Nahuel Gallotta
06/15/2020 - 7:05
- Clarín.com
- Cities
Ramiro Longarin (27) and his girlfriend Cintia had bought a Citroen 3CV model 75 to ride around Zavalla, the town of Santa Fe where they live. They paid 50 thousand pesos, at the end of last year. But when Cintia came up with the possibility of traveling to Cartagena, Colombia, I don't doubt it: "Come with me," he proposed to Ramiro. He didn't doubt it either: "Go on! But we are leaving in the car… ”.
They left on February 27 . They were supposed to be in the Colombian Caribbean on April 10. Average speed is 75 kilometers for now. “My dad offered me his 0KM van to travel. It could also have been in a 2012 Partner that I use for work. The issue is that anyone can come with those trucks . The adventure in a Citroen was going to be another ”, says Ramiro.
The "adventures" came quickly. At the height of Córdoba the car smoked and he had to rent a garage to change the cylinder cover. In Santo Tomás, Peru, the axle shaft broke: he had no choice but to enter the town, buy the spare part and change it. But the real "adventure" would appear on March 16. That day, they arrived at Challhuahuacho and could not advance any further.
Ramiro Longarin and his girlfriend Cintia traveled by caravan from Peru in their Citroen model 75, where they were stranded for 60 days due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Marita Muñoz and her husband Daniel Ferrada are "Cocineros del camino" . On January 26, they left in a Toyota truck prepared for the occasion: with a barbecue grill and a cooking area. They left from Malargüe, Mendoza, bound for Alaska.
The first stop was on the Chilean side. They did the usual: roast classes and Argentine food courses. They announced activities on social networks and the neighbors came to learn and taste. After touring some cities in Chile, they crossed to Peru.
The schedule already had an agenda in that country, Colombia and Ecuador. But on March 15, the unpredictable. Peru decreed quarantine and they were in a hotel in Cuzco. They called the director of a gastronomic school where they had worked and invited them to live in their Arequipa apartment.
Marita Muñoz and her husband Daniel Ferrada are "Road Cooks". They started their journey to Alaska but were stranded in Peru due to the coronavirus pandemic. 60 days later they returned in caravan with other Argentines who had traveled in their vehicles.
Lisdani Méndez (33) is Colombian and arrived in Argentina in 2014 with her daughter. She settled with her husband, who had come two years earlier, in Oran, Salta. On December 10, 2019 they got into a Chevrolet Tracker and left the routes: a week later they were in the town of Toro Valle del Cauca, Colombia. There they would spend their vacations. On March 13 they wanted to go around Salta. On the 16th the Police would give them the same news as the two Argentine couples: they could not advance any further. “Oops, that route looked like a horror movie. It was so deserted… ”, remembers Lisdani, already in her house in Salta.
Ramiro, Marita and Lisdani did not know each other. Fate found them in Peru at the same time, and in the same situation. And not knowing what to do to return home joined them in a WhatsApp group . For more than 60 days they were “virtual” friends in the group that was called, and is called, because it has not yet closed, “Brothers of Frontiers” . In total there were 105 people (all Argentines except a Peruvian family and Lisdani's, both residing in Argentina) stranded in 40 vehicles (including motorcycles, cars and motor homes).
“We were like a family around WA. Now we joke saying why we did not invent a pass to travel together again, ” laughs Lisdani. Marita, from Mendoza, says: “Unlike the vast majority of ex-stranded groups, we continue talking. We kept company during the quarantine. " “The most beautiful thing is the friendship we made. Today I know that I have a lot of places in the country to stop. Every time I arrived in the Citroen at one of the stops, everyone applauded me … it was exciting ”, adds Ramiro.
Lisdani Méndez is Colombian and has lived in Salta since 2014. She went on vacation with her husband and daughter to their land. On their return they were surprised by the quarantine due to the coronavirus in Peru and they ended up, after 60 days, in the caravan of Argentine vehicles.
On Monday, May 18, after more than 60 days of being locked up in hotels, hostels, motorcycles, and houses, the group obtained the safe-conducts to be able to circulate on Peruvian routes. Of the 105 people (between children and adults), only 78 left in 35 vehicles. The rest stayed for not having money for fuel (between 40,000 and 50,000 Argentine pesos) or not having the vehicle in good condition due to lack of resources. There are families that have been sleeping in their cars for almost a month.
