Argentinian Lakes

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Bariloche

Our last overnight bus for a while took us to Bariloche, a cute little town to wander round. It´s a ski resort in the winter, has lots of log cabin type buildings and lots of chocolate shops (very yummy). Spent one day doing a boat trip, which is a bit of lazy way to see the lakes. The main part of the trip was along Lago Nahuel Huapi, the large crystal clear lake on which Bariloche is situated, then there was a short bus trip to a smaller lake, Lago Frias, a cloudy lake due to all the mineral deposits.

The next day was a bit more of an energetic day: hired bikes to have look around Llao llao. I enjoyed having a bit of a cycle (I miss my bike.......) though there were a few more hills than there used to be on my old Earlsfield to Camberwell route. There were a couple of lookouts with fantastic views over the lakes. It was a pretty hot day and you can stop and have a swim in the lakes but it was just a bit too much effort to get changed then change back into dry clothes to continue cycling. That and the water was freezing! We found a little beach by one of the lakes to have some lunch, and there were a few brave people having a dip. Am definitely out of practice though - my legs were a little sore the next day 😞

Park Lanin

After Bariloche we headed to San martin de los Andes for just one night, then decided to spend a couple of nights in the Lanin National park. All seemed like a good idea in the tourist office. We arrived at the national park after a 2 hour journey on gravel roads, just as the downpour started, and it was a 4km walk to our intended campsite. Not good. The bus driver said there was a nearer campsite and directed us to a woman who took us to a tiny rowing boat on the lake, and rowed us across the lake, poor thing, us and our 50 ton rucksacks.

I wasn't entirely convinced that it was actually a campsite; in the gloomy rain it seemed completely deserted apart from the horses, sheep, hens, cows and the little dog who poked his head inside the tent door; very cute. He seemed intent on following me around while I went to checkout the 'facilities': a lone tap offering slightly murky water and tiny cabin enclosing a hole in the ground (aka the toilet). My thoughts of a hot shower were a fast fading dream - lucky I had my wipes and waterproof mascara eh?! Our little friend stopped the night outside our tent - I think he´d been taking tips from Harry ("if you hang around for long enough, they're bound to give you some leftovers.....") and sure enough, he got the leftover bangers 'n mash.

The next day when the sun was shining I discovered that there were actually other campers there and we hadn´t been lured to a fake campsite. It even had a name - Ecufue camping. It was actually quite beautiful next to the lake with the Lanin volcano visible in the distance. The idea of walking to the base camp of the volcano was perhaps a bit ambitious so we opted for a shorter walk and a boat trip across a smaller lake to see a solidified river of lava from a now dormant volcano.

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