They are adventurers and began to ride their first kilometers with a first great mission: “to get to know our country before going out to travel the world.” Nazarena Mansilla is 28 years old and Matías Barabas, whom everyone calls Mike, 32. They are from Buenos Aires, have been dating for nine years and share a love of traveling. Some time ago Mike restored a Renault 4 GTL from 1985. He did it with more passion than profession, but the result was excellent, because “La Naranja”, as they call it, took them to travel 7,740 kilometers of roads in Patagonia, in 20 days of travel in which everything happened and they were immensely happy.
To start talking about her adventures, Nazarena clarifies that it is not just about them. «We are very dog lovers, we have three dogs: Hanna, nine years old (who no longer travels because she is too old), Floky, four, and Alay, one year old. Whenever we can, we take them, the two of them were part of this adventure, we love to see how they explore new territories”, he highlights.
Once they are all presented, he sets his eyes on the other protagonist of the group of travelers: “La Naranja”. They are part of a group called Renault 4 Restorers on Facebook. “It is very good because it is made up of men and women of different ages, both from Argentina and from other countries, who are fans like us of this car, each one with a story behind it. The truth is that thanks to the group and this little car we met wonderful people who today are like our family”, he says.
The car came to them when, On April 7, 2019, a man was exchanged for a small motorcycle. He didn’t look like he does now, when he poses for photos in front of the best landscapes of Patagonia. It arrived at them in a state of abandonment, with rusty parts and without rolling.
But in a year and a half, through a pandemic, although he is not dedicated to that, because he is a blacksmith, «Mike began to work fully on the project and The Orange came back to life,” says Naza.
The first major objective they set for themselves was to get from Buenos Aires to the Perito Moreno Glacier. They would have liked to get to Ushuaia but for that more days are needed and Naza has limited vacations.
La Naranja towards the Perito Moreno Glacier
«We started our trip on Saturday, February 18. The first section was hard from Buenos Aires to the capital Neuquén, where some friends from reindeer Gaby and Nico were waiting for us. That day we covered 1,150 kilometers, it was the day we traveled the most hours”, the story and the Nazarena trip begin.
From there, the next stops were San Martín de los Andes, Villa Traful. They were all places they didn’t know and as they appeared through the windows of the R4 they wowed them with their beauty. «In Villa la Angostura we did the Santa Ana waterfall that we recommend it is a magical place”, they say enthusiastically.
They arrived in Bariloche where more friends from the Renault 4 were waiting for them. With Mauri and Sifrido they enjoyed a wonderful afternoon filled with anecdotes and a passion for Renolitos.
Then they left for El Bolsón, where they toured the great Cajón del Azul. “From there we went through Esquel to travel on the famous Trochita, the narrow-gauge train that has been powered by steam for more than 100 years, we recommend if you are close to know it,” they highlight.
When they got off the train, they continued on their way. in La Naranja and spent a night in Perito Moreno. The initial plan was to reach El Chalten and stay two days, but the forecast announced rain all week so they had to change plans and go directly to El Calafate.
«On Saturday March 4th we finally arrived at the Perito Moreno National Park, it was very exciting to get there without problemswe had finally reached our goal, or at least that was what I thought”, says Naza, laughs and announces action…
They had to leave the car in the parking lot and they dedicated themselves to walking the catwalks while admiring that beautiful landscape that the south gave them in gushes. Nazarena maybe she was thinking when walking about how great Patagonia is, or maybe not, but he did not imagine what would come.
“At one point Mike sets the camera to ‘supposedly’ to take a picture of us with the timer and pulls out a ring. His goal was also to propose to me and the truth is that he could not have chosen a better place and time!»he tells and adds «So it was that, once again, La Naranja was part of one of the moments most important of our lives.”
With the ring on her finger and love on her body, They continued their journey to start the return. But this time, they would go along the coast, on Route 3. The first stop was Puerto San Julián, and from there they went to Puerto Pirámides through the Valdez Peninsula.
“We were lucky to see a couple of penguins and some orcas. VWe forgot from there to Puerto Madryn and we had a small accident. A truck that was coming from the front with a load of stones dropped one and hit our windshield”, writes the traveler.
Not having the laminated windshield burst and had some small cuts, but luckily nothing serious. The problem in the middle of those lonely roads was where to get a Renault 4 windscreen to get back home.
They were about to despair but “there our savior appeared, Carlos Chiche Mena who is part of the group of restorers and gave us the windshield of his Renolito which is in the process of being restored”, they say and the importance of a community united by passion comes to light.
«The truth is that it saved us, there are still people with big hearts, we recommend that if you are in Puerto Madryn you go to the Monument to the Tehuelche Indian that our friend Chiche is always there selling the best Patagonian fried cakes”, they say.
Finally they returned home happy and planning the next routes that La Naranja will travel. “Grateful for all the people who crossed the road, who came to say hello and congratulate us on the car, They couldn’t believe the number of kilometers we did that, as well as who doesn’t want the thing, were a total of 7740″.
I followed the stories of La Naranja on Instagram: @nazamansillaa and @mike_barabas.
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