No, it is not the Nandu, this huge bird, because it runs up to 70 km/h. Also the Guanakos, of which we saw so many during our trip, are much faster, they can escape with a speed of 60 km/h. It is our van, the Bluebaer, tricking us another time. But let's tell the story step by step....
If you look at some of the cars in Argentina, Chile or Uruguay you can get the impression that in Germany several parts of cars in general are valued too much and really not necessary. Here often a mirrow, a bumper or an indicator are luxury accessoires, but one can easily live without them. And sometimes even the bonnet is only fixed by ropes and the windscreen looks more like a cobweb than anything else.
But despite of these types of vehicles we also encountered a lot of wonderful oldtimers here.
Anyhow it seems that our Bluebaer was so impressed by all these cars and their reduced functions, that it also reduced its functions - at least suddenly they were
gone, the fouth and fith gear. No way to use them anymore, neither by pressure nor with good words.
We just had left the small town of Junin de los Andes and so we turned back. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and out of the five workshops in town three were closed and one was specialized in oil
change only.
Finally we entered the last workshop quite late in the afternoon and actually it can't be called a workshop it was more a yard full of lumber. Furthermore the mechanic was unfriendly like hell. Normally we should have turned around, but at this very moment it seemed to be our only hope.
After the mechanic had spend some time on the ground under the van the conclusion was, that it cannot be repaired like this. So the mechanic came back with a quite huge hammer and started to
thrash the poor Bluebaer. We couldn't believe it and felt so bad hearing this heart breaking sounds. Finally, it was already dark, we were able to him and wanted to leave.
But now the situation was even worse than before. Also the reverse gear does not work anymore, we cannot leave. So the mechanic starts a second attempt using his hammer and in the end we leave
and reach the campsite with only gear four and five working.
The next day at the campsite we were able at least to restore gear one, two and three as well as the reverse gear.
But what to do now? Two possibilities: either go to another workshop in Junin and hope that they can fix it or start to travel with three gears only in the direction of San Rafael/Mendoza where
we have to be in two weeks for our workaway stay and look there for a specialized mechanic. At least we know that there is one.
We decide for the second option and start the same day. Slowly we go kilometer by kilometer through an endless Pampa.
But the low speed of 40 km/h not only asks from us a lot of patience, we are also a hinderance for all other road users especially the trucks. To make ourselves better understood and to reduce the anger of the others we put up a signborad at the rear of the van. And it works! Hardly somebody is aggressive or angry with us rather the opposite. We receive a lot of encouraging honking or waving and sometimes real enthusiasm for our car and signboard.
So we reach after 1,200 km and 11 days San Rafael, where we work for two weeks at the vineyard of Nati and Leo. But our hope to find a mechanic who can fix the Bluebaer is not fulfilled. Even a specialist is not willing to open the gear box. The problem is that the model of our van has never been produced or sold in South America and so it is impossible to get the necessary spare parts here. There is the possibility to get spare parts or even better a complete gear box from Germany. But according to all information we get it can end up in a nightmare especially when it comes to Argentinian customs formalities. It can take weeks or months until you get your stuff.
In the end we decide to continue with our three gears to Zarate, the harbour of Buenos Aires, and ship the van back to Germany for repair instead of shipping it directly to North America as
planned. As we have to go to Germany in May anyhow this seems to be the best solution although it means another exhausting long stretch to go and of course a change of our planned
route.
Finally after 2,300 km (like crossing Germany from North to South two and a half times) we reach Zarate. It is such a relieve after all these nerve-racking weeks. We were never sure whether we
and the Bluebaer can make it. But we made it!
The habour of Zarate is huge and only meant for shipping of cars. Cars as far as one can see. Despite some hurdles we manage all formalities within one day and leave our Bluebaer behind.
We will continue the rest of our journey in Argentina by public transport and hopefully much more relaxed.