Adios amigos! Final week roundup

Another Malbec, a wine synonymous with Argentina.

Our final week has been a little slower than the previous few. It’s hard work all this travelling!

We made our way, slowly due to flight delays, back to Bariloche. We needed to do laundry to get us through the next week, so off we went to the lavanderia. Smelling fresh and clean, we hopped a bus to Chile, headed for the Pacific coast.

On a recommendation we decided to visit Valdivia, a small city at the confluence of three rivers. It was a few days before Christmas and the Mercado Central was pulsing with life. Vegetables, fruits (especially seasonal blueberries and raspberries) plus fish, featured prominently. The market is right on the riverbank and the seals that have made the area home were cheekily waiting for off cuts of fish that the vendors were chucking out to them.

The German heritage of the town is clearly displayed with every other cafe having outdoor seating provided by the local brewer Kunstmann, whose brand is burned into the seats.

Christmas Eve we took a bus 2 hours to Villarrica which is on a lake of the same name and with a view to a volcano with the same name as well. We booked a hotel opposite the lake with a pool as we figured everyone would be in shutdown over Christmas and we could relax a bit. I got to swim a few times and Andrew was happy watching the light change the colours of the volcano.

On or last day in Villarrica we took the local bus to Pucón which is on the other side of Lago Villarrica and sits right at the bottom of the volcano. The beaches have black sand and there was some creative use of lava rock in people’s landscaping. The view of the volcano was obscured due to cloud but the town has evacuation route signs in case you forget it’s there.

Back in Santiago, we revisited the atmospheric fish market and the Plaza de Armas.

It’s been an interesting 5+ weeks and we have seen some truly spectacular sights. I like to think I will come back to South America. I’m understanding and speaking more Spanish each day and it feels good. We saw most of the things we wanted to see this time around and more. Reconnecting with my friend Tuti and meeting her family in La Cumbre, Argentina was a highlight.

Tonight we fly out of Santiago. I’ll have a very busy few weeks when we get back as I am doing an intensive training course then heading back to work. So I may be quiet on the interwebs until mid-January.

Thanks for following and liking and commenting. I’ll share a few more photos below.

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Fin del Mundo (Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina)

We made it to Ushuaia which is on the Argentine part of the island of Tierra del Fuego. I can imagine it being a gloomy place in the rain but we were fortunate to spend a sunny day on the Beagle Channel. Final beers and a nice meal topped off our brief stay at the end of the world. Plans for final week are vague with no booked accommodation after the next two nights in Bariloche. We’ll see where the buses are heading…

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Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Part 2)

Perito Moreno Glacier, El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina

After a few days in chilled-out El Chaltén we did a three hour bus journey to El Calafate, the jumping off point for the southern areas of the national park. After checking into the YHA hostel (boy, have hostels changed – towels and sheets provided) we had a look around the town and found some liquid refreshment as it was beer o’clock.

It had been suggested to us that we visit Laguna Nimez on the lake if we were interested in seeing some bird life. Laguna Nimez is a wetland on the edge of Lago Argentina and when the waters rise, the two bodies of water actually merge. Lago Argentina is enormous and has lovely turquoise water. The Laguna is much smaller and has some boardwalks and trails around its edge, allowing you to see the birds in their habitat. Being spring, there were a few chicks around and we saw a family of Couquén Común. The long-necked father honked when we approached and mother and chicks scurried into the water and paddled away. Also present on the day was a flock of about 19 Chilean flamingos! They were a fair distance away near an island in the lagoon, but were instantly recognizable by their bright pink colour. It was an odd sight spotting these lanky creatures with the background of snow capped Andes mountains in the distance!

The big site that people come here for is really the Perito Moreno Glacier and we did get there. And it is big. Like 60 meters high sort of big. Think 20 story high building big.

We travelled by bus the 80 kilometers to the glacier through beautiful but dry, scrubby estancia country where there were few animals roaming and hardly any buildings. The bus makes a coffee and restroom stop at an estancia that has diversified into an agiturismo business and acts as the roadside cafe. Here we got to see a baby grey fox that had been rescued a few months before. It was happily playing with a local kitten and seemed to be quite content as we left.

Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the world that is actually advancing. It reaches across the channel towards the Magallenes Peninsula and can be viewed from a series of steel walkways on the peninsula side. Every few minutes you hear a rumble and another chunk of ice drops into the water. Often by the time you hear the sound, it’s too late to see anything. You just see the ripple on the water and maybe a bobbing iceberg.

There is also the option to board a boat that takes you closer to the glacier, so we did it. The perspective from the water was worth it as you could look up at the glacier and see closer into some of the shadows. The blue colors reflecting off the ice are quite stunning and change as the weather goes from mist to grey cloud to bright sun.

