Arrived at the small port of Puerto Bandera by 08.00. We were the first there, just. A guide, who became our personal guide, Marchello, placed us at the front of the queue and excitedly informed us as Captains Club ticket holders we were going to get very special treatment. Front of the boat extra special seats (24 in all) he told us the very best seats are the 4 in the middle. There are 2 sets of 6 seats on either side of the middle 4. He was right, best views and easy access to the two private outside balconies. The boats full capacity if 300, today was only 151. It’s easy to see how miserable the trip would be with 276 pax in the cheaper seats. Today it was fine for all. If you do one of these trips I would recommend the VIP tickets. Free flow booze, soft drinks, tea, coffee etc. We were fed too. On the boat, a. cheese and meat selection. Later on the new platform with restaurant close to Spegazzini Glacier, a stew, don’t go for the meat option, go for the lentil one! The lamb stew was more like mutton, touch as old boots and strong!
We set sail on the large catamaran At 09.00 towards the Upsala Glacier. This took over an hour with stunning views of the lake and National Park along the way. We were rewarded with hundreds of small and larger icebergs broken away from the glacier. Upsala Glacia was still 11km away from the main glacier, but too dangerous to go closer as unstable, however the spectacle was quite magnificent.
Arrived back to the hotel at around 17.00. After a short rest we headed to town and found a great restaurant for a simple supper with a strange iceberg desert, that also included a touch of Flamenco dancing.
Only one road to the glacier and when faced with a fork in the road it’s left. Really do book a hire car, don’t bother with a tour (expensive and not worth it according to other travellers we met in Mendoza) to this area, so much more fun to be independent. It’s about an hours drive on a very good road with the occasional pot hole. The scenery is huge, bleak in some ways but stunningly beautiful, with the changing light and lakes of light blue hues, not forgetting the enormous snow capped mountains, that form the Andes as the backdrop, separating Argentina and Chile.
Entering the National Park, there is an entrance fee to be paid, around US$12 for one day or $20 for 2 days. Payment can be made by credit card or cash. If you do opt for a tour this will be paid on top of your tour cost. The entrance fee is great value as the park has been well cared for, plus has the addition of amazing purpose built walk ways in order to best view the glaciers. Yet again the bird life is very evident, we saw a number of condors and many other bird species.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier located in the Los Glaciares National Park in southwest Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. We have never seen anything like this before and we were mesmerised by the glacier, it’s constant noises of ice dropping or cracking. We walked on a built raised metal pathway to view the glacier up close. There are various trails and you can spend hours there. Thankfully there was a good place for refreshments and toilet breaks prior to entering the trails.
‘Despite that most of the innumerable glaciers worldwide are retreating as a result of global warming and climate change, one of the few unusual glaciers that maintains a state of equilibrium is the Perito Moreno glacier because it continues to accumulate mass at a rate similar to that of its loss. The reason remains debated by glaciologists.’ Wikipedia
Sorry can’t resist more from Hesky’s pictures and of some wildlife that we spotted.
On our way to dinner, we will collect our bag of laundry which we dropped off this morning. Cost by weight again and plenty of laundry places to choose from. Today’s bag US$3! This hotel does laundry but takes 2 days and costs considerably more and will come back folded not ironed (but seriously that is sooo not needed) Forgot to mention parking procedures in Argentina. Park and expect a person with a parking jacket to add a ticket to your windscreen, on your return, the parking attendant will mark your return time and charge you accordingly. Seems to be the same system country wide.
Ate at a Lonely Planet, recommended restaurant for dinner called Buenos Cruces, really good! Great atmosphere and varied menu.
Arrived Wednesday at around 3pm, an hour late and no mention of Aerolineas Argentinas tardiness by any of the crew. This time no upgrade, didn’t win the bid and the check in guy talked about charging for excess baggage. He said he wouldn’t and I did thank him and pointed out that out of BA the Aerolineas people had told us there would be no charge for excess if on this same booked trip we had started with business class and 23 kilos. Anyway will see what happens next sector!. Collected our AVIS car hire, which took a while due to the paperwork process. Definitely book ahead as many people were looking to hire a car and none appeared to be available. Pictures below departing Bariloche and arriving El Calafate.
