Getting stuck in the mud 10 km later

May 08

With our successful river crossing out of the way, I felt like I could drive Mango to the moon. We didn’t quite make it. Darkness was setting in, so we decided to find a camping spot for the night. About 10 km down the road, we noticed a side road that culminated a few hundred meters later, up a small hill in a peaceful grove of trees. On the edge of the trees was a level parking spot and a small religious shrine. It looked like the perfect place to spend the night. We drove a little ways down the road, but then stopped when we noticed an ominous mud puddle. We got out and walked around the mud puddle. We also checked a little ways after to see if we could make it beyond the puddle.

Ana stated that she thought we’d get stuck if we tried, but I thought it didn’t look much worse than anything Mango had previously driven through without difficulty. We’d only been stuck in mud or sand 2 or 3 times on this trip, and those times we were able to free ourselves relatively quickly. And besides, hadn’t Mango just driven through a river! This car could do anything! Against Ana’s better instincts, we jumped back in Mango, backed up a bit, got a little momentum, and off we went. Less than 7 seconds later, we were stuck. The mud was stickier than I thought, the hole deeper that I thought, and the corner killed all our momentum. After trying in the darkness for a half hour to unstick Mango, we opted to sleep and address our problem in the morning.

The next day, I treated my wife to a cardiovascular 5 hour workout in the 42 degree rain. The workout consisted of jacking Mango, digging out the tires, collecting rocks (Ana), packing them under the tires, and building a runway over the remaining mushy ground (Ana, aka “Mrs. Gulag”) to get Mango somewhere with better traction. We used all three boards we carry on top of the car. We even put the tire chains on we’d carried the last 40,000km. Laying in bed at an awkward angle all night luckily helps you remember why you packed them in the first place. I thought I tested the chains before we left on the trip, but after putting them on we noticed there was considerable slack. Nothing a hack-saw and 45 minutes of sawing through chain links in the freezing rain and mud won’t fix! The shortened chains were good as new, and by mid-afternoon we had de-stuck Mango in a final sputtering blaze of mud and glory. Mango survived without any damage, and we were back on the road and headed to Rio Grande.

After another hour of dirt roads, we pulled onto the pavement that would take us the remaining 200 kilometers to Ushuaia. No more dirt roads! (at least until we head back north). In Rio Grande, we parked Mango downtown at the comfortable Hostal Argentino. They have electricity, wi-fi, a kitchen, warm showers, and a comfortable common room. We had everything we needed to cook some “delicious” spaghetti or other common road food. Ana, however, announced that I needed to take her out for a steak dinner tonight. This time, I listened.