chile | oliviatamccue

Bariloche, Patagonia in Swiss Style

by ccue

Bariloche has a lot to offer for a relaxing vacation and makes it a popular destination for travellers in the region.

San Carlos de Bariloche is about a two hours flight north of El Calafate. Having lived in the Northern Atmosphere for my whole life, we believe going north means going to cooler weather, only to discover it works the other way in the Southern Atmosphere. We were met with warmer weather in San Carlos de Bariloche. We rented a car for the first time in Argentina with the places we plan to visit being more spread out. The car rental experience cannot be more different from the rental experience in the States. It took us over an hour, mostly waiting with only us in the line, to get the rental. When we finally got to the parking lot, the Avis rental lady took a lot of pictures of an unassuming Fiat. She carefully showed us the repair kit and spare tire, reminded us of the speed limit and the police camera before emailing the rental contract with all the pictures she had taken. It turned out the extra caution is not a sign of danger, more that the city has narrow roads, and is not always paved.

We safely arrived at our Airbnb which is on a narrow street. Fortunately, our Airbnb host Mariano met us outside and there was a very small parking garage. Airbnb reminded us of the beautiful Airbnb we had in Buenos Aires. It is a 2-story unit on the 7th floor with a great view of Nahuel Huapi Lake. Nahuei Huapi Lake is a massive, crystal-clear glacial lake in Argentina’s Patagonia region. The Chilean Border is only about an hour and a half drive.

San Carlos de Bariloche downtown has a street lined up with many chocolate stores. Even though the chocolate is not as world renowned as Swiss Chocolate, the quality is equally good, and we recommended “Nanpui” for their chocolates. Almost all the chocolates sold have warning signs of “too much sugar” and “too much fat” on the box. These signs do not deter any customers. From the chocolate street, it was an easy stroll to the lake front. There were some antique cars events on the day, and the city center was crowded with spectators. After a month in Argentina, we craved Chinese food and had an early dinner at Wong, one of the only two Chinese restaurants in town.

If you only have a day, the Circuito Chico is a convenient one-day road trip. There are chairlifts and hiking trails to walk up to enjoy some gorgeous views of lakes and mountains. The Llao Llao hotel is a top 5 star hotel with rustic cottage decor and a good place to enjoy snacks. Its service does not live up to the 5 star standard. The Colonial Suiza, a small Swiss-style town, can only be reached through gravel roads. We drove so very slowly that the rental Fiat handled the gravels without causing a flat tire. There were small ships good for getting some souvenirs, and we got some Patagonian tea bags. In Patagonia, the animals do not seem to be scared of people. We saw a small fox stopping in the middle of the road and did not seem to care.

If you have more than one day, the seven lakes road trip would take you to Nahuei Huapi and Lanin National Park. It makes a full day trip on a scenic 110-120 km stretch of the famous National Route 40. There are lakes after lakes, small and large. Living up to the Patagonia wilderness, there are only two big towns: Villa de Angostura and San Martin de Andes; there are hardly any other small towns or inhabitants in between. Angostura is a charming small town with shops and eateries, and better roads. These lakes remind me of Lake Tahoe, equally beautiful. The seven lakes are enhanced with the surrounding forestry landscape and at times the beautiful bright yellow Scotch Broom and purple Lupines lining up along the freeway. It is an easier road trip with the well paved National Route 40 that connects the national parks of Argentina in Patagonia.

If you have more than two days, there is a boat trip to Victoria Island and Forest of Arran where Sequoia Trees, Black Sand Beach, Native Trees and Hiking trails await.

Bariloche is Patagonia with peaceful lakes, Swiss atmosphere, chocolates and National Parks connected through a myriad of roads, from unpaved to well paved, with speed limit from 20, 40, 60 and 80 km per hour.

Few travellers spend five weeks in Argentina on their first trip to South America. We had experiences for a life time.

The End

Dear Diary Misc. Travel

El Calafate, first stop in Patagonia

by ccue

Patagonia’s snowy mountains, the glacier and natural beauty can remind us of Alaska (My 2021 trip to Alaska). They are different from each other. Alaska is about 1.6 times the size of Patagonia and its glaciers are about 4 times larger. South America is far different from North America in culture, their languages are different, and the history is very different. Patagonia has comparatively milder weather, and has some world famous hiking trails such as the W trek and the Laguna De Los Tres trek. For us, both Alaska and Patagonia offers once-in-a-life experiences.

The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan discovered the land and coined the name Patagonia five hundred years ago. Was he in awe of the natural beauty? Did he admire the Perito Moren Glacier? Did he track the strenuous Laguna De Los Tres trek to get a good look of Fitz Roy? Or simply treasure its vastness? The term “Patagonian” (or Patagon/Patagón) historically denoted the “giants”, the tall natives with big feet compared to the Spanish colonist. Patagonia has not been useful in commercial purpose until the industrial revolution hundred years later, with the consumer interests in wool. Patagonia spreads itself across Chile and Argentina. Argentina has the majority share of Patagonia but the smaller neighbor Chile has arguably the more famous Torres del Paine National Park, the popular W trek. Last November we flew into El Calafate from Buenos Aires, and had a memorable two weeks in Patagonia, Argentina.

Travelling to Patagonia requires some good planning. There is no easy international direct flight to El Calafate, Patagonia. It took us 8 hours to fly from Iguazu (IGR) to El Calafate (FTE) via Buenos Aires (AEP). El Calafate is the southernmost city among the places we have been to, so far. It has a lot to offer but is more known as the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park and the massive Perito Moreno Glacier within.

Perito Moreno Glacier

My first impression of El Calafate is the beautiful turquoise color and the tranquility of the huge Lago Argentino (Lake Argentina). I hoped the car, taking us to our Airbnb, moved slower so that I could appreciate the lake and the first Patagonian impression slowly from afar.

The Airbnb is a comfortable unit, located 15 minutes walk to the downtown. The proximity to the touristy downtown area is why we picked it. It turned out that to walk to the touristy downtown, we needed to pass through the neighborhood with a few run down houses, some half done construction and several stray dogs that were not particularly welcoming. I am afraid of dogs so that did not help. I made a mental note to check the neighborhood of future Airbnb carefully and not just rely on its proximity to touristy areas. (Fortunately, we picked another Airbnb when we came back a few days later to El Calafate. That other Airbnb is arguably one of the best decorated Airbnb cottage with a colorful garden of beautiful Lupines and a remote view of the Lake).

The next day, we joined a one-day tour, inclusive of all transportation and a boat ride, to Moreno Glacier inside Los Glaciares National Park. Moreno Glacier looks like a gigantic flat top “icy mountain” with jagged landscape that look like cliffs and spires on its sides. Because of its vastness, the glacier does not look like its average height of 240 feet above the surface of Lake Argentino. In a direct comparison, the Perito Moreno Glacier is larger than the city of Buenos Aires!

To take the Moreno glacier all in, we spent a few hours on well paved boardwalks and stairs built across the Glacier. There are plenty of photo opportunities of the different sides of the Glacier. On these boardwalks, we occasionally heard the cracking and thundering noise that reminded us of the glacier calving and the power of nature. To get closer, we took a boat ride to fully admire the gigantic Glacier, its beautiful blue and white floating ice blocks everywhere and its chills. It is a scene to remember for a very long time. Perito Moreno Glacier alone would have been worth the long trip to Patagonia. But there is much more waiting in Patagonia.