by Paola Irastorza
Guía Hueney Director
guiahueney@hotmail.com
This time I will write about different regions in our country.
Guía Hueney travelled through the South area of San Luis up to Puerto Madryn, Chubut province. It was a long journey, and we covered over 2,700 Km. This journey made me measure how big is our country, and showed me there are large areas of lands we do not profit from.
Unlike the South, San Luis has winding roads
It was sad to observe that most of the arable land in the area was filled with soy crops (in a country where soy consumers are so few).
The highway ends as soon as we cross over San Luis’ borders. Outside San Luis there are only two-way roads, which turn the journey a little bit more complicated, especially if one does not know the roads very well.
Definitely, our San Luis has the best roads in Argentina, but they lack adequate road signs.
As we get closer to the South, you will notice there is less vegetation, and plants are short. The landscape is desolate and there are salt lakes. For this reason, all we wanted to do when crossing over this area was to reach the sea. We went over Colorado River – the same one it takes the name of Río Negro -, which has a width of about 300 m. This river flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the area of El Cóndor (Viedma, the capital city of Río Negro, which we also visited).
Las Grutas
Las Grutas, is a tourist village in Río Negro, whose main attraction are the beaches and the hot water. I personally think these beaches are best than the ones in Mar del Plata, probably because they still have not been ruined by mass tourism.
Colorado River
Puerto Madryn has history, majesty and a windy climate. You will be delighted at observing the beautiful shape of the peninsula, the movement of the waves and the city itself, which is austerely developed. Whales sighting takes place in December, the month chosen for tourists to visit Puerto Madryn.
Hueney and I in Puerto Madryn, Chubut
We returned via La Pampa and through the South of San Luis. That was a bad choice because the road from Nueva Galia to Villa Mercedes is being turned in to a highway. There are no shoulders in this area and road signs are few.
Guía Hueney’s 27th edition was read in the South (Nueva Galia, Buena Esperanza) and Southeast of San Luis (Villa Mercedes, Justo Daract), South of Córdoba (Vicuña Makena, Huinca Renancó), Northeast of La Pampa (Realicó, Santa Rosa), Northeast of Río Negro (Río Colorado, Gral. Conesa, San Antonio, Las Grutas, Sierra Grande, Viedma), South of Buenos Aires (Carmen de Patagones, Bahía Blanca) y Northeast of Chubut (Puerto Madryn).
*Check that your car is in good conditions to travel.
*Consider there is no mobile phone signal in several areas.
*Remember the universal emergency numbers are 101 and 911.