Almost a Luna landscape, real tundra scenery, with stark mountainous silhouettes and the most stunning light aqua blue almost turquoise lake. A stunning stark scenery. Apparently quite shallow and full of minerals hence the colour. A feeling descends that you are furthest from anywhere else here and most especially home.
As we have two full days here we decided to book one day with a 6-7 hour boat trip covering many areas of the best known ice areas. Big tip, huge, only book the VIP tickets, or so we have been advised. Also the main organiser appears to be Solo Patagonia, so booking through any other agent you will find that you pay more. The VIP tickets do cost more but you are segregated from the masses and get treated well, or so we have read. You are only likely to do this once so go for it. Our tickets were US$150 each for VIP . Other agents were looking for $200 plus for the same trip. Ours did not include transport as we will make our own way there. We booked when we arrived. It seems few of the overseas travel agents who arrange tours for their clients, book the VIP tours so they seem to be more available but cost 50% more.
Checked out a bar it two in town and had dinner at the hotel
Tuesday. A slower start, basic breakfast at 10am. Today’s plan, another attempt at a different part of the extensive National Park for a hike – Parque municipal Llao Llao. However we were also advised to take a ride on a chair lift for a panoramic view of the spectacular lakes Cerro Campanario chairlift.
The car journey to the chairlift was around 20 minutes and well worth the detour. The weather on our side today meant we were presented with incredible views that spanned to the Chilean border Mountain range. There is a good coffee and snack restaurant at the top. It was very enjoyable and more so on the way down when we saw an enormous group of school children ascending the chairlifts! Phew close shave.
Another 15 minutes drive brought us to the area we wanted to walk. Shock horror though, notices told us the trail was closed because of forecast winds. We were sure we had seen others entering earlier. Another couple arrived just after us and decided what the heck, they were going, so we followed. We had seen that the weather forecast was predicting high winds a bit later, which was the worry. However, striding onwards we were rewarded with a real forest in every aspect, except for the well cleared path. Trees of all shapes and sizes, many felled by the elements and others growing in their place. Insects buzzing busily in all directions, birds high above with the camouflage of the forest making them hard to spot. Wild flowers, and bright green grass in various coppice where the sunlight had the chance to break through. Every now and again glimpses of a lake, sometimes with side paths to get to the waters edge. The wind was starting to rustle the trees, sounding like flowing water, so felt we needed to limit the distance, so only managed around 8km. For the hardened trekkers there are many trails with varying difficulty and plenty to see.
Returning to the car park we saw that the ranger was back in his hut and had now added a large red tape to the entrance to the car parking area. Before it was just across the entrance to the path. We slipped away up the bank between two trees! Only one other car remained in the parking area. Our lonely planet guide mentions a Swiss colony established in the early 1900’s – Colonia Suiza – we gave it a cursory visit and from what we saw not really worth the bother. Go if you have the time but otherwise skip it!
Back to the hotel, having collected laundry, good cup of tea, well as good as we have found thus far….bring your own tea bags! Packed up ready for tomorrows departure at 09.00 to El Calafate. Now resting, listening to our Bose micro speaker playing Smooth Radio from the UK, great sound, looking out at the changing colours of the lake and mountains.
Thinking an Alpine Fondue tonight, waistline not suffering too badly but missing my Pilates…. it’s no good I don’t have the discipline to do it solo. The alpine style restaurant (La Marmite – Pot in Spanish in case you were wondering) was perfect and the Fondue more than adequate, washed down with the usual glass or two of Malbec preceded by David’s mandatory bottle of cold Stella!
Another tip, found out it is the law to have your car headlights on at all times whilst driving!
After another average breakfast, we were picked up at 09.15 and set off to the Estancia some 30 km out of Bariloche into the foothills of the Andes mountains. Unfortunately whilst collecting the last of our party in the town the mini bus conked out! 40 minutes later, having got to know everyone a little better, a new bus having scooped us up and driving at some speed along some very rough unpaved roads, we arrived at the Estancia (ranch).
On arrival we were welcomed with tea, coffee, Mate (a peculiar drink made from leaves of a bush growing all over Argentina – said to have properties to stave off hunger) and Patagonian bread snacks. Our gaucho guide gave an overview of the wildlife in the area. The red deer, not native but becoming such a problem that they are now culling the females, Pumas that live in caves in the surrounding mountainous area and the magnificent condors with wing spans of 2 to 3 meters.
