So if you read our first and the latest post traveling north on Ruta 3, you read about our first three detours. Here is detour 4 to 6!
Our fourth detour “South American sea lions”
Is detour is more like a stop on Ruta 3. Just 10 kilometers south of Caleta Olivia is a herd of 300-600 sea lions on the beach at the Gulf San Jorge. Esben tried to count the sea lions in the upper picture, and have estimated that there was about 500, when we visited. You are welcome to try and count yourselves.
These sea lions are some of the biggest we have seen so far. The South American sea lion’s size and weight can vary considerably. Adult males can grow over 2.73 m (9 ft) and weigh up to 350 kg (770 lb). Adult females grow up to 1.8–2 m (6–7 ft) and weigh about half the weight of the males, around 150 kg (330 lb) (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_sea_lion). The colony of sea lions move up and down the beach, so to find them you just have to keep an eye out for them as you drive by. We also saw pieces of the old Ruta 3, and decided to see if we could find a spot to camp.
Found this great spot – amazing ocean view
The camping is on a piece of the old Ruta 3, that is now closed for traffic. Enjoying my morning coffee and fried eggs for breakfast
The Caleta Olivia boasts a fruitful past that started with the discovery of oil in the region back in 1944. The Gorosito statue (left picture) is a symbol of the oil past. The sculpture shows a man with his bare back standing at the foot of a well as if opening a valve. It shows the toughness and responsibility typical of that task. It was created years later to pay tribute to such activity in the area and to each of the workers that came along from distant places in search of a better future. Today oil extraction is still its main activity (Source: https://www.welcomeargentina.com/caletaolivia/emblem-oil.html).
Our fifth detour the Welsh tea house “Ty Gwen”
“Ty Gwyn” the name of the tea house stands for “white house”. At first we thought that it was “all you can eat” tea and sweets, but unfortunately not. The plates with bread and sweets came with all you can drink tea.
The plates with bread and sweets
We really liked the atmosphere at the Ty Gwen tea house. I did a little research, and found out that the tea house tradition is not that old, and the Ty Gwyn only goes back to 1974. Ty Gwen was opened by Carlos Alberto “Boby” Sánchez and María Elena Naso, because they wanted a special place in Gaiman, where people could to enjoy a good tea, accompanied by typical pastries and decorated according to the customs that the Welsh settlers. The first Welsh tea tradition goes back to the chaples, where the women would be serving tea in the annexe.
We judged all the cakes with points from 1-5 (5 is the best score). The winner is.. the jelly raspberry cake in the left picture
We were not over excited about taste or texture, actually all the cakes lacked both. We really enjoyed the experience and the atmosphere at the Tea House. The homemade marmalade was good. If we had to describe the visit with one word it was SWEET in every way. We finished absolutely everything, that was served.
The first welsh colony was establish in the 28th of July 1865, and in 1874 the first inhabitants settled in Gaiman. Today the town, Gaiman is known as a symbol of the Welsh Colony of the Chabut Valley, because of its predominant Welsh features. It was the settlers, who changed the landscape of semi-dessert to a green valley around Gaiman after building irrigation canals.
The best way to see Gaiman is to walk around
Our six detour “the full size dinosaur”
This was our quickest detour so far. Just 26 km after leaving Gaiman we drove past this replica of a Titanosaurs Sauropads, which is the largest life form to have ever existed in the world (that we currently know of). Its big size probably developed as a defensive adaptation against their predator. Estimated weight: 76 tons. Estimated length: 42 meters.
Back on Ruta 3 we had to stop for gasoline. While sitting in line we both manage to use the restroom, and Esben made us a salad for lunch. We love that we can have a van, and do things this way. On the motorcycles we would just have been sitting in full gear in the line sweating, and would not be able to go to the restroom or making lunch before we had refueled. Ruta 3 is nothing special, it is the detours, that make it worth the trip.
We have traveled another 1000 km towards Buenos Aires, only 1094 km to go
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