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I would bet that most of you have heard this saying before, and depending how old you are and where you grew up, you probably remember the Wendy’s commercials featuring the little old lady that solidified the phrase’s place in American and international pop culture. The commercials that aired in the US and Canada in the mid to late 80’s featured Clara Peller going into several restaurants with her friends, and ordering hamburgers only to find that there was not much beef to be found in the burger. Well, unlike the late Ms. Peller, I have definitely found the beef and it is all over the place here in Argentina.
We have met a handful of Argentineans in our worldly travels and in talking about their homeland, if there was one common denominator in the descriptions they gave us of Argentina, it was that Argentina has the “best beef in the world.” In fact, they were so confident not only in the quality of the beef emanating from ranches throughout Argentina, that some even took it a step further by saying that Argentina has the best meat in the world. Coming from the United States, where we pride ourselves on the delectability of our own homegrown beef, I was really interested and excited to see just what these people were talking about. After spending a few weeks here in Argentina, I can personally say that these people were not joking around about the quality of meat in Argentina, and we have not even made it south to the heart of the country’s agricultural, farming and ranching region. In Buenos Aires, meat is everywhere and if you are a vegetarian, you will have a difficult task ahead of you trying to find a restaurant that will cater to needs which most Argentineans would probably consider to be quite strange.
Here’s the beef…
…a whole bunch of it
“Jackpot!”
I have had the privilege of eating some of the best steaks and meat dishes in my life here in Buenos Aires and to make matters even more appealing, you can dine on a great cut of meat in Argentina for a fraction of the cost of what you would in back home in the US. In fact in some restaurants, vegetable dishes are more expensive than the staple meat plates. And you do not have to go to a restaurant to participate in the meat madness of Argentina. No matter where you go, no matter what time, it always seems like someone is grilling up some meat. Whether it is a collection of street stalls grilling up meat before a home football (soccer) game, the drifting odor of grilling meat descending from a residential window in downtown Buenos Aires, the smoke filled air in open spaces and parks on a sunny weekend day, to a full blown Gaucho barbeque out on the ranch, you are always within olfactory’s reach of some great food. Luis and Ignacio were right, Argentina arguably has the best beef, if not meat in general, in the world and no matter what part of the country you are in, you can bet that beef is what’s for dinner.
Argentineans doing what they do best
Having access to good quality meat is one thing but unless you know how to cook it, you might as well be a vegetarian. Fortunately, Argentineans also know their way around a barbeque. In the US, knowing one’s way around a barbeque is a well respected talent. Granted, cooking something on an open fire is a pretty simple means of preparing a meal and not that far removed from methods employed by our cave dwelling ancestors, but there is a learning curve and not everyone has the capability of making magic happen on the grill. Eating all of this great meat in Argentina has inspired me to create The World by Road International BBQ Awards. For this important competition, I have taken the time to go back and reminisce about all of the food we have devoured on this trip, food that was cooked on a barbeque of type or another, and rate quality of the barbeque on a scientifically proven yet unreleased scale resulting the following awards. Granted, we did have some great barbeque in countries that did not make the podium but in order to medal in this competition, it takes more than a few individual grill masters scattered about the country… it takes a nationwide mentality that embraces not just the art of grilling but the culture that comes with sweating over a smokey bed of coals, sometimes for hours, in order to deliver some goodness that can only come from a barbeque. So, in honor of Ms. Peller and barbeque fans around the world, here are the final results of the TWBR International Barbeque Awards.
The World by Road International Barbeque Awards
Gold Medal
Argentina has a grilling mentality and a supply of top shelf meat to back up everything we have heard. So, the next time someone from Argentina tells you about the quality of their meat, they are not kidding.
Silver Medal
There are some regions in the US where the barbeque is second to none: St. Louis, Kansas City, Texas and whether it is a tailgate party at the local stadium, or a 4th of July picnic, good barbeque it not too hard to find. The only reason the US fell short of the gold is because there are too many vegetarians per capita compared with our competition winner Argentina.
Bronze Medal
In Afrikaans, they have their own word for barbecue, braii, and they do it up right. Not only will you find beef on the grill in South Africa, locals seem to throw whatever they can over the coals: wharthog, giraffe, gazelle, antelope, crocodile, ostrich, the list goes on.
Honorable Mentions
Malaysia - Just because Wan hooked it up so nice
Australia - Kangaroo on the barbie is pretty damn good, but a lack of variety, flavor and the inability to pronounce “fillet” right will continue to keep Australia out of title contention no matter how many people hover over the grill down under.
