Oranges? This Is Very Bad ... This Is A BIG Problem!

 

It's been an eventful last couple days, and we have crossed over back into Argentina one more time

In our continued journey north from Tierra del Fuego, we have crossed back-and-forth from Chile to Argentina six times.  The border crossings are an event unto themselves, so read on to hear more about that.  

The gates into the glorious central park in Mendoza Argentina.

 

 

And our dear friend Veronica (Rony) is travelling with us for the next few days.  She was able to break away from her responsibilities in Pucon and accompany us on our way north.  

 

Anyway, we left our old historic hotel early yesterday to get across the border and hopefully gain some time.  These border crossings can take forever, like the one that lasted over five hours.

We are in much different terrain than the snowy Patagonia Andes.  Now we are in the dry, barren,  and jagged Andes, coming over a 10,000 foot pass on our way to Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina. 

It was not a stress free drive.  At times it seems like you go straight up.  Although the roads are fairly good, the mountains have the same dramatic drop offs and steep grades, and it takes a long time to cover ground. 

 

 

These pictures convey a sense of the amazing variety of colors we saw.  It was clear with bright sun and a temperature of 90 degrees.  Apparently these mountains get a lot of snow in the winter (it's summer down here), but when we went through, it was bone dry. 

 

The only way to get through these mountains in many cases is to go right through the middle of them - in tunnels.  We must have gone through 35 tunnels on the way over.  

 

 

And when we finally got to the other side and down the mountain, we arrived in Mendoza.  It's a big city (a million people) with a vibrant economy based to a large extent on wine.  It's flat and sunny and even with the heat, they have plenty of water. 

 

 

There are vast vineyards and wineries everywhere. I had chosen one here as a "gift" treat for Fiona before we left home, and today we went there. 

It was really special. 

 

 

There was a wine tour first, of particular interest for me, since I work for a winery in Oregon.  And then we had a terrific lunch, which included an outrageously good steak three inches thick.  Argentina is known for its beef. 

 

 

The property was really well taken care of and walking around provided some nice pictures. 

 

After that we drove/walked to a central hill top park with a view of the surrounding area.  There was a huge statue on top celebrating the alliance of Chile and Argentina during the years of independence. 

 

I wish I knew more about the history of this part of the world.  Fiona and I are generally pretty good at learning about places we visit, but you often find out new stuff by being there and visiting big statues.  

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Crossing The Border Can Be a Hassle!

As mentioned before, we have crossed the border numerous times, and it always seems to be different each time you go through customs.  I wanted to relay a story about one.

So Chile has a very robust agricultural industry, with exports all over the world, and they work hard to protect it.   At the borders, they don't want anyone bringing in fruit or other produce.  They are very serious about this. 

We were crossing over one time and we checked the standard box on the form that said "nothing to declare".  As the zealous border guards and agents searched poeple and their luggage, it eventually became our turn.  

 

 

I realized we had some store-bought oranges in one of our bags.  I volunteered the information to one of the guard/police guys who all had uniforms and badges and carried guns.  

"What?"  They said, "You have Oranges?!?!?"

  

"Yes," I said, "they're right here," and pointed them out.  The guard reacted very strongly to this. 

"Oranges?!  This is veerrry bad!"  He reached for his gun, lowered his voice, and shook his head: "This is A BIG PROBLEM!"

(okay, I made up the part about the gun, although they were all packin' -  but these guys were dead serious) 

What?" I protested, "I bought them at the supermarket, look - they still have the bar code on them!"    

It even crossed my mind that maybe they came from Chile in the first place ... but I thought it was best to keep my mouth shut. 

They were not happy.  Frankly, it was a little ridiculous, but I tried to act humble, and contrite, and not guilty.   This whole thing took a while, and I had to forfeit the offending contraband fruit. 

"It's a good thing you confessed to this offense," one guy said, "otherwise you could go to jail!"  

Oh Geez, not that word again - I hate it when people say that.  I've had a little too much familiarity with jails around the world. 

So they eventually let us go after a severe tongue lashing.  I hope my face isn't on the wall in every post office in the country. 

Hey, Chile is a really great place, we love it here.  But don't try to bring in Oranges ... or Apricots ... or Figs or ... any other fruit.