Butch Cassidy and the Bureaucratic Bungle
Not Robert Redford
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (not their real names) were a pair of notorious outlaws in the USA around 1890 to 1900. Their lives have been glorified by Hollywood to the point where they are now cult heroes. The truth is they were nothing but thieves and killers, much like our own Ned Kelly. Eventually the price on their heads got too attractive for bounty hunters so they escaped to South America, ultimately settling in the area of La Chila, Argentina where they became respected farmers and model citizens. But the Pinkerton Agency (bounty hunters) tracked them down so they absconded to Bolivia where legend has it they were shot and killed in 1907. However legends and Hollywood have a way of being inaccurate and no bodies were ever recovered so the more likely version is they returned to the US under assumed identities and settled in rural California where they lived out their lives as successful farmers.
Regardless, we visit the sight of their estancia in La Chila where there is a wild west themed cafe and museum dedicated to them.
The Wild West
Getting there involves a brisk ride down the Ruta 40 where we get our first taste of the brutal and relentless Patagonian winds. While there we meet up with another Compass group on their way north and they give us no comfort at all when they regale us with tales of 80kph winds ahead.
The vast Patagonian Steppe
In the days prior we have learned that our guide Juan has broken his guitar so when one is spotted for sale in the cafe Sally discreetly organises a collection to buy it and presents it to Juan as a gift from us. He is overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, Scott’s bike is still in some kind of bureaucratic purgatory so in desperation and with the help of Compass he organises a hire bike and a guide. Together they thunder down the highway and in a day and a half they cover the same ground that has taken us a week. Scott and Gina are reunited but the bike will take at least another week to clear the bungled mess it has become embroiled in. Scott is elated to be with Gina but understandably furious at the incompetence of the system.
Reunited
We press on through the constant barrage of wind to the dusty little desert town of Esquel for the night and then another 500km day of winds from hell passing tiny outposts which advertise fuel for sale but they are closed. There are ques of bikes and people waiting at the pumps and despite there being local people around, nobody lifts a finger to help. We ride to another dusty little pueblo called Perito Mereno. As we check into the Hotel Americano we glance across the street and find, of all things, The Tazmania Panaderia (Bakery) We can’t resist and go in to enquire but nobody speaks English so with my very poor Espanol I communicate that we are from the real Tassie. We buy some pastries, take photos and leave.
Tassie in the Argentine desert!
Tomorrow we visit a genuine working sheep and cattle estancia which runs a little side hustle in tourism. Getting there is quite the adventure, but that’s another story!
