Done now with Breakdowns?

Ushuaia, Canal de Beagles

We sold our camper in Punta Arenas, Chile. This took a little more than a week. We posted ads on various local and travellers websites, left some leaflets at hotels and even put an advertisement on Punta Arenas local TV. There was hardly any interest to start with, mainly because our camper is registered in the US and the import process is lengthy and cumbersome. We got our first real offer last Saturday. Right after this, an other person wanted to buy the camper but I told him it was already sold. Unfortunately, the first guy wrote us an email a few hours later saying that he had found a better deal. I was very upset, because we had sealed the deal with a handshake and I had turned down the other potential buyer. To me, a deal is a deal, but unfortunately not to everyone in this world.

So we were ready on Monday to leave the car at a car dealer when the second potential buyer called and said he was buying it. We spent the whole day going back and forth to various government offices and finally left the camper in the Free Zone. We got USD 5’000 cash and in green bills. This is about half the real value of the camper, but considering the circumstances, it is a good deal, even though the value in Swiss Francs has been plummeting since this morning. Good we did not sell it in Euros!!!!

We took a bus to Buenos Aires the next day. The bus was quite comfortable, with breakfast, lunch and dinner service, panoramic view, but no internet. A 45 hours ride, including a two hours stop at the border, changing bus at Rio Gallegos, Argentina and… a mechanical breakdown. Fortunately it did not happen in the middle of the pampas, but in a town.  We heard a huge clunking sound, something had broken in the suspensions. There was a workshop for buses with all the spare parts in town. I was tempted to investigate what was broken, now that I am an expert in suspension issues, but thought better. This time, it was not my problem; I stayed in the bus reading to the sounds of hammering. I hope now that we are done for good with breakdowns, I would hate to have another one on the plane taking us back home next week!

We are now in a hotel in Buenos Aires, we will spend a few days sightseeing. It is summer here, real summer. Fleeces, MontBells and gloves are back in the suitcase and shirts are out, at least for these last few days of our journey to the end of the world.