Patagonian Adventure- PART I

South America » Argentina
December 28th 2006

Published: January 27th 2007

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Laurence

Road in the canyon...

And the journey began…

I was eager to begin our adventure throughout South America after spending five months in the Argentinean capital completing an internship and exchange program for my master’s. Spending Christmas vacations with my parents in Buenos Aires and celebrating at the Salentein posada were truly rewarding.

After signing our one-month rental contract for a solid 2x4 truck on December 28, we left our hotel in Mendoza city to embark on our journey down South in Patagonia with my boyfriend, his mother and her new husband. With tents and coolers at the back of our truck, the four of us drove down along the West coast of Argentina in the Patagonia region on the famous Route 40 for an exciting adventure filled with hiking, camping and discovering. We ended our trip in El Calafate on January16 where we left Jason´s parents before starting our drive back to Mendoza through the East Coast to return the rented truck. (Yes, I have postponed the publication of my travel blogs once again! But soon, you will find the entire journey up to date!)

For those who would like to have our complete itinerary of our Patagonian journey from December

Cactus in the Cañon de Atuel

28 to January 20, it can be summarized as:

Mendoza-San Rafael-Malargue-San Martin de los Andes- Vila La Angostura- Bariloche- EL Bolson-Parque Nacional Los Alerces- El Telken- EL Chalten- El Calafate- Parque Nacional Monte Leon- Puerto Madryn- Santa Rosa-Mendoza.

Let´s start with the first episode of our Patagonian journey:

PART I: December 28-29 Mendoza-San Rafael-Malargue

We decided to make Malargue our first destination and went through the Canon de Atuel to reach this small city. The landscape was truly magical...I was hypnotized by the mountains' peculiar shape...I never got tired of watching these rocks. The Canyon was also extremely impressive with the water meandering throughout its high cliffs. The only wildlife we observed were chivos, brids of prey and horses all over the roads...The memorable image from this part of the trip was a little girl dressed only with pants appearing on her criollo horse in the middle of the desert with her two dogs..it was an unforgettable vision of the desert. We ended this long day on the road at the Bambi Hotel in Malargue.

The next morning, we decided to reach the Parque Provincial Payunia and Laguna Llancancelo known for its multitude of birds,

Cañon de Atuel

especially the wild flamingoes. The landscapes were beautiful: with the Andes topped with snow in the background, the lagunas filled with birds were surrounded by lust fields. We ended this expedition in the provincial park with a short hike to a hill which provided us with a spectacular view of the immense red desert, valley of volcanoes and blue lagunas...it was worth the hike!

Next stop: San Martin de los Andes

Additional photos below

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