Mendoza, Argentina

We had an amazing drive over the Andes from Santiago, into Argentina again to stop in Mendoza for 3 nights. The road coming up to the border had 20 odd switch backs in it which was pretty spectacular but with all traffic headed to the border it was a long wait to get into Chile.

We rolled into Mendoza late at about 9pm and with the campsite mucking Kirsten's booking around we split ourselves between 2 hotels which was actually a nice break as its got very hot so a bit of air con has been great. Mendoza is a very dry city, it hasn't rained in 5 months here. We had a day exploring the cities parks and squares and an afternoon tasting Mendoza's wine. 70% of Argentinan wine is produced in Mendoza and 70% of all Arg wine is exported. It was a lovely afternoon that most of the group took part in. We also visited a place that made olive oil. They bought in the olives and made the oil on site. It was very interesting was a nice addition to the day. Another thing that we did in Mendoza is eat at local times. We went for a few drinks first and headed to dinner at gone 11 and were still eating into the next morning getting to bed as late as if you'd been out partying for the night.

From Mendoza we have changed our route so that instead of heading further north we are headed east, stopping on the way to Ibera Nature Reserve for a spot more relaxation and wildlife watching. On the way we passed through the town of Mercedes which, on the 8th of January had a celebration of Gaucito Gil. This guy is the Robin Hood of Argentina. He deserted the army and was sentenced to execution for his crimes. Upon the day of his execution he told his executioner that his son was ill and that he should be spared death in order to help heal him. His throat was cut anyway and he is remembered today through shrines at the side of the roads flying red flags representing the blood soaked cloth around his neck. It's said that tooting the horn when passing through the town gives safe passage through South America so that's what we did.