Here’s a riddle: what has eight legs, scurries all over the place, and sometimes climbs nearly vertical surfaces? Answer: our trip to Bariloche.
February 20: Getting from Puerto Varas to Bariloche
To get from Puerto Varas to Bariloche, our first stop in Argentina, we took five buses and three catamarans, scaled the Andes, and dealt with immigration agents both dour (Chile) and friendly (Argentina).
The first leg of our journey took us from Puerto Varas to Chile’s oldest national park, Vicente Pérez Rosales. We stopped along the way for spectacular views of Volcán Orsono, towering regally over Lago Llanquihue.
Parque National Vicente Pérez Rosales is home to the Saltos de Río Petrohué, small but powerful waterfalls on the Petrohué River. Hiking paths in the park offer several perspectives on the falls tumbling vigorously over rounded boulders in a crevasse between steep, tree-covered hills.
A few minutes from the national park, we ended leg 1 at a dock on Lago de Todos Santos (All Saints’ Lake), where we boarded a catamaran for the hour and forty-five minute trip to the tiny town of Puerto Peulla (population 80).
Our weather luck on this trip has been extraordinary – shockingly so, given my track record – and the lake surface barely rippled under clear blue skies. For the first half hour or so, the surrounding hills, some furrowed and some smooth, rose modestly from the shore.
Soon they transitioned to serried rows of taller, jagged peaks, many with snow around their summits; occasionally a distant peak would appear like a witch’s hat above the foreground hills. (Going from Petrohué to Puerto Puella, the best views are off the port side, but at mid-day, when we traveled, the best light was on the starboard side.)
The catamaran dropped us at the metropolis of Puerto Puella, population 80, where we ate lunch before getting on a bus that took us to the Chilean border post, which actually is located several miles from the Argentine border.
After getting our exit stamps, the bus wound its way up into the Andes on a jaw-rattling (a combination of jaw-dropping and bone-rattling) road whose pavement was more aspirational than real.
We stopped briefly to admire Monte Tronador, which straddles the Chile/Argentina border and, for now at least, is famed for its glaciers.
Not much further along, signs welcomed us to Argentina as we crested the Andes, and we stopped to clear Argentinian immigration before boarding another catamaran, followed by another bus, followed by another catamaran, then yet another bus, before reaching Bariloche, eight travel legs and thirteen hours after leaving Puerto Varas.
February 21: Bariloche
Northern Patagonia, where Bariloche lies, is blessed with pristine lakes, snow-capped mountains, and dense jungle filled with towering trees, much of which lies with the national park of Nahuel Huapi. Our excellent local guide, Alejandra, gave us an informative and inspiring, but realistically sobering tour of the area, beginning with a cable car ascent to a lookout point at Cerro Campanario.
From the lookout point, we headed to Lago Escondido (Hidden Lake) for a short hike through the jungle. Alejandra pointed out the trees dubbed the “king of the forest” (coihue), which can grow more than 150 feet tall and live up to 900 years, as well as a plant that flowers just as all the other plants are going dormant for the fall, which provides sustenance for hummingbirds throughout what is normally a cold, snowy winter.
I say “normally” because last year Bariloche, a year-round resort with a booming ski scene in the winter, got no snow at all. A prolonged dry spell has left many trees stressed and reduced the water level of Lago Nahuel Huapi by more than a meter. That’s an astounding amount considering the lake occupies 210 square miles!
These signs of global warming are not the only challenges to the environment. The original European immigrants to the area, mostly from Germany and Switzerland, introduced non-native pine trees, red deer, boar, and rabbits, which are drastically altering the flora and fauna of the area. Hence the “realistically sobering” qualification a few paragraphs ago.
With a renewed appreciation for the beauty and fragility of this soul-stirring biome, we headed to lunch at a local brewery, followed by a stop at a viewpoint overlooking a stunning tableau of lakes, islands, and mountains.
A crested caracara bird peered down at the scene from a gnarled tree; apologies for the less-than-sharp shot, but the sun was directly ahead.
After some down time at the hotel, Shari and I walked the kilometer from the hotel into town to scope out some highly recommended chocolate shops. (Bariloche self-identifies as the “chocolate capital of Argentina,” and based on my initial sample I have no basis to dispute that characterization, though I hope to do more research.)
On the way downtown, we walked along the seaside promenade past a fighter jet used in the Islas Malvinas (Falklands) war, under which a few dozen (fool)hardy souls braved the glacial waters of Lago Nahuel Huapi (14C/57F) on this uncharacteristically warm and sunny day.
The main shopping street downtown is indeed lined with chocolate shops. We stopped at Riche Patagonia (Ave. Mitre 258), where I tried a scrumptious dark chocolate-coated plum and a very nice milk chocolate/coffee concoction.
It’s time to repack for another change of venue. In the morning, we’re flying to Buenos Aires, where we’ll spend three days seeing the sights of Argentina’s capital. Stay tuned!
PuffinlessTravel 