Yapeyú, Argentina

​2nd October – 3rd October 2017

We had a long drive ahead of us when we left Buenos Aires, as we were technically heading for Brazil, but as it was too far to go all in one day, we had a night’s stop over in Yapeyú, over 700km away. The alarm went off at 5 and neither of us had the energy to get up, so we snoozed for 10 more minutes before getting up and getting dressed. I finished packing all of my things into my backpack so that I was ready before breakfast at 5.30.

Breakfast wasn’t anything special, it looked like we just had the leftovers from the day before but it was okay and enough to get us going. After we ate, we took our bags downstairs, ready to load up Yana and leave at 6.

As we had set off in the dark, most people put their heads down and fell straight back to sleep for a while. After a bit, Lars came round with the jobs list and asked us what we wanted to do this time, which was nice. As it was the only thing I hadn’t done yet, I volunteered for the security role. The job is mainly to check everyone has shut their windows and make sure the truck is locked up when we leave but after what happened last week, I will be taking my job very seriously! I got a little bit more sleep before we had our first toilet stop just before 9.

After the break, I ate my apple – I’m trying to eat a bit healthier because my snacks are usually not very good for me – before falling back to sleep again.

When I woke up, I had a stiff neck and I was feeling a bit sick. I was hoping it was because I was hungry as it was lunchtime and I had only snacked on an apple since breakfast, which really isn’t like me. Lunch was ham and cheese sandwiches with salad bits and luckily it did make me feel a bit better.

Back on the truck, I slept some more – I’m not sure how, but I did. I was woken up around 3 when the truck broke down because we were out of fuel. Apparently the tube between the fuel tank and reserve tank is broken, so we had to wait while they manually pumped some fuel across. It didn’t take too long but when they tried to start her up again, she wouldn’t so the had to lift the cab and do something under there. I’m not sure what they did, but half an hour we were back on the road.

A little bit further down the road, we had out final toilet stop of the day – as we were bush camping, it was advised that we all got out and went to the toilet while they double checked the truck and put more fuel in.

We eventually arrived at the spot for camping at around 5.30. It was quite strange as we drove through the village of Yapeyú, and literally pitched our tents on the other side of the village on a patch of grass. Yapeyú’s claim to fame is that San Martin was from there, who was a general and one of the main leaders in South America’s battle for independence. In the village there was a museum dedicated to him and further up from our camp spot are the remains of his house apparently but Joe and Char walked up there and said although it was a huge house, it is now covered in graffiti which is a shame.

When we got off the truck, we noticed there was a flat tyre at the back, so as soon as we had put up our tents, we had to get everything off the truck that we would need, so that they could take the truck back into tarmac and replace it. I helped with this because Sabrina had helped me with my tent and it was up quite quickly. We had nice views of Uruguay across the river, so before he sun went down, I grabbed my camera and took some photos.

Once the kitchen was set up and people were settled, the cook group made a start on dinner. It was Katie’s groups turn to do dinner but as Aaron was helping with the flat tyre and Steven was still putting his tent up, I help Katie and Sabrina make a start. As soon as more help arrived though, I went and sat by the fire that William had started; although he thought he had started it too early because he didn’t think he would have enough wood.

While we were sat there, Jack and Aaron came back from the truck, after changing the tyre, and said that something else had gone wrong so the crew, Sara, Lars and Adam (the trainee), were staying up there to fix that.

Dinner was ready at 7.45 and I was so ready for it when it was ready because I was very hungry. The cook group had made a homemade curry which was perfect for me because it wasn’t spicy but it tasted so good. After I had eaten, me and Jack took some food up to the crew because they were still working on the truck. They were very appreciative of it!

When we got back, I helped to clean up because some people hadn’t moved themselves to put in any effort. We needed some more bits from the truck that we had forgotten and I asked some of them to help out and go and get them but I got ignored, so that was a little annoying. I don’t think we will survive very well if people only think that they have to help when it’s their cook group’s turn.

After we had cleaned up, we had dessert! They had bought some little chocolate cupcakes with dulche de leche in them – they were good. I had mine with a hot chocolate which was nice. Once we had eaten dessert, me, Katie and Sabrina thought we would go to the truck to decorate it for Jack’s birthday – it was the perfect opportunity because the truck wasn’t coming back to where we were camping, so he wouldn’t see it until the morning. Unfortunately Sara and Adam told us we couldn’t do it and that we would have to go back in the morning, so we walked back.

Back at the camping spot, we all sat around William’s fire, by the Uruguay river, overlooking Uruguay on the other side. It was nice to sit there by the heat for a while because it was cold and windy away from the fire. We sat there until the wood had run out, then we all went off to our tents, to bed.

As we were parked just outside a little village and lots of people kept driving past when we were sat by the fire, I was very paranoid about our safety after what happened in Rosario. We made sure we had all of our valuables in our tents but some of the people on motorbikes would drive past multiple times and stare so it just put me on edge slightly.

It was very cold during the night but with my sleeping bag and blanket, I just about managed. I woke up at one point, needing the toilet, thinking it would be about 6 and nearly time to get up. To my disappointment, I found out it was only 11.55 and I had to wee in the dark and cold or wait until morning; because I’m so lazy I decided to wait until morning. I woke up a few more times after this but still decided to wait.

It was finally 6.30 and an appropriate time to get up. I got dressed and went for my much needed toilet trip. As I emerged from my tent, the sun was rising over Uruguay which made for some pretty photos. I was packing up things inside my tent and I heard Yana arrive back at the camp spot.

Once I was packed up, I put my day bags on the truck and started to blow up some balloons to decorate it for Jack. Katie wasn’t far behind me, so she started on the signs and the card. Before we knew it, we had a beautifully decorated truck.

After the truck was decorated, I put my backpack in the back locker and packed up my tent. Because it was cold and damp and the grass was very muddy, the tent was also very damp and muddy, so it was not nice to have to put away, especially on my own.

As soon as everyone was packed up, we got on the truck, ready to leave for Foz de Iguaçu at 8am.

Yapeyú was a drizzly and cold place but it had beautiful views over Uruguay, which I can now say that I have seen. It wasn’t meant to be anything special though, just a spot for us to get some sleep before carrying on to Brazil, my final South American country.

To travel is to live, Katie x