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We arrived in Bariloche on the 12th of February after a long, grueling bus journey. Bariloche is a beautiful village on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi in the lakes district of Argentina. The lake is huge, has a deep blue colour and has an average surface temperature of 7 degrees Celsius and still people are snorkeling! Apparently, this area of Argentina reminds people of Switzerland. We would not know as we have not been in Switzerland, yet. What we do know is that Bariloche and the surrounding countryside is beautiful, with many lakes surrounded by tree-clad mountains. Bariloche has more in common with Switzerland that just the geography, though and many restaurants serve up cheese fondues and the town boasts many chocolatiers. We stayed in a lovely hostel; basically a penthouse apartment that was converted to accommodate more or less 24 guests. The hostel´s name is Hostel 1004 because it is built inside apartment 1004 on the 10th floor of one of the highest and ugliest buildings in town, with some really great views. Best kitchen of any hostel we have ever visited.
We stayed in Bariloche for only three days as we knew we would be returning with
Liza-Marie´s father and step-mom on the 20th of March. We will be combining both visits in this blog.
Our first visit
During our first stay (at Hostel 1004) we explored Bariloche and sampled some of the amazing hand-made chocolates of Mamuschka´s, the best (according to many sources) chocolatier in town. We ate our fill of chocolates over the entire period that we were there. Really, it is a chocolate lover´s paradise, no matter what the chocolate-snobbish Swiss and Belgian tourists say.
On Valentine´s day we hired mountain bikes with the intention of doing the Circuito Chico (little circuit), taking one through the beautiful Llao Llao National Park. We started the circuit by going to a beautiful mirador (lookout), at the end of a very steep ascent. We were rewarded well by the hard work as this lookout provided magnificent views over the national park and hotel, which divides two beautiful lakes. President Sarkozy was staying at the hotel at this point, apparently. Unfortunately for Bernhard, we didn´t get to spot him or, more importantly, his lovely wife!
Next we cycled to Colonia Suiza which is supposed to be a Swiss-style colony, a couple of kilometers outside
of town. It didn´t appear very Swiss to us, more fairytale like. Here we decided to sample the cheese fondue and some locally brewed beer for Bernhard and ice cold white wine for Liza-Marie. This was a mistake as the wine went straight to Liza-Marie´s head - probably because of the sun and strenuous exercise! The result was that she was in no shape to complete the remaining 24 km of the circuit and we decided to head back from where we came. On the wobbly way back, we stopped next to a lake to appreciate the view. Climbing back onto our bicycles, Bernhard noticed Liza-Marie looking like an idiot with her helmet on backwards (perhaps too much wine?). We cycled back to the rental place - in Liza-Marie´s case not the in the straightest route possible.
This was the extent of our activities for our first visit to Bariloche.
In Bariloche with Abel and Karen
This time we flew from Buenos Aires to Bariloche (paying an arm and a leg). We originally booked into a nice hostel with private bathrooms (Marcopolo Inn), for the sake of the parents. Abel and Karen were reasonably nervous finding out
we booked them into a
youth hostel but they originally stated that they would fit into our style of traveling. We had our doubts and rightly so: after three nights, Abel called it quits as a result of the noisy bar in the hostel. We found two cabañas (bungalows), just outside of town where we could stay in more privacy and tranquility with the added bonus of being able to have some
braais. This was the best decision ever! It was very nice to be in a homely atmosphere for a change. We can highly recommend El Alguila as it was spotlessly clean, well maintained and run by very friendly Argentineans.
Our activities during the first three days consisted of relaxing, eating well (with many chocolates and once again, lamb) and showing Abel and Karen around. One evening we celebrated seeing them again by drinking good champagne and having snacks on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi at sunset. The atmosphere and view couldn´t be more perfect.
After being lazy for so long, we took a bus to Cerro Catedral, which holds the biggest ski center in South-America and has good views over the surrounding area. We took
a Teleférico (cable car) three quarters up the mountain and then a ski-lift for the remainder of the ascent. Liza-Marie and her father were quite nervous with the heights - it is hereditary after all. It was a first time for all of us on a ski-lift, but unfortunately there was no snow. The views from the top were magnificent and we enjoyed some beers and snacks at the restaurant at the top. After the descent we passed an apple tree laden with wild apples and we helped ourselves to them.
The following day we went for a tree-top tour which basically entails one zip lining down a mountain between the tree-tops. This was a lot of fun and we had some incredible views. Liza-Marie and Abel stopped too soon at the same place on one of the zip lines and had to pull themselves up to the platform which caused an anxious moment or two for both of them. Bernhard and Karen, however, really enjoyed the excursion from the start as was evident by their smiles and shrieks of laughter. The platforms are built quite high into the trees with the result that those with vertigo had a
few bad moments in the beginning. Everybody enjoyed it in the end, though. The trees were amazing in this forest. After the tree-topping, we all walked the 1 km to Colonia Suiza where we once again had cheese fondue and beer.
Another day we visited the Fagnolio chocolate museum where they explained to us the intricacies and history of making chocolate. It was surprisingly very interesting and we sampled the most divine hot chocolate before starting the tour. Afterwards we ascended Cerro Viejo with a ski-lift, where we had a light lunch. Cerro Viejo is the closes peak to Bariloche and has good views over the lake and town. Liza-Marie and Bernhard took the toboggans (wheeled sleds, sliding on a fiberglass path) and raced down the mountain, which was loads of fun. Abel and Karen missed out on this one!
We were eager to do a hike but Abel and Karen were not up for it so we decided to do a day trip to Volcan Tronador and the famous Black Glacier instead of doing a two day hike. Volcan Tronador is on the border between Argentina and Chile and is covered by 7 glaciers. Tronador means
Thunderer 
Abel and Karen on ski-lift
on the way to Cerro Catedralin English and it was named this by locals in reference to the sound of falling blocks of ice. On the way there we drove through the Nahuel Huapi National Park and we stopped at a couple of miradors overlooking the breathtakingly beautiful Lake Mascardi which is also known as the
Lake of Seven Colours as the colour changes from blues to greens and back again as you go. We had a magnificent view over the lake with the most intense turquoise colour - it was absolutely gorgeous! We stopped at a small settlement called Pampa Linda for lunch. From here we had a good view of the glacier clad Volcan Tronador. We were lucky so see a large block of ice break off although we were quite a distance away.
Mount Tronador is famous for it´s Black Glacier at the foot of the mountain. The glacier is originally white at the top of the mountain and it is said to be the only Black Glacier in the world. The glacier is black as a result of the black sediments that is dragged down the mountain as the glacier moves forward. At first glance it looks like gravel but
as one gets closer you can see large blocks of ice in the brown lake at the bottom. We were lucky again as we arrived at the site to see a large block of ice bobbing in the lake with loud gurgling and hissing sounds and big splashes as a huge ice-block had broken off from the foot of the glacier, far beneath the surface. We were mesmerized and sat in silence watching the glacier, hoping to see another block of ice breaking off at close range. Once again, the loud cracks and sighs that emanates from the glacier were amazing.
It was quite sad to learn that the area we were standing on was once covered by the glacier. We were also standing in what was left of the volcano´s crater.
On the way back from Mount Tronador we had a 30 minute stop and we hiked to a small waterfall on the other side of the mountain from the glacier. That was the only hike we got to do in Bariloche!
Other than this, we ate lots of lamb and chorizo, having many
braais, or barbecues. Liza-Marie was also the undefeated champion of Big 2
(poker-based card game), having won almost all the matches.
We would love to see Bariloche in the winter, hopefully we will be able to do so soon. Please take note that there are many pages of photos in this blog.
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