‘A gaucho or gaúcho is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The gauchois is a national symbol in Argentina and Uruguay, but is also a strong culture in the far south region of Brazil. Gauchos became greatly admired and renowned in legend, folklore and literature and became an important part of their regional cultural tradition. Beginning late in the 19th century, after the heyday of the gauchos, they were much celebrated by South American writers.’ – Wikipedia
Back to the ranch, our horses were in excellent condition, obviously very well cared for and I discovered during the day, much loved by their gauchos. David with some trepidation mounted his horse, ‘Italco’ a fairy big beast. We weren’t offered any riding hats, so Hesk looked even more the part with his Aussie ‘Jacaru’ hat. I leapt on my horse (ed. Well the Gaúcho gave Lynn a good lift up) Cressida. We were given brief instructions, hold the reins in one hand, gently pull to stop, move the reins left to go left etc. I was near the front of 12 riders and Hesk was right at the back. I tried a bit of a sitting trot and my right thigh started to cramp so stuck with a gentle walk. After about 30 minutes I managed to persuade my mare to go to the back, she wasn’t too pleased. Realised the dust from the 11 horses and the 2 gaucho minders, mostly came backwards! However I stuck it out as felt I needed to keep an eye on Hesky as he was a very reluctant participant! However, it seemed he was managing very well.
The scenery was breathtaking. The main gaucho had explained to us where the condors lived and pointed out the white areas staining the rocks, evidence of their droppings, and location of their nests in the mountains. I was lucky enough to watch 2 condors soaring above the mountainous terrain, but couldn’t get a good photo. He showed us the small cave where Pumas lived but we didn’t see any. David said he half expected to see “Injuns” on the crest of the rocks as we rode thru the valleys such was the nature of the ride. Very exhilarating and definitely must form part of any itinerary in Argentina.
We ended the two hour ride back at the ranch where a traditional Parillas, Argentinian BBQ, awaited us. An excellent meal of Chorizo sausages and steak, with salad, plenty of Malbec and lots of stories shared with our new found riding friends. A good mix of Argentines, German, Swiss and of course us Brits.
On our return in the mini van we asked the driver to stop at a nearby shallow lake where dozens of flame pink flamingos, mostly with their heads submerged, had recently arrived. They had migrated from the Amazon ( 3000 miles to the North) apparently for the first time in 10 years as previous Seasons the lake had been dry. An amazing sight! Not the best photo but zoom in!
Highly recommend one of these half day horse riding tours with lunch, inexpensive at around US$53 dollars a head, a lot of fun with breathtaking views. We only booked it the day before.
Back at the Hotel after a shower to wash the dust away, we took our laundry into town to be collected tomorrow afternoon. Having heard leather jackets are the thing to buy in Argentina we have been on the look out, but so far hadn’t found anything to buy, until today. We both bought one each as a souvenir of our visit. The softest lamb skin leather and very light weight.
Tomorrow we plan to do a little hiking in the Huapi National Park in Llao Llao about 35 km west of here; the forecast weather looks good until the afternoon at least.
Sunday mid morning set off on a leisurely drive from Villa La Angostura, (raining again but lightly unlike a few days ago) to Bariloche, about 90km. All the roads are good, so our current Lonely Planet guide bought last year but published 2016 is a tad out of date. It had warned of unpaved roads on large sections of our journey from San Martin de Los Andes to Bariloche. Scenery is mainly Forest with frequent lake views. Today the lake is very rough with high waves whipped up by the wind. Very dramatic. As we approach Bariloche the terrain gives way to scrub and a rather uninteresting outskirts of the town.
I took over the driving as was feeling decidedly car sick. The car is a basic Nissan March with no central locking. We arrived at our destination at around 2pm, Design Suites Bariloche. After a cup of coffee our room was ready. Scored again, a magnificent room with a panoramic view of the lake and mountains. A jacuzzi bath situated in the bedroom directly overlooking the lake, hmm a tad bit different! May report further on that in due course. A separate shower room en suite.
Once checked in we took ourselves off for a walk around the local town, however the wind was gusting over 50km an hour so we had some interesting moments trying to stay upright. The shopping however was less exciting consisting of chocolate, ski gear shops and chemists.
Parts of the town were very Swiss GermanIn style but other parts had obviously grown too rapidly without much thought to planning. What can’t be disputed is the stunning beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains that constantly changes with the varying light.
