Going Back to Esquel

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Good afternoon everyone.

I know that I haven't really been to Esquel before, but I honestly couldn't resist having a bit of pun with the title (hehe). Esquel is apparently an indigenous word meaning 'Land of Burrs' which the many holes in my shins and arms will support.

This concerns a travel to another national park - I was told the most beautiful one out of all in Patagonia. I do intend to see most of them, so I will give you an update when that happens. This particular one goes by the title of "Los Alerces", referring to the ancient alerce trees that populate its many forests. These trees go very slowly and live for an incredibly long time - I was told there are many in the park over 3000 years old.

In what I have now come to appreciate as for the better of conservation, the only public transport that heads to the park is one bus per day - leaving at Esquel at 8am, and the same bus arriving back at about 9pm. The reasons are quite clear - the bus drives through the park, dropping people off at various points along the only road (myself around 10.30), continues driving until the village of , and turns around, picking me up at around 6.30.

For some reason, there is only powdered milk in Esquel (and El Bolsón for that matter), and in my hostel (Casa de Pueblo, highly recommended) it resides in the same type of jar as the sugar. Proof that I was not used to waking at 7am was my incredibly sweet cup of tea that I started the day with. And, despite a rush to the station, I managed to make the bus in good time due to Argentinia's relaxed approach to timetabling.

Anyway. I started with a mirador over Laguna Verde (green lagoon) by losing my way and guessing to get to the top of a hill. I found out later that this lake is apparently a fantastic fishing spot, and apparently, by way of observation, also a fantastic place to take your inflatable boats. Apart from these two small boats and a couple of fisherman sitting round the edge, there was nothing... Just trees and lakes and hills and some snow on the higher parts. It really makes you appreciate that most places like this aren't in "One million places to see before you die" and that most people can't be bothered to visit. It's a special special place and I recommend it highly.

Down the hill, over a suspension bridge and over a small headland was Lago Menéndez. This is the frontier to the rest of the park where, only on Sundays, a boat can drive you across the lake to see the ancient eponymous trees of the park. Every other day of the week, the boat is sitting there with the keys left in the ignition so anybody who knows how to drive it could take it over if they like. I sat and ate lunch with the company of a couple of horseflies that also wanted to sit and eat lunch on me. There's something I really love about eating lunch in once in a lifetime places.

Not content with the morning's activities (or trying to walk up a closed route where I encountered the aforementioned burr swarm), I headed up a nearby hill to find Lago Escondido. Once again, the horseflies followed me up and I discovered the best way to fend them off was to carry a large leafy branch and use it as a deterrent to the pests - it became all the more effective when I learnt how not to hit myself in the nose while weilding it.

Lago Escondido really lived up to its name when the path vanished deep into a forest and over the brow of a hill and then turned into a stream feeding the lake. For about half a km I had to dance on either side of the water instead of being able to walk sensibly. Fortunately, I did discover some fungus that resembled a haribo, but I made the assumption it was probably not edible. The lake was small and uninhabited, barely any sign of humans at all.

The highlight of the park for me was the viewpoint on the way back down. I took a detour up(?!) a nearby hill to sit and stare at the scenery from far above. Lago Verde to the west, straight ahead was Menéndez and snow capped mountains, and along the middle was Rio Arayanes. The sun was peeking out from behind some clouds and just made a special moment of tranquility.

The best park in the country? I wouldn't mind if it was... But I'm perfectly happy to try and find out.

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Photos

Lago Verde
Not visible: inflatable boat family

Lunchtime
The shores of Lago Menéndez, where I engaged in a spot of horsefly battling.

Mirador
The view from the mirador of all I achieved that day. Started off to the right, walked to the small white dot in the centre (the boat) and then up to the current point via Lago Escondido (behind).