Comodoro Rivadavia

November 15th until 22nd

Overnight bus

After watching a sunset in the canyon we waited for it to go completely dark before watching movies until 11pm. Then we all tried to get some sleep. We were all on and off the whole night … After we woke up the next morning, we were watching the cars coming and going and houses flying by…

We arrived early morning and didn’t know what to do. We could only check in in the afternoon☹️!! We walked around looking for a cafe or something but every step our bags grew heavier and heavier…

Chocolate before check in

Just as we were losing hope we saw it: a beacon of light from the heavens, shining down upon the one, the only….. Mostaza!!! I got a hot chocolate and my parents got coffee, and after awhile me and mom got kicked out into the cold mean wind to do some exploring while dad sat in the warm Mostaza watching the rugby game😠. After awhile me and mom came back as half frozen popsicles and dad’s coffee was finished. So me and mom got a hot chocolate to share and a coffee for dad. Then when the game was finished, we got food for lunch 🥪 and went to the ocean near our apartment and sat on the sea wall for some protection, not that it helped much.

After lunch I started snoozing a bit, because with my eyes closed it was almost like… the boat, with the smell of the sea and the wind rocking me back and forth 😢😭⛵️!

We were staying in an Airbnb behind these fancy ocean view buildings called Los Torres. Even though they’re all part of the same company only the ocean view ones were nice looking. Ours looked like the outside hadn’t been washed in awhile… Los Torres stood out quite a bit because there aren’t that many tall buildings, and these were tall brightly colored buildings. We were staying in Torre VIII a plain white building that wasn’t particularly high….

Comodoro Rivadavia

Comodoro Rivadavia (a.k.a just Comodoro) is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the San Jorge Gulf, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Chenque Hill.

Comodoro was founded in 1901 as a port for the inland settlement of Sarmiento. The first settler was Francisco Pietrobelli.

The town was named after shipping minister Martín Rivadavia.

Early settlers included Boers escaping British rule in South Africa, as well as Welsh settlers.

Comodoro Rivadavia is a commercial and transportation center for the surrounding region, as the largest city of Chubut, and an important export point for a leading Argentine petroleum district. A 1,770 km pipeline conveys natural gas from Comodoro Rivadavia to Buenos Aires.

Discovery of oil

In 1903 six hundred Afrikaner families arrived in Argentina following the loss of the Second Boer War and were given farming land in the area around Comodoro Rivadavia. However, due to a shortage of water, they had to bring water in by ox wagon with the lack of it being a big impediment to the development of the settlement. At the Afrikaners’ insistence drilling began in 1907 in an effort to look for water but instead they struck oil at a depth of 539 meters. Although much of the oil was discovered on land given to Afrikaans settlers, they could not benefit directly from the discovery due to Argentinian law that all mineral deposits belong to the state. Therefore, most of the town’s Afrikaans settlers moved on to Sarmiento and surrounding regions to set up farms there. Comodoro evolved around the oil industry, and even today when this panorama has changed substantially, it is still called the “National Oil Capital.”

Oil production has begun to decline quite a bit, but the area has been turning its attention to wind power. Windmills on Cerro Chenque and surrounding hills consist of South America’s largest wind farm and provide 20% of Comodoro’s energy needs.

In my opinion Comodoro is a nice large town, with a few fancy buildings here and there, and some great viewpoints.

In search of relatives

One of the reasons we’re on this trip and we’ve travelled all the way south is so dad and I can meet our distant relatives.

Of the Afrikaner families that migrated to Argentina’s Patagonia region in the early 1900s, one of them was the Norvals. Years later a Norval by the name of Tobias visited dad’s dad in South Africa. Dad was in the army at that time and missed Tobias’s visit but heard all the stories. Ever since, dad has wanted to visit the Argentine Norvals.

Dad managed to make contact with the South African club in Rada Tilly to set up a meeting with the descendants of the Patagonia Boers and some Norvals.