At the bottom of this post I have included a few photos of the days we spent in this area and I hope they enhance your appreciation of this region of Argentina.

We are currently 3 hours into a 6 hour bus ride to Puerto Natales, Chile. Tomorrow we begin 3 days of camping and hiking inside Torres Del Paine National Park.

See you when we next have wifi!

Perito Moreno Glacier, El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Part 1)

One of the main reasons most people come to this part of Patagonia is to visit some of the spectacular sights offered in the Glaciers National Park (Parque Nacional Los Glaciares). Yes, that’s plural, glaciers. Mountains, glaciers and lakes abound in this beautiful part of Patagonia.

We visited the northern region first and based ourselves in the colourful town of El Chaltén. Only new, being founded in 1987, it has the feel of a frontier town in say, Alaska. There is a hodge-podge of building techniques and more than half the buildings look incomplete. There’s no mobile phone service and internet often reaches the dizzying speed of dial-up circa 1997. Friendly dogs roam the streets solo or in packs and there’s a proliferation of artisan breweries, shops selling hand knitted scarves and beanies, local pottery and the ubiquitous mate gourds (gourds for drinking your cup of Yerba Mate tea). Winter is long here and many hotels, hostels and restaurants close down from April to October.

Rock walls of 100 meters or so, sort of enclose the town to the north and south and the Río Fitz Roy runs along the northern wall. From most points in the town you can see the jagged peaks of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy. We met people from all over the world who had come to climb the many rock walls, peaks and ultimately the two big ones, Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy.

Our goals have been slightly less lofty. I was merely satisfied to see the peaks from a lookout point that required a 3 hour trek to Lago Torre. The trek was not overly steep, nor did we gain more than 200 meters in elevation (from 600m to 800m). However the terrain was rough in places with littered rocks, perfect for twisting ankles, and huge boulders that we had to scale on hands, knees or bottoms! Fortunately the lookout was sunny, if a tad windy, and the glacial lake the most striking hue of pale, creamy turquoise. Fitz Roy itself had a cloud defiantly clinging to it for the whole hour we rested there. We hoped the wind would blow the wisps away but we had to wait for the walk back to see a bit more. And of course, we woke the next day aching – well, I was after 7+ hours of walking – to a perfectly clear view of the peaks.

Because the weather was surprisingly good, Roo considered hiking partway back on the trail to get a closer look at the peaks, but reason prevailed and we did a shorter walk of three hours ‘ida y vuelto’, there and back, to two lookouts on the other side of town. The first was the Mirador de los Condores, from which we were lucky to see three condors gliding over the valley, and the second was the Mirador de las Aguilas. I don’t think we were intended to see eagles, but to have an eagle’s nest view over the huge Lago Viedma and the surrounding Fitz Roy river valley.

No post is complete without some comments on the food we ate. I’m glad to announce that the hunt for good empanadas met with success on two occasions. We can recommend the spicy chicken and the spinach & cheese empanadas from a bakery on San Martin called Que-Rika! And the Patagonian Cordero (lamb) Empanada went down a treat at La Cerveceria (extra kudos for free popcorn with your beer)!

All up, we had a brief, but meaningful relationship with El Chaltén and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to hike and climb. There’s a hippie vibe (we spotted 3 geodesic domes) and plenty of locally brewed cerveza. The locals are mostly young and friendly, the air clear and you can refill your water bottles from the streams. But if you want to send a postcard overseas you’ll have to wait till Wednesday for the international stamps to arrive…

And the next morning it cleared…

From the Mirador de las Aguilas, looking over Lago Viedma.

Clouded over view after 3 hour trek!

A little Austrian- designed church dedicated to the climbers who have died attempting the peak climb.

Beer and empanadas, a perfect pairing.

Supermarket with dog

Click an image to enlarge and view as slide show.

Northern Patagonia – Lakes, mountains and volcanoes

We have been in the Lakes District for about a week now. One day we went up the teleferico to Cerro Otto and walked back down to town along a dusty but scenic route, stopping at a Refugio for some sustenance of beer and pizza.

The next day we did a boat trip out on Lago Nahuel Huapi (this huge lake vies with the surrounding Andes mountains for dominance of the area) to Isla Victoria and to the Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes. On a peninsula that sticks out into the lake from Villa la Angostura is the national park containing a ‘Bosque’ or forest of the cinnamon-barked Arrayán trees.

It’s a fairly touristy exercise being shepherded off and on the boat and the trails, but worthwhile to see these beautiful indigenous trees. And our Guide from Turisur, the company we did the day trip through, was so knowledgable and friendly.

