Paradise, here we come!

When we left Mar de Ajo on January 30th, I already felt much better.

I could really feel the strength returning to my body. After a heartfelt farewell from the camp staff and a subsequent photo (this time not initiated by me), the journey continued to the literal paradise:

Mar Chiquita.

A small, very manageable place with one street; the main street. But that's what made it so charming. Around us was flat land with some small forests.

So we arrived, asked for directions, and off we went along the main road, over 3 smaller bridges, and we were already at the campsite.

I have to say it was a pretty big one, with a lot of Asado grills, as expected, lots of trees providing shady spots, and a variety of different birds.

The spectrum ranged from small sparrow-like birds, to parrots, to larger birds of prey.

While we comfortably set up our camp under a few trees, the sun was shining and the sky appeared, at first glance, cloudless and beautifully blue.


But appearances can be deceiving. Stepping out of the shade of the trees, you could see dark, heavy clouds moving towards us not too far away.

It didn't take an hour for the sheer apocalypse to begin.

Lightning flashed every few minutes in the sky, illuminating the campsite. The muffled sound of thunder echoed multiple times.

But we were hungry...

Somehow we needed a shelter for cooking, because there was no way we could do it without.

So off to the sanitary facilities. I was pretty sure we were in the men's toilets.

The next morning turned out...

It had been the ladies' toilets...

Well, it didn't work anyway. So we cooked in my tent with a camping stove. It was quite simple:

Take out the inner tent, blow up the sleeping mat, and off you go.

But it was still too cramped for me and I was glad when the rain finally stopped...

The following days we spent doing various things.

Sometimes I drove to Santa Clara del Mar, the nearest larger town on the coast, to stock up on supplies and petrol for my stove, and sometimes we spent a whole day reading to each other. All in all, they were very relaxing days and it did everyone good not to have to pack everything up again after 2 days.

On the 4th day in Mar Chiquita, we became slightly more productive:

Our water filter, including UV sterilizer, was tested and found to be very good...

Only the water tasted awful... Maybe it was because the water from the tap wasn't really freshwater 🤦‍♂️

Afterwards, we went to the beach and, as in the previous places, took our walk along the beach.

I think I have never seen such a relatively empty beach here in South America. There were still people, but no comparison to Mar de Ajó, for example.

On the way back, we found a few rocks below a dune where we took a little break and planned the next time.

First and foremost, dinner.

Once the most important thing was settled, we focused on the next destination of our trip.

With the help of my little research and the guidebook on the e-book, we found the Sierra de la Ventana.

A mix of hills, medium mountains, and flatland. Beautiful in my/our eyes and the perfect opportunity to camp in the wild for once...

Maybe a little story in the end:

Everything was settled and the only thing separating us from dinner was the way back. On our way back, we talked about various things.

Among other things, we talked about how we had learned relatively little about typical Argentine delicacies so far.
Something I knew from Spain was also available here in Argentina:
Churros.

A soft, deep-fried dough sprinkled with sugar. Super delicious!!! But not to eat every day 😉

Conny was thrilled.

Dinner was ready a short time later and suddenly an opportunity presented itself, as if fate or whatever belonged to us on the beach...

A woman walked across the campsite and sold churros.
Hilmar had the idea and I quickly put it into action.

After dinner, I waited for a good opportunity and briefly disappeared into the tent to get the bag with the churros.
I think everyone can imagine Conny's face 😄

We had just talked about them earlier and suddenly they were lying on the table.

With our stomachs full from dinner and even a dessert, we enjoyed the beautiful evening before our eyes got too cold and the sleeping bag became more and more tempting.