When it comes to shipping our trucks overseas, it definitely ranks high among the least desirable activities associated with our expedition. I would even go as far as to say that it is the worst part of driving around the world. You would think that after doing it three times on three different continents, the entire process would get easier, however, nothing could be further from reality. Currently, the trucks are somewhere in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean on their way to Buenos Aires, having left the port of Cape Town a week ago… we think. The fact of the matter is, the shipping industry is so far from being streamlined and staffed by people who do not know the answers to your questions that the trucks could be on their way to Iceland for all I know. If you ask someone in the shipping industry a basic basic question such as: “Did the container I paid $5,000 for make it on the ship, and did the ship leave,” you usually get a response that goes something like: “I am not sure about that, I will check on it and get back to you.” Well, it has been over a week and we still have not heard back to see if the container actually made it onto the ship as planned. One would hope that this would be information you would not have to ask for.
Both the Thundra and Little Pepe fit in a 40′ standard container
As you can see, we have had some tire problems recently
You would think that for the money we are paying, shipping companies would let you know the status of the goods you have so willingly and trustingly placed in their care, and it does take a lot of trust. I do not even have a physical receipt or any other proof in my hands showing that I stuffed a container full of $100,000 worth of Toyotas and expedition gear. The only evidence that I have of shipping our trucks are the photos I took after I spent 4 hours loading them in their container. To make matters even more frustrating, I do not even have the vehicle Carnets in my possession either. You may recall that Carnets are very important and extremely valuable documents, but due to a misunderstanding between the shipping company and the South African Customs officials, the customs officials decided to hold the Carnets for ransom until someone paid for “services rendered…” having a customs official come down to see that the container was sealed properly. Again, for the money you pay, you would think that things like this would be taken care of, but instead, I am the one having to listen to the customs officer complain about not getting his $20, even though I just coughed up several thousand for the shipment. I even offered to pay him the 200 Rand on the spot myself, but because the evil face of corruption pops its head up quite frequently in South African government sectors like customs, they will only take an electronic payment from the company that is supposed to have arranged for everything in advance. Now, instead of bringing the Carnets with me, I have to “trust” that they will be couriered to me without any problems.
Hope rope holds…
Four hours later and the container is ready to go
Bye, Bye Toyotas, I hope we see you again
Oh well, I guess it is the nature of the beast. We get a lot of e-mails from people asking us questions about the expedition and a lot of them revolve around the logistics of shipping vehicles overseas. We have a lot of experience in overseas shipping, but the only advice we are really in any position to offer is, good luck and be prepared to be disappointed. I can not recommend any shipping companies either, because we have tried three different ones and have had problems and setbacks with each and every one. I guess I have to look on the bright side, our trucks have arrived at their destinations in one piece… more or less. Some Dutch friends of ours somehow had their vehicle totaled somewhere in-between dropping it off at the dock in Rotterdam and picking it up in Cape Town. I do not know where you would even begin to sort something like that out, but the sad reality is that something like that is not that far out of the ordinary for an industry like overseas shipping.
This is probably a question that a lot of foreigners ask themselves when they think about traveling to South Africa. There is no shortage of media covering the recent xenophobia attacks, the high murder rates and the countless muggings that take places across South Africa every day. But is this any different that any other developed nation? Is it any different than any large metropolitan area in the United States?
I like to think that I have learned a lot during the 17 months I have been on the road. I have seen a lot, I have experienced a lot, I have read a lot, I have had many discussions with local people, and ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that the negative hype about a place by and large is just that, hype. In the case of South Africa, I had heard a lot about the crime problems here before I arrived and I tried my best not to let it develop into a negative stereotype about the country and for the most part, it has not. I kept on telling myself that the crime in South Africa can not possibly be as bad here as people make it out to be. Sure, there are plenty of places in Johannesburg and Cape Town that I would not want to walk in by myself or venture to after dark, but the same can be said for New York, Los Angeles or any other big city in the world for that matter.
In talking about crime and the concern people have for it in South Africa, I think I am experiencing the issue from a unique perspective: that of a traveler and a foreigner. Compared to a lot of other places I have been, I think people here in South Africa tend to talk about crime a lot more than people in other countries or cities with even higher crime rates. I have never been warned so many times about where I choose to go, who I chose to go with and what I chose to bring when I go out. At times, it almost seems like the people I go out with at night are expecting to get mugged. Maybe it is partly because the eyes of the world are looking on South Africa as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup. The last thing locals want is to see something happen to a foreign tourist, an incident that could bring into question beyond their actual structural preparedness, the ability of South Africa to host a successful international event.
