Happy Camping

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Having merrily yomped our way through valleys, over hills and across streams in the beautiful Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, we pick up a hire car again (I just can't get enough of those unpredictable Argentine drivers, you see) to explore the area to the north of Bariloche, which lies across the border in Neuquén Province.

One of the main towns in the area is San Martín de los Andes, which lies three hours or so north of Bariloche and only a short distance away from the border with Chile. San Martín is reachable from Bariloche via the famous Camino de los Siete Lagos, or the "road of the seven lakes", a tortuous gravel road which winds its way past a profusion of beautiful, brilliant blue mountain lakes. The road starts at Villa La Angostura, a pretty lakeside town on the northern shore of Lago Nahuel Huapi, and the most seriously affected by the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano complex this year. In a matter of a few days in early June, over 40cm of volcanic ash and sand were dumped on the town, which was declared a disaster zone. Since then Puyehue has continued to spew a cloud of ash which continues to cause trouble for Villa La Angostura and large swathes of Neuquén Province. The economic consequences of the eruption are very much being felt in this neck of woods, especially now, at the start of the summer season. Ever enterprising and ready to make the most of this thoroughly miserable situation, the provincial government has used the bonanza of sand - which has, quite literally, fallen from the sky - to resurface many of the areas ripio (gravel) roads. Now that's the right attitude!

The next five days take us past yet more landscapes of captivating and varied beauty. Most nights we spend under canvas, camping on deserted lake shores along the Camino de los Siete Lagos or in the shadow of a 12,000-foot snow-blanketed volcano and native pehuén monkey-puzzle trees in Parque Nacional Lanín. It's a special treat, while warmly wrapped up in a down-stuffed sleeping bag, to stick your head out of the tent in the middle of the night and see the stars twinkle overhead. Happy camping indeed.

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Photos

Tea-time - or la merienda
Dulce de leche in EVERYTHING!

Campsite friends
This little kitten, Atuf, decided to wake us up in the morning by hurling himself into our tent at high speed...

Camino de los Siete Lagos
The realities of driving in rural Argentina...