Boers in Patagonia

The Boers (Afrikaners) from South Africa immigrated to Argentine Patagonia, particularly the Chubut province, between 1902-1908, escaping British rule after the Anglo-Boer War for promises of land, establishing successful sheep farming communities near Comodoro Rivadavia and Sarmiento, maintaining a unique, older dialect of Afrikaans that linguists study today, even as most descendants became bilingual Spanish speakers but preserve distinct cultural traditions.

Why They Came:

• Post-War Exodus: Following their defeat in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), many Boers (“bittereinders”) sought a new life free from British governance (click link for more info). Because they lost many family members in the concentration camps, they refused to live under the English.
• Argentine Incentives: Argentina, under President Julio A. Roca, encouraged settlement in Patagonia, offering fertile land and opportunity.
• Where They Settled: Primarily in the arid Chubut Province, near modern-day cities like Comodoro Rivadavia and Sarmiento.
• Life & Culture in Patagonia: Mainly Farming. They adapted to the harsh Patagonian landscape, becoming successful sheep farmers (some to this day still have sheep farms).
• Isolation & Language: Initially isolated, they preserved Afrikaans, which became the dominant language for decades, creating a “time capsule” of older dialects. While Spanish is now dominant, older community members (70s+) still speak Afrikaans (well, Afrikaans with a mix of Spanish), preserving pronunciations and vocabulary lost in modern South Africa.
• Cultural Identity: They maintained strong cultural ties, including Dutch Reformed Churches and unique traditions, though many blended with Argentine culture.

RADA TILLY or ratatouille?

On Sunday morning we took a bus down to a little holiday town called Rada Tilly where we were going to meet the Argentine Boers in the afternoon. Rada Tilly is a beach resort and now suburb 12 km south of Comodoro. We took the bus there.

So first we walked around the town. Most of the houses were empty or very very quiet.  And there weren’t any big shops, only tiny ones with basic necessities.

On one side, Rada Tilly was outlined by a llllllooong beach, which is the most southern beach you can swim and surf from in the world!!! And on the other side it’s outlined by sandstone hills/Canyon.

So we got stuff for lunch and sat next to the beach. There were quite a few people and dogs on the beach. We hung around the beach for a while and walked up and down the promenade.

Then we went walking around the area of the South African club and up one of the ‘canyons’.

Then it was time to go to the SA club where we first met some of the ladies of the Blackie family.

The eldest ladies could speak and understand Afrikaans and another could understand a little, but everyone mainly spoke Spanish (we all got good practice). A little later the Norvals that were available came. It was Hetta and her daughter Gachi (Graciela). You should have seen dad, he wanted to do this for 40 years, his eyes were watering (maybe it was the wind🤣). It was so wholesome, and I felt like they were all my aunts with all the smooches I got and all the times I was called beautiful 😂😵‍💫.

Then dad and Hetta began researching how they were related, trying to figure out who married who and became a  Norval etc, while mom spoke to the others about life and more personal stuff and every now and then I would be asked something (cringe and had to answer in Spanish!). A little later another lady, I’m not sure what family she was from, but after she arrived all the treats came out 🤩😍😋🤤. There was: coconut cake, frutas rojas (red berries/fruit) cake, vanilla cake, banana bread with nuts, and little sandwiches with cheese and ham and the bread was the same texture as presliced bread, but all in all very tasty. My favorite was the coconut. I tried them all!😍🤤😋!! Several times! Everyone was served tea or coffee and could help themselves to the sweets.

Afterwards we got a little tour of the Boer immigration to Argentina museum they made. All the settler families contributed with family heirlooms. The ladies gave us a book about it from all the families memories and a calendar of the dates of importance.

Norma gave us a ride home and showed us the memorial with all the surnames of the South African settlers like Blackie, Schlebush, Kruger, Norval, De Lange. There were some really funny surnames like: Hand, Small, Bigs… Etc, and some names had been misspelled like Small is Smal.

Walking the town

On Monday we woke up to a warning that the wind could blow up to 150km/hour!!!! There was so much sand flying around everywhere we couldn’t see the ocean from our window anymore!!! And the sea looked like flying milk froth!

