This is a very late post, but better late then never.... so here we go.... the DAKAR RALLY 2011 through Argentina and Chile.
< click on photos to enlarge them >
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| The Dakar rout of 2011 |
On January 2nd of 2011 the guys from Surbike (Ernesto and Herbert), a Belgian friend from Herbert, 2 other Bolivians, and I left Tarija in the middle of the night to drive up to San Salvador de Jujuy (near the city
Salta), Argentina.
The seven of us, with luggage and camping gear in a big Toyota Landcruiser. Note our unofficially sponsored car with Dakar logo and even a Dutch flag!!!!
We went to see "
Leg 4" of the rally; San Salvador de Jujuy - Calama (Wednesday, 5th January),
Road section, 554 km, special, 207 km. In particular the road section, because the "special" (the actual race part) started in Chile.
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| Our 4x4 Toyota Landcruiser |
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| Rain and paperwork at the border (Bermejo) with Argentina. |
After a 6 hour drive, we arrived in San Salvador de Jujuy and we set up camp (tent) at a camping ground just next to the Dakar Rally Caravan encampment.
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| Our neigbours.... a truck used as camper..... matras, etc. inside...... |
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| And dinner is not good dinner without a BBQ Bolivian style..... 4 kg (!!) of meat for 7 persons!! |
The next morning, after meat for breakfast ;-), we waited for the supply and support caravan to arrive at the Dakar encampment. All the big names and sponsors were there..... plus a lot of Dutch trucks!!! More than 1/3 of all trucks in the Dakar were Dutch, had dutch sponsors or drivers/copilots, etc.
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| Team De Rooy |
Slowly the Dakar encampment filled up with support trucks, mechanics, etc.
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| Dutch top team De Rooy |
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| One of the Dakar Rally choppers |
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| And the press arrived as well.....ofcourse |
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| And where there are cars, trucks and press, there are ..... girls..... |
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| Latin girls in this case...... |
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| Local tobacco farmer passes by as well with his crop.... |
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| And mounted police with riffles..... |
The Dakar left Argentina provisionally to cross the Andes
mountain range via the Paso de Jama pass. To reach this point, the
drives and riders started during the night. Once they crossed the
border, the
crews ascended to an altitude of 4,800 metres, i.e. the same height
as Mont-Blanc.
So that afternoon we drove in the direction of the first Dakar checkpoint close to the Chilean border. We planned to camp in the mountains, in order to be at the check point early morning.The scenery was beautiful, and the roads curved through the mountains and valleys like a big fat snake...... oh did I miss my motorcycle at the moment!!
Late afternoon we arrived in the little picturesque town of Purmamarca. We took a brief break to stretch our legs and take some photos.
The road from Purmamarca kept winding up the mountains higher and higher, and at night we camped and started yet another BBQ at 4.000 meters high!!!
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| Up and up, and it got colder and grayer and darker... |
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| 4170 meters high........ |
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| And just a bit beyond the highest point, at 4000 m altitude in the fog and cold we set up camp for the night....and yes even up that high my Bolivian friends fired up the BBQ!!! |
After a few hours of sleep, we were woken by the first cars and motorcycles that passed by on this "road section", a connection route between the encampment and the actual special (race part).
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| Late night and early morning the first riders |
And than we drove on to the first service point, where drivers and riders could fill up fuel.
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| Two rally cars of team Volkswagen / Red Bull passed us with high speed.... |
And at the horizon, close to the check point, you could see the salt flats. A little bit later we arrived at the service point, and we parked right in front of FOXSPORTS, the American sports channel ;-)
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| Salt flats at the horizon |
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| FOXSPORTS and team Bolivia ;-) |
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| Service point for fuel and repairs |
Unfortunately, due to the engine size restrictions for the motorcycles, 450 CC limit, we did not see the good old big bikes anymore, like the KTM 690 or better the KTM 950. But it was great to see the bikes, cars, quads and trucks upfront and close!!!
BIKES......
QUADS......
CARS.......
BUGGIES........
and a bit of an odd duck... Robby Gordon in his....
HUMMER.......
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| The famous Robby Gordon's in his Hummer. |
SUPPORT TRUCKS......
And of course breakfast and...
COFFEE BREAK.....
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| What is a Dutchman with out his coffee???? |
The occasional lost soul.....
SPECIAL CLASS ;-)
And than finally, the long awaited trucks. Over 30 % of the trucks were of Dutch origin. Either a Dutch team, sponsor, crew or drivers/copilots.
TRUCKS........
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| Here come the big guys..... |
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| "Team Tarija |
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| One of the many Dutch trucks |
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| Up close to the action...... |
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| A damaged Dutch truck |
Time to say goodbye to the Dakar, and head north to Villazon at the border in Bolivia.
GOODBYE......
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| And again a long way ahead of us...... |
At the border
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| At the Argentina - Bolivian border. Quiaca - Villazon |
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| Bienvenidos - Welcome in Villazon, Bolivia. A typical ugly dirty border town.... |
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| The usual line up for bureaucratic paperwork.... |
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| Local "traffic" on the road from the border to Tarija |
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| A beautiful scenic, but dangerous ride.... |
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| One of the many bus accidents.... and some of the many crosses along the road |
And besides dangerous cliffs, we encountered a few more obstacles on the road home.... road clearing with explosives and the last 40 km just before Tarija, a thick fog covered the dangerous mountain road..... visibility 5 - 10 meters!!!
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| A little traffic jam, while the "road" is being cleared.... with explosives!!!! |
Overal it was a great road trip, with spectacular (dangerous) scenery and driving, and after watching the Dakar Rally on TV for over 20 years, I finally got to see some of it LIVE!!!
