walmart, it turns out, exists in argentina too. i was hoping to score some really low-cost tires, but the cheapest was only about 5% cheaper than in puerto madryn (or about twice the price in the us). the car is certainly starting to make more noise than before, and the steering feels a bit strange (kinda like a loose belt or flat tire). i think another cv joint might be on it’s way out, but no noise yet. or maybe it’s because the camber angle of the front wheels are now different.

mar del plata is a nice big city — i think i like cities. we got in kind of late, so didn’t get to see much….but from what i saw, it seems quite nice — according to lonely planet, it’s kind of the getaway for the rich from buenos aires (but it also has a population of about 800k). we’re in the same room as a couple of kite boarders from buenos aires….apparently kiteboardng is pretty big around here.

also, courtesy of francois, here are some pics from our time in northern peru (where the sentra got a broken cv joint, a short in the brake switch, was stuck in a ditch….and both the sentra and i were throwing up liquids because of the altitude….good times!): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2215585&id=225041&l=8ab9f63ddc

(a few of Francois’ pics are below)