The week went by quickly with school, work, walking, and dad trying to figure out our family tree…

Here are some of the things we saw in town and on the promenade, for instance statues of common patagonian and oceanic animals.

Coffee with the Norvals

On Friday we took a bus to Hetta’s house, which was quite large and spacious, where dad shared the stuff he figured out during the week and came to the conclusion that Hetta was his dad’s generation and Gachi was his generation. So I guess that means I can call them Grandma Hetta and Aunt Gachi or Abuela Hetta and Tia Gachi?

A little while later Gachi arrived and we went to the dining area in the kitchen where we saw Melktert!? (Dad immediately got excited 🤣) and a Beetroot & cacao cake?!(both very tasty 😋) and of course coffee and tea.

Afterwards Gachi showed us around town, to the Oil & petroleum museum. The National Museum of Petroleum is located in the General Mosconi neighbourhood 3 km north of central Comodoro Rivadavia. It was opened in 1987 by the state-owned oil company YPF.

Then we drove halfway up one of the ‘canyons’ where we had a spectacular view of the town, harbor and ‘beach’.

After that we drove down to the harbor and beach. Then they dropped us off at our apartment.

Later I told dad ‘in the 13 years of my life, this is the longest I have ever seen you behave’. It’s very true because those of you who know him quite well know that he’s usually a very naughty person…

Norval lunch braai

Saturday morning we woke up to the water heater not working and had to contact the owner who was sending over a guy later. Then we did shopping. Later the guy came and fixed the heater so I could shower. Then around 11 Gachi came and picked us up and took us to pick up Hetta and then drove us to her house that had an inside Braai. And as you can guess dad immediately started the fire, and we were all talking about our lives and experiences while waiting for the fire to die down to coals. Then dad put on the meat, a bunch of steaks and sausages and while he was busy with that Gachi brought out a whole bunch of salads, lettuce, carrot, cabbage, potatoes, all with all sorts of toppings I may have eaten too much…😖😥!

Then after clearing the table Gachi brought out the dessert dad had been waiting for: Tapioca (or as dad’s mom called it: Pada oogies), then more talking.

Later Gachi’s brother (Tony) joined us, explaining about his work on the huge machine that distributes gas all over Argentina! Then we got dropped off Hetta, only to get presents! Homemade Apricot jam (my favorite ♥️🫠🤤), Fig jam (dad’s favorite, to me it tasted almost like honey🫤 but nice with cheese) and a slice of melktert for tomorrow morning’s breakfast 🤤🤤🤤!! Then when we were halfway home we realized that we forgot the jams 😱!!! So Gachi drove us back. We got the jams and drove home were Gachi gave me a present! A jar of Calafate jam and a box of calafate tea!!!

Postres & Dulces

While we were having lunch I read a kids book about the Tehuelcha legend of the Calafate berries.

It’s about Abuela Koonek and the tribe going north to escape winter. But the poor abuela is way slower than the rest of the tribe members. So when the tribe reached their destination the abuela was far away so she had to survive winter by herself. Then the birds leave, and when they come back Abuela vanished. They look everywhere until they conclude that she turned into this plant! Kids and the tribe come back and look for her everywhere, and conclude that she must have turned in to the plant. In summer the abuela plant got little berries and the tribe ate some and they were like ‘oh my, such sweet and delicious berries!’. Now they say if you find a bush and eat the berries you will be taken to the Homeland of the tribe!!

Hasta la vista Argentina

The next day we got up at 5am, did the last packing and eating and jumped in an Uber to the General Enrique Mosconi International Airport. We checked in our bags and went through security etc. Then a couple hours later we boarded our 2hour flight to Buenos Aires.

Every now and then I got some great pictures, but mainly we were flying through cloud banks. While I listened to music, mom and dad watched a movie together and sometimes one of us would dose off😴. After an hour all passengers were served drinks. Later we landed and quickly went through immigration, and to our next flight to…. Rio do Janeiro!!!

See y’all in our very last stop! Rio do Janeiro!

-Gitane