We begin our ride to our final destination on an absolutely gorgeous day and arrive in Buenos Aires! We knew that B.A. was a very large city (Metro of about 18 million people). However we didn't realize what that meant until we entered the city and saw by the GPS that we were still about 60 Km’s from the motorcycle shop we were seeking.
Entering the greater Buenos Aires area, Corinne wondered if we were back in Peru. Dilapidated buildings and obvious poverty along the roadways were interspersed with newer industrial sites. I saw an old man pushing a large cart full of goods, with the wheels of the cart ready to fall off; decades-old tractors and horse-drawn carriages. A few miles back we had passed beautiful ranch estates with massive homes on manicured acreages. The contrast was striking. (Sorry no good pictures to show this – too busy concentrating on traffic.)
Perhaps the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” in Buenos Aires is the reason we have been warned by strangers we’ve met on our journey to be careful here. The crime rate is excessive. Don’t leave anything on the motorcycle that can be easily removed; don’t stop to ask directions anywhere except at a service station; don’t drive around at night; etc. These words of caution came from residents of the city.
We went straight (well after a few gilley-galloos) to Dakar Motos, the motorcycle shop mentioned by Horizons Unlimited members. The owners, Javier and Sandra, are very friendly people and welcomed us as if we were long-lost friends. We chatted about our adventure and then explained the difficulties we were having finding a freight-forwarding company to send our bikes back to Canada. Sandra immediately helped us contact a local office, translating from Spanish to English and vice-versa. She is very knowledgeable about shipping bikes, and by the time we left the shop to go to the hotel (which she also reserved for us) we felt like a huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders. It was 38 degrees outside so the air-conditioned hotel room was a welcome relief. With the bikes tucked safely into the hotel garage we were able to relax and get a good night sleep.