We also booked an Estancia day trip for Monday. Finally managed to persuade David to get on a horse for a few hours. Pick up at 09.15 Monday morning. More to follow on that expedition! Definitely losing track of the days now, having been moving about since November 1st.
Ate at ‘Stag’ restaurant tonight, a very good meal with great views overlooking the lake, until it got dark that is when the view went completely black such is the lack of any ambient light. Internet speeds so bad here that I may not be able to upload many pics.
After an excellent sleep in our huge suite, opened the shutters to a glorious day overlooking the lake and snow topped mountains in the distance. The whole hotel is styled on a Tuscan villa, it certainly feels like we are in an Italian corner of Argentina. Ate a big breakfast in anticipation of our 12km walk that would take about 3 hours – of medium difficulty. See below a helpful map of all the trails in the ‘Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi’ It should be possible to open up and make bigger. Basically you register with the park people, pay a small fee and off you go. It also shows times that you must set off by. The animals on the poster denote those one might spy on your walk.
Drove to the ferry by the lake, plan was to take the ferry to the end of the pinnacle (see walk 19, 6-8 hours there and back) and walk one way, back to the car.
We went to buy our one way boat ticket, only to be told the whole park was closed due to high winds – apparently very common for trees to fall in such conditions. We decided to return to the village and collect our laundry. This hotel did not take laundry which is quite common in Patagonia. The solution is simple, go to one of the many laundry places found in any town. Put your dirties in during the morning and they are ready in the evening. Cost around $250 (US$5.50) pesos a load. It’s returned all dried and folded. Anything that can’t go in the drier they hang to dry. Works well. I speak no Spanish and nor did the ladies in the launderette, but we seemed to manage. Nothing requires ironing in Patagonia and if it did it’s the wrong clothing to wear here! An added bonus, we stumbled across in the centre of town, was the World Mountain Running Championships, quite a big deal too.
Next up, decided to retrace some of the journey yesterday as now blue skies with raging winds. This time rewarded with wonderful views. Vast picturesque scenery that takes your breath away. This is where the condors soar, think I have spotted some but they were too far away to be sure. Also took ourselves to another Chile border post.
Enjoying a lovely cup of Ceylon tea (big tip bring tea bags, most of the tea we have experienced has not been to our taste, as most hotels have anything but English breakfast tea and Earl Grey). Wishing we had had that walk today, it would have been amazing, hopefully in Bariloche we can find another one assuming the winds die down. Internet being very slow today – driving me nuts trying to get this finished!
Sunday morning now but internet seems faster! Ate at Nicoletta last night, a surprisingly good inexpensive Italian, the pasta, made fresh on the premises was light and delicious. David still asleep, so no editing, perhaps he will look at it and update later!
Awoke to the forecasted rain. Showered, breakfast and packed up the car for the next leg. We drove the 110km at a reasonable speed of around 60km through the wet weather. Took some pictures but as you can see the visibility wasn’t great. However about 10km from our arrival the sun came out revealing a much better vista.
As the weather cleared we got better views with snow topped mountains encircling the lakes.
Luma Casa de Mountain has taken our breath away. A stunning 9 suite hotel that ban children under 16. Our room overlooks the lake and is way better than their website portrays it.
Tomorrow a big walk planned – more pictures than words today!
Our small boutique hotel (or very smart b&b might be more appropriate) has airy En-suite rooms with French doors to the lovely grounds and a very comfortable bed. Water pressure good in the bathroom too, but like every hotel visited thus far stupid irritating hairdriers! Didn’t bring mine as thinking weight, so now wish I had. These things take ages to dry your hair and then leave you looking like you had your fingers in the sockets! ( Think Bridget Jones on her first away day weekend with Daniel Cleaver). Breakfast fairly good and finally got my favourite, a perfectly cooked soft boiled egg. However disaster nearly struck as I sprinkled a load of what I thought was salt onto my plate, and just before the egg got the same treatment the waitress pointed out that was in fact sugar! Otherwise very amiable host and good chat with fellow interesting guests from Uruguay. Our lack of Spanish is proving sometimes a little frustrating but not insurmountable especially with Google translate.