The Peruvian Police issued the following orders: the caravan could only brake at service stations (every 400 kilometers) and the motorcycles would go ahead, behind the speed patrol cars. If someone was late, they had to wait for them at the service station where they stopped to load fuel. For this reason, older cars, such as Ramiro's, were applauded so much when they reached their destination. They only returned to the routes if they were all there. "The motto of the Police was 'if one remains, all remain.' They constantly told us that they did not want us to stay in the country. We weren't allowed to buy anything. And if we wanted to go to the bathroom, we had to put up with it until the service station they wanted, "recalls Marita, who was one of the group's coordinators, and a link with the Argentine Embassy in Peru. And he clarifies: "We had to make several 'vaquitas' for those who fell short with the gasoline money."
Lisdani, her husband and the 10-year-old girl stopped by the supermarket before hitting the road. They bought 4 cans of water, a packet of sugar, several of cookies, a couple of cans of tuna and loaded the thermos of hot water. They also consumed the instant coffees they had bought in Colombia. “The hardest part of the trip was sleeping the five nights in the car. And to be all those days without bathing… ”, says the Colombian. “At some point I thought that quarantine was going to drive us crazy. So much anxiety and depression that we feel being locked up for more than 60 days. I met many warrior people. My daughter was one of them. Her spine hurt from sleeping in the car. She only cried the last night. My husband and I lost a couple of kilos because we couldn't eat almost anything during the return trip ”.
Caravan back from Peru in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. There were 78 people in 35 vehicles.
The bikers, who were six, slept in tents. In general, the Police chose a service station (they only worked to fill fuel) and they had to spend the night there. Most slept in cars and trucks. Those in motorhomes and motor homes had a little better time . And they invited some route companions to sleep more comfortably. They also served as cooks: since they had kitchens, they prepared portions of rice to share. It was that or the cookies they had bought before leaving from the different cities of the country where they were. The group was united in different sections. The first final destination was Ilo, just two hours from the Chilean border. There they would make swabs for everyone.
And with the tests, the surprises appeared: in the van traveling a family that had been stranded in Lima, seven positive cases were detected. The eighth case was that of a 72-year-old from Tucumán, who was returning to his house with his wife. "He had waited so long for this trip ...", he said when they told him that he should stay in Ilo.
On the Chilean side, the first problem was money. They had no one to exchange Peruvian dollars or soles for Chilean pesos. After begging the police, one agreed, went to an ATM and changed them. But only a few. Others had to make the transaction with a person designated by the local Police. They were not greatly benefited by the change.
"The first night was in Calama. We had been told that we would stop to sleep in an Army field, but we found a vacant lot up the mountain, "says Marita. "With the cold it was inhumane to sleep. The bikers were the ones who had the worst time. The next day one broke down. We put it in a car and loaded the motorcycle into a truck. " But Chile, at the same time, would give them the best night of the trip. It was in Arica. There they were allowed, for the first time, to make a group meal . They had time to share and get to know each other better. "Many of us wanted to meet. We had been talking for more than two months and we contained ourselves among all, for the WA group ”, adds Marita.
Ramiro from the Citroen had had to patch one of its tires. He was having trouble with a front wheel stud, but the police would not allow him to fix anything. As he could continue driving, they did not let him stop. In the caravan there were latest model trucks, with a few kilometers. At the indication of the Police , everyone had to move forward together, at the same pace. "When they told me that, I was concerned. In the hot weather, the engine suffered more. Add the height, the mountain ... there was a one hour journey in which I could not climb more than 20 kilometers per hour. But we got well. This car is no longer sold. With my girlfriend we want to re-admit him: Colombia is still a pending journey, ”he says. All the details of his trip are on his Instagram page “Citroen traveler. South America at Citroen ” . Even the 48 hours he was imprisoned in Peru, for violating the quarantine.
The caravan entered Argentine soil through the Paso de Jama. Already in Jujuy, they were tested again. And there, more surprises. One case was positive. And two trucks were broken: one remained in Jujuy and its occupants returned to Córdoba in other cars. The other also, but with their owners. That they quarantined in that province. Those who followed the trip were together until Santiago del Estero. The treatment of the Argentine Police was similar to that of the Chilean and the Peruvian. They wanted to move them until they left each province without sleep, despite clarifying that they had been driving all night. Finally they left them: they did it on the side of the road. “The trip was an odyssey , but it was also a beautiful and unforgettable experience. What was missing was the human part of the Police ”, reflects Marita.
Upon leaving Santiago, they divided: some took the routes that leave for Mendoza, Córdoba and Buenos Aires . As they got home, they would upload family photos to the group and report that they were okay. The last to arrive was a neuquina. She did it, in total, in 8 nights. From that moment, together, as when they were stranded, and always through the WhatsApp group, they were accompanied during the two weeks of quarantine. And today, half jokingly, half seriously, they threaten to take another trip together.
A caravan of 35 vehicles and 78 people and the odyssey of returning from Peru by land after 60 days stranded by the coronavirus pandemic.
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