I twisted my knee going down the narrow stairs of the boat and although the damage was only muscle and ligament strain, it was enough to scuttle our plans for a hike up Cathedral Mountain for an overnight stay at Refugio Frey.

So we decided to adjust plans and instead rent a car to drive the 110 kilometer long Camino de Los Siete Lagos, or the route of the seven lakes, which takes you past the town of Villa la Angostura and on to San Martin de los Andes.

We stayed two nights in San Martin so we could spend the day in between to drive another 110 kilometers to Parque Nacional Lanin. Half of the drive before you get there, you can see the snow-covered peak of the volcano Lanin on the horizon as you round bends in the road. It’s possible to ascend the volcano, but my leg was just healing after a few rest days, so we took it a bit easier and just walked 45 minutes to the base then back.

On the way north we originally missed the turnoff and ended up 30 kilometers north and a bit west towards the Chilean border. The drive was beautiful though so maybe we will have to come back and, with a better rental car, do a longer driving trip in the far northern reaches of the Lakes District.

I think my strained muscle is all healed so we will do a local hike tomorrow. The more serious stuff will have to wait for our next stop – El Chaltén. We fly south on Friday.

Meanwhile, below is an image gallery of some of the beautiful places we have seen over the last week around Bariloche and to the north. Click any image to start a slide show.

Argentina’s Lakes District

Argentine Lakes District

The lakes district stretches along the Andes near the Chilean border. The heart is San Carlos di Bariloche, on the huge lake called Lago Nahuel Huapi and it’s bound on 3 sides by the Andes.There are numerous national parks in the region, all with unique landscapes and flora. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful setting. On the highways the mysterious Gauchito Gil protects those who believe. We travelled north by car to San Martin de los Andes and on to Lanin National Park. Stunning!

Asado

We arrived in Santiago, Chile on Wednesday last week. Two recovery days walking the town and hunting down empanadas was exhausting in the heat, but we survived!

After a short flight from Santiago to Córdoba, Argentina on Friday, we caught a 2.5 hour bus to La Cumbre. Thirty plus years ago I had the fortune to meet 3 Argentinian travellers in Europe. We were all university aged backpackers and we bonded immediately.

One of the Argentinian travellers is Cristina, known to all as Tuti. She, her husband Jorge and three of their 4 children plus the kid’s girlfriends, plus other family and friends have welcomed us into their family life with open hearts and minds!

The most Argentinian of events is the BBQ or ‘asado’. We were invited on Saturday to go to an asado with our hosts. This asado was held at a new and very modern house built into the dry and rocky landscape in the middle of a large ‘campo’ (farming property). The central courtyard had a built-in fireplace with a grill called the ‘parilla’.

The menu for the day consisted of a selection of meat cuts and sausage (chorizo) plus sweet potatoes cooked on the parilla, accompanied by a green salad with tomatoes.

And of course, there was plenty of Argentinian Malbec.

A peach crumble with locally made ‘helados’ (gelato) topped off the meal. It was a perfect day in the Córdoba hills with fine food, friends and beautiful scenery.

Sunny skies prevailed for the rest of the weekend and we were able to go to some other scenic destinations in the area. Andrew captured these pictures of Tuti and I catching up on 33 years of our lives.

I feel so lucky to have been able to reunite with an old travel-mate, meet her wonderful family and be greeted with warm and friendly people in Cordoba and La Cumbre.

Next stop…San Carlos Di Bariloche. Gateway to Patagonia.

Inspiration

The bottom of the world

We all travel for different reasons. Personally, the type of trip where one sits by a pool or on a beach and reads a book while sipping alcoholic beverages is not my thing. Not that I have anything against alcohol. Refer previous post.

My personal inspiration for wanting to go to Patagonia is two-fold.

Firstly, in the late 70s I read Bruce Chatwin’s ‘In Patagonia’, which is as much a personal journey or a discourse on motivation for travel as it is a travel journal. In search of a replacement for a bit or Brontosaurus skin that he saw as a child, Chatwin meets a cast of unlikely people in an even more unlikely landscape.

Secondly, the beautiful national parks and one-horse towns and lakes and pampas and Andean mountain passes have ‘un cierto allure romántico’ – a certain romantic allure.

One week today and we’ll be in the air and just hours away from Santiago. ¡Vamos!

Map downloaded from Wikipedia. Map credits: Acercamiento del “Chile Moderno” en el Mapa Geografico de America Meridional, dispuesto y gravado por D. Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, 1775. Image source: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/s/1g7457.

Malbec anyone?

There will be a bit of this going on. We look forward to sampling some local wines and beers in Argentina and Chile.

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Trip planning is half the fun

Patagonia, here we come. Departing Australia 20th of November. We’d love to share the journey with you so sign up over on the top right of this post.

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