Having stoked up with a hearty breakfast we took ourselves off on a reasonably challenging hill walk. Had gone almost 600m when we decided might be best to go back and add another layer – at least to cover our arms, it was only 12C. Better equipped we marched off past the lake and strode towards our ascent. Very soon all the additional outwear was dispensed with and put into the backpack. By 1pm it was 21C. We spotted some interesting birds along the way; Southern lapwings & Bandurrias Austral or Black Faced Ibis with the very long beaks. As mentioned before there is an abundance of bird life here.
Fabulous views prevailed the further up we climbed, although a little more challenging than first anticipated. We steadily climbed 800 meters to the summit and were rewarded with a panoramic view of the city (really a small town) , the Vega Maipú, Lake Lacar, the hills Comandante Diaz, Curruhuinca, Abanico, Vizcacha, Sábana and Piedra de Trompul. (Ed. Quite what this all means I’ve no idea but hey it sounds good). On arrival at the top we paid a small park entrance fee as the land belongs to the local indigenous Mapuche who settled these lands several hundred years ago when migrating east across the Andes from Chile. Sadly they appear to live a very primitive & deprived existence with minimal state support. High levels of illiteracy and their language under threat of extinction suggests a less than good outcome for the 200,000 or so indigenous Argentine Mapuche population.
Unsurprisingly coming down was harder on the thighs and the knees, than going up.
View of San Martin de los Andes
Southern Lapwing – I think
Black faced Ibis
Could the yellow blooms that are everywhere you look be forsythia? No idea what the orange flowers were, but very striking.
On arrival back at lakeside we spied a trailer serving burgers and fries and decided that would be the perfect lunch after a good hike. We shared a burger and a large fries covered in mayo and tomato sauce – was probably the best burger and chips ever! But as my mum pointed out, when I spoke with her on WhatsApp this afternoon, after a two hour strenuous walk and hunger pangs, anything can taste good! Bit like shopping in Waitrose when you’re hungry!
Burger joint
Another aside, we have been able to pay for most things by credit card, mostly using Amex. We had read that many places don’t take credit cards but this does not appear to be the case, thus far.
We enjoyed a delicious alpine style fondue tonight and a few glasses of vino prior to a relatively early night as tomorrow we go 120km to Villa Angostura, a car journey south (known as the seven lakes drive) taking us past some of the great glacier lakes towards Bariloche. We have been advised to only go at 40-50kmh as most of the unpaved route has a lot of loose rocks. Let’s hope our little Nissan March survives intact😅
Annoyingly no direct flights from Mendoza to San Martin de los Andes, so had to go via Buenos Aires again. One hour forty minutes, 45 mins on the ground then 2 hours to San Martin etc but yet again David got the upgrade – def thinking he bid too high now 😂 food terrible but great big comfortable seats. Business class consists of 8 seats! From BA to San Martin de los Andes, great views, there was plenty of farming but very little evidence of much habitation. Even descending into San Martin it seemed sparsely populated. It feels wonderfully remote. The airport was tiny and also rather cute. One runway that was also the taxi way.
Amazingly Aerolineas Argentinas was on time again and our bags made it too! We picked up our booked hire car, plugged in the destination in Google maps whilst in wifi and off we went. The main town and our hotel only 30 minutes drive.
The small boutique hotel Casa Eugenia, is delightful with only 9 rooms and a stones throw from one of the lakes and a delightful low rise sleepy town with plenty of bars, restaurants and outdoor adventure shops. It is a major ski resort in the winter and a walkers paradise from Spring onwards. Very noticeable on the way into town, an amazing blaze of yellow, reminded me of the mimosa in France in Spring. I think perhaps here it’s an abundance of yellow flowering gorse. Will capture pictures tomorrow.
Having had a stroll into town and bought a data chip for the just in case times , when not in wifi and unsure of our position (20 days 3GB for about $5 US) . After walking about 6km up and down the charming High Street, we felt in need of a little libation, so strolled towards the lake and found a sunny spot for a drink and a snack. A rather large bird took a liking to David and perched just behind him, apparently locally called a Chimango caracara that eats meat. Looked him up and it is a bird of prey so perhaps Hesk was right to feel nervous! The beauty of the surroundings, the temperature at around 20oC with sunny blue skies, not many other souls and pure fresh air makes San Martin de los Andes a delightful stop in our 7 day journey driving through Patagonia.
Argentina Travel Log 2019 