Dave Ford Does Earth

Posted by Dave Ford

Well, Uruguay did not exactly happen. The night before we were supposed to leave for Montevideo a group of Australians came to the hostel in Buenos Aires. They raved about a beach town 5 hours south of B.A. called Villa Gesell (pronounced Bee-ja He-cell). So, the Aussies I have been traveling with and I  threw the Uruguay plans out the window and now find ourselves in the local beach that we did not even know existed called Villa Gesell.

My first over the top, crazy travel story on this trip happened on the way here. I am traveling with two Aussies, Benny Vears and Paul O’hanlon, aka as “Lava Lips”. While at the bus station in Buenos Aires Lava Lip’s backpack was stolen by two indigenousness women. We think they were Brazilian as they did not speak any Spanish but who knows. He set the pack down and the three of us became distracted buying bus tickets when they struck.  Lava’s pack was extremely heavy, maybe 65 pounds.  The two women–both small by comparison– had to work as a team to steal the pack.  Due to the sheer weight they could not carry it individually. Each grabbed a backpack strap.  Clearly something fishy was going on and the police nabbed them as they were trying to run out of the door. When Lava Lips found them in police custody he flipped his lid. He screamed at the top of his lungs in the bus terminal “amor en putas”. He though he was calling them thieves and bitches. The actual translation of what he was screaming repeatedly was”I love sluts!”.  We did not realize until later why the passerbys in the terminal were laughing.  What is the moral of this story? Do not leave your pack down unattended for even a second.  The poverty down here is formidable. People are desperate.

Villa Gesell is a sleepy beach town most of the year. However, its population in January swells from 60,000 to 200,000. There are people everywhere. All of the roads for the most part are covered by sand. People on four wheelers zip around everywhere as a part of mainstream traffic. On every corner you can find a dog or two completely passed out asleep. They sleep on the side of the road, in the sand, and pretty much everywhere else.  I have never seen so many free roaming dogs in my entire life. They all seem to be well fed and well behaved. They are also extremely sleepy –all the time. Could Villa Gesell be dog heaven?

From what we have found, we are the only five backpackers in this entire town. We are forced to attempt Spanish and the locals seem really happy to teach us–or maybe they are laughing at us.  We are the only gringos here–It is  like we are celebrities.  Groups of girls approach us quite frequently to practice their English. We have met many Argentinians from Cordoba, Rosario, and Buenos Aires. You definitely get a feel for how different the people are from each of Argentina’s cities.

Sidenote: People down here are nuts about the Simpson’s. The two people I get asked about more often than not are President Bush and Homer Simpson. Guess which one they like more? More on Argentinian hatred of Bush later…

The beach is spectacular. The surf is rough and attracts many surfers and body surfers. The locals sit on the beach in packs sipping Mate–a local tea like drink. Many of the guys sit in circles playing guitar and singing  Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Zeppelin tunes mixed with some Spanish rock songs. The vibe is beyond chill and beyond anything I have experienced in the States.

As I blog I want to give updates of the people traveling with me.

Here is my first Travelers Profile:

Benny “the BV Show” Vears

Ben is Australian and from the west coast city of Perth. He just finished up 6 years in the Australian Navy. He was the equivalent of a US Navy Seal. He was a clearance diver and was trained to diffuse underwater mines and other explosives.  With that said, Ben might be the happiest guy I have ever met. We went out to dinner in a big group the first night in Buenos Aires and ended up hanging quite a bit afterward. I was planning on going to Uruguay with him until we heard about this place. He´s traveling with another Aussie Navy buddy Billy Barnetson for a year and half. They will be in South America for 9 months before heading to Canada to work at a Ski resort. Billy is currently on a three week expedition climbing Aconcagua–the highest mountain in South America and one of the 7 summits.

I think we are getting out of here at the end of the week. 7 days at beach heaven should do. Right now I am planning to get an apartment in Buenos Aires for three weeks or so and enrolling in Spanish class. Although plans do seem to change every day down here. Who knows what is going to happen?

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