ATV Ride around the Sandhills in Villa Gesell

"When riding a quad vehicle on the dunes of Villa Gesell, you will wish you never had to stop"–guaranteed the manager of the Hotel de la Playa, where we were lodged. This asserted premise and a strong desire to see the village from the coast, led us to contact the people from Moto Fox, where Hugo Casasola is in charge of renting quad vehicles with all kinds of cylinder capacity, so that both grown-ups and children could enjoy vertigo in the dunes of Villa Gesell.

A brief but concise security explanation, the directions of the circuit and some other recommendations, in order to enjoy the utmost of such experience, were enough for us to set off at full speed together with Ariel –our guide– and a group of tourists, to the bowels of the most defying dunes in Villa Gesell.

We left from the corner of Av. Buenos Aires and Alameda 212 and took a side street that in a few minutes led us to the magnificent coast of the Argentinian Sea. During this short trip, we went through a narrow strip of the legendary forest of pines, cypresses and monkey puzzle trees planted by Carlos Idaho Gesell in order to stabilize the first dunes. Thus, this love for nature and some perseverance have been the engines that gave origin to Villa Gesell and turned it into one of the biggest afforested strips of land in the Argentinian coast.

The quad vehicle we were riding was a 250 c.c. centrifugal clutch Honda. Motivated by the roar of its engine, the warm breeze coming from the sea and the multiple bumps on the sand, we were the first ones to leave the squad and, at full speed, we headed for the dunes, to get lost and forget it all.
The effusive take-off caused a chain reaction, and everybody started to spread in all directions.

Ariel stopped at the top of a dune, in a panoramic fashion, and asumed the task of "watching" our moves.

He knew that during the first minutes of adrenaline we would reach the highest "boiling" point, and that is why he allowed us to enjoy speed and the curves and counter curves were plotting on the sand.

After a few minutes, and feeling somewhat more quiet, we gathered and started to enjoy the ride as a group. We headed to the shore and, as soon as we reached it, our lungs were invaded by the scent of the sea.

On the shore, hundreds of seagulls noticed our presence. In a flock, they spread out their wings and broke into their flight away from the intruders that were wandering about in their habitat.

In a row, we slid along and across the beach. Suddenly, a tempting dune got in our way. We gave the quad engine several revolutions and once again speed manifested itself to make us climb vertiginously without slowing down an inch. When performing this kind of climbing, it is important not to slow down, as the quad vehicle may make us go backwards, running the risk of overturning.

When we got to the top of the endless dune, the postcard was unique. The horizon line seemed to fade, making the sky and the sea merge in one and only body. We all got there but no one uttered a sound.

Silence, the owner of time and space, took control of us and suggested that we should simply watch...

After a few minutes, we started to return and the words of the hotel manager started to ring in our heads. It was so funny to make such rides that minutes became just seconds. As soon as we became aware, it was two hours since the unforgettable excursion had started.

When we reached Moto Fox, the anecdotes of what had occured became a murmur with no end. As we liked the experience we shared so much, we said our good-byes to Hugo, Ariel and the rest of the people that participated, and we promised to return the following day to go to the Querandí Lighthouse on quad vehicles.

To be continued…