The total distance of Ruta 40 is about 5,000 km from Southern Patagonia to the north of the country. In Southern Patagonia it is not paved. I drove from El Calafate to Perito Moreno, a distance of about 630 km and it took me 14 hours. Except for the first 30 km or so east on Ruta 11 to the turn-off to Ruta 40, the entire distance was gravel. From that turn-off to Tres Lagos it was about 130 km. Just outside Tres Lago there was a modern gas station that did not accept credit cards. The next gas available going north from Tres Lago to Perito Moreno about 500 km away, was in Bajo Caracoles, 351 km away. The two pumps in Bajo Caracoles as often as not run out of gas. About 4 or 5 wooden structures were adjacent to the pumps, I think one of the structures served as a motel. The buildings looked like they were from the Alaskan Gold Rush days. I was kind of apprehensive before I went on this leg of my journey. I had been in the country long enough to realize the distances involved, but up to then the roads had always been paved. But I didn't realize how vast and empty Southen Patagonia really is until I drove Ruta 40. There were no power lines, telephone lines, fences, cattle guards, wind mills or any kind of signs of any human activity, and there was no cell phone coverage. I saw no sheep or cattle. The only sign of human activity was the gravel road. During the 14 hours of driving north 6 cars and one truck came the other way going south. When that happened the first sign that something was coming the other way was an indication of some hazy dust, then a few minutes later it became certain that it was dust stirred up by some vehicle. Then still later one could see some headlights some distance off, with a dust plume trailing from west to east. As the vehicle approached the road condition became a factor. If the road was smooth and wide as in this picture, no problem, but if there were either 3 or 4 tracks, made by car tires, one of us, usually both got out of the groove, slowed down, flashed our lights, waved, and passed each other. I had to hold my breath after each pass because of the dust raised by the other vehicle drifting across my path, with the constant wind blowing from the Southwest. It was the beginning of summer (Southern Hemisphere) but the weather was anything but warm. Occasionally there were rain and or sleet showers, and always the wind. I also passed one mini bus that apparently dropped off a person here or there, where these people were going I had no idea, because there were no buildings. At one point I saw a sign with an arrow pointing to indicate a hacienda - 40 km distance. Near the start, before I hit Tres Lagos I saw a couple of Andean Condors, too high to get a decent picture with my first generation (1.3 megapixel) pocket camera. On three occasions I saw Guanacos, and once a Nandu (Rhea), a South American Ostrich type flightless bird. The mother and her 16 chicks were in the road and ran in front of me at about 25 mph. When I increase my speed they veered off. The Nandu was about 4 -4.5 -ft tall and the chicks about 2-ft. Toward the end of the day. about 25km South of Perito Moreno, there was a estancia in a green depression with some pasture and several buildings that advertised camping. I did not see any tents or people but a little way later off to the right was a man on horse back that herded sheep and I also saw two armadillo on separate occassions. Entering Perito Moreno (population ~ 3,500) was uneventful, there was an old garrison building and I got stopped by a guard before I was allowed to enter the town, standard procedure in Argentina. The town reminded me of the Argentine equivalent of an old Western Frontier town with about half the buildings boarded up., This picture was taken on 21 December 2003, Sig...