Personally, I have felt pretty safe the entire time I have been here in South Africa regardless of how many private residences I pass with electric fences, or how long I have had to park the trucks in secured, underground parking because they are “prime targets” for criminals on the prowl. Maybe I have been pretty lucky and maybe it is just a matter of time before the law of averages catches up to me, but I like to think the people here are just being overly cautious when it comes to crime. But what is the line between overly cautious and paranoid? Believe it or not, they sell anti carjacking devices for your vehicles here in South Africa that actually shoot flames out at would be assailants and there are plenty of advertisements in the daily papers for how to electrify the perimeter of your property. That all sounds pretty bad ass, but it also sounds a little over the top.
Markings at the crime scene of a fatal shooting near my hostel
I guess some people might say that I am being a little careless with regard to the crime problems in South Africa. The bottom line is that there is crime here and it can happen right in front of you. A few days ago, South African Police Services officer Lukas Nell was gunned down literally 50 meters from the hostel where I am staying in Cape Town. It was close enough for us to hear the exchange of gunfire. Officer Nell was searching a suspicious individual who later pulled out a gun and fatally wounded him before fleeing on foot. It was a bit of a shock to everyone in the area because Tamboerskloof is known to be a pretty safe part of Cape Town. It was a bit of a shock to me as well because I have walked past that spot at night several times coming back from dinner, the internet cafe, or the bars just up the road. It is always a tragedy when someone who is serving the public and fighting crime dies in the line of duty and obviously it has been a main subject of conversation around here ever since it happened. Hopefully, officer Nell’s assailant will be apprehended and justice will be served. I also hope that this incident will not serve as a deterrent to people in a popular tourist area in a world class tourist destination, because regardless of what happened the other night, I still feel safe here.
Police, family and community gather at the scene of SA Police officer Lukas Nell’s death
It is hard to make light of the crime in South Africa when this is going on in front of you
However, Tuesday’s tragedy should not deter tourists from one of the best places in the world
One of the main messages I think that we want to convey during and after the course of this expedition is that anyone can do what we are doing. Sure, we are all exceptionally intelligent, sociable and good looking here at TWBR, but honestly, all it takes is an idea or a dream and the conviction to follow through with it and you too can find yourself halfway around the world on a trip many people thought would never even happen. A lot of people that we meet say that we are doing this at the right time in our lives. We are young, we do not have many family commitments, (i.e. no children or spouses) and we can always go back to our jobs later on if we so choose. I guess this is a pretty good time to do something like this, but then again, I think you can always find time to chase your dreams, no matter what age you are.
Case in point, while we were stuck in the Congo trying to sort out our Angola visa problems, we met Stewart and Annaliese. Stewart and Annaliese hail from Cape Town, South Africa and are in the midst of driving their Land Rover around Africa. On the surface, that may not sound that interesting because there are a lot of people driving a lot of Land Rovers around here in Africa. What makes Stewart and Annaliese a bit of an exception is that they both left well paying professional jobs in Cape Town, sold their home and basically everything they own and put it all into a trip they had been contemplating for quite a while. They did have to wait for their son to go off to university, but it just goes to show you that you can always find the time in your life to do something like this. Just like us, Stewart and Annaliese’s friends thought they were totally out of their minds for giving up all of the things they had worked for in life, but as they point out and as we have experienced, a lot of the people who thought we were crazy are the ones checking out our respective websites and wishing they were in the car with us. It was nice bumping into the couple because we all shared an understanding of the rigors of overlanding but more importantly, what it feels like to take a big, potentially risky, yet rewarding step out of our comfort zones. You can follow Stewart and Annaliese’s adventures on their website: Roots in Africa.
South Africa is a large and diverse country, but here in the Western Cape Provence, I can not help but feel like I am somewhere else. I do not know exactly where it feels like I am… maybe Australia, maybe Central Coast California, but it definitely does not feel like Africa. I guess that it part of the beauty of the African continent. Not only is there a wide range of cultures and languages, the natural landscape of Africa is also extremely diverse.
The mountains near Nysna
The highest bridge in Africa (also the highest bungy jump!)
Cape Town waterfront
View of Cape Town from Table Mountain
Cape Peninsula
Cape Town’s landmark: Table Mountain
Mountains cradle the winelands in Franschhoek
The amazing scenery makes tasting some of the best wines in the world even more pleasurable
The Garden Route is one of the most spectacular drives in the world
I have to admit, after crossing the Sahara Desert in blazing temperatures and slogging through the soggy jungles of west and central Africa, the cool air and mountainous surroundings here in the Western Cape are quite refreshing and remind me a lot of home… both California and Colorado. As always, pictures really do not do a location like this any justice, so in addition, you will have to take my word for it that this part of the country, and the continent, is one of the most beautiful places on earth and Cape Town is one of the most picturesque and attractive cities in the world. Even though the Western Cape is in Africa, if you look around, you might as well be thousands of miles away.
