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text: Karin-Marijke Vis
photos: Coen Wubbels
26,000 kilometres to The End of The World
After 3,5 years our South East Asia Adventure, during which we drove from Holland to Vietnam, had come to an end. But we were far from tired of travelling, and going further east lured. The car was put in a container, on a freighter to South America - Argentina to be precise. In January 2007 our LandCruising Adventure began, our first goal being The End of The World - Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the continent, albeit via a loop northwards.
During our first weeks in Buenos Aires we get our car out of the docks, repair the suspension and get some bodywork done after we discover that the seats almost drop through the rusted bottom. Meanwhile we are introduced to the Argentinean way of life with many bbq's, late breakfasts, tango, drinking herbal tea called 'mate' and eating lots of sweets like dulce de leche and 'facturas'.
On our way
Our first serious, and expensive, culture shock takes place on the highway towards Uruguay, where we discover that Argentina not only hás traffic rules [as they do in the rest of the world], but actually enforces them [as in general they don’t do in Asia]. Neither do we here have the [albeit sometimes embarrassing] superior status of being white and foreigners [as happens in Asia]. No waving on by the police, you’d better take them seriously and we have to pay a dear 70 euros for driving without our lights on during the day.
Uruguay is a small, peaceful country with lovely scenery and a rich cultural heritage in the form of beautiful colonial villages, dating as far back as the eighteenth century. Roads meander through rolling plains and ranges of low hills where crops like corn, wheat and sunflowers are cultivated. Mercedes, Conchillas and Colonia del Sacramento are some of the picturesque villages we visit, where we seem to go back in time and the atmosphere and scents of the past can be imagined. Most extraordinary is the number of vintage cars that drive around, dating from the 30s up to the 70s.
Brazil and the Toyoteiros
After all the warnings about how dangerous Brazil is, we are a bit anxious about visiting the country. Little by little this feeling ebbs away, day after day we meet wonderful people and invitations follow. We discover Brazil's unspoiled, endless nature - when you drive deeper into mountains any form of civilization is gone. No houses, no noise, no electric wiring, nothing - we're one with the mountains, grazing horses and endless views. The wilderness, the roughness and the loneliness remind us of the mountains of northern Pakistan, the number one on our list of travels thus far. It looks like Pakistan is going to have competition for first place on the list!
In 1959 the Brazilians started to produce their own LandCruiser 40-series and called it "Bandeirante". It's great to see so many cars similar to ours, although some aspects differ. Not only the obvious ones, like the square headlights, but especially their use of a Mercedes-Benz engine. The reason behind this is that Toyota Japan doesn't allow their engines to be produced elsewhere and since importing them was too expensive, the Brazilians found the alternative in Mercedes-Benz.
The Brazilian Toyotaclub [www.toyoteiros.com.br] found our website and invites us to their regional meeting. Early in the morning we are picked up at a petrol station by a few Bandeirantes and quickly take the off-roads, driving endlessly through banana plantations and taking two ferries to reach an island. Before us stretch 70 kilometres of remote beaches which are easy to drive and we have an awesome trip. At the hotel we are welcomed into the family of Toyoteiros. They have offered us a room and the entire weekend we are overwhelmed by their hospitality, friendliness and great companionship. Needless to say, with all these Brazilians the churrascos [bbq's] are plentiful and good. To show our appreciation we have prepared a slideshow to give them an idea of our adventures.
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