. Living with all women was also an emotional, interesting, and out of the ordinary experience for me and I learned quite a bit from it.

So my appreciation and love goes out to this family for all they have done for me, house me, feed me, and allowed me to share in their life. I will never forget their generosity or love and will always remember them as the kindest Argentinean family of all the country.

As there was not much in this town, I made one of my special gifts for them of all the best pictures of my trip for them as my departing and remembering gift to them, my special way of saying Thank you.

A la famillia-mi más profundo agradecimiento.

Gracias a la familia!