So long, Argentina! 10/15/26

Today we'd bid farewell to Bariloche and travel overland to picturesque Puerto Varas ... over the mighty Andes Mountains.  From Argentina into Chile.  This would be pretty much an all-day affair, but at least we'd be favored with very scenic views along the way, snow-capped peaks, jagged rock towers and many lakes.  Puerto Varas is located deep within Chile's Lake District.

Bye-bye Cacique Inacayal Hotel and our room with its phenomenal window-wall, and views of beautiful Lake Nahuel Huapi and the snow-covered Andes!  Yowza!

We'd been advised that the border crossing might take a long time, as there could be several large tourist busses in front of us.  Chile has strict biosecurity rules -- we'd been told to avoid bringing fresh food, including fruit, veggies, or unsealed animal products with us, and so on.  OK!  We had our passports and ID's.  The group mustered out of Argentina with no problem and we entered the No-Mans-Land area between the two countries, a buffer zone with exit and entry checkpoints in separate buildings separated by several miles of sparsely maintained roadway as neither country wants to fix it.

Snow on the ground -- it was chilly up here at Cardenal Samoré Pass.

Ah-ha, Jimmy has one foot in Argentina and the other in Chile, the short pole marking the official point.  It had been decided that the Andes Mountains (the highest point) would mark the border between the two countries, all 3,298 miles.

And different pavements mark where the two countries split.  Also the tall red pole behind me.  Then, it's back on the bus.  We encountered no difficulty at the Chilean checkpoint!  Hallelujah, we began our descent toward Puerto Varas.

Evidence of the Calbuco Volcano's 2015 eruption that covered miles of Chile in hot ash.  The eruption ended 40 years of dormancy.  Our local guide, Carolina, witnessed the whole thing, telling us how frightening it was.  The trees above were choked by a couple of feet of ash.  You know we hoped for no eruption today!  

Chalbuco:  Don't wake up!

Descending into Chile, all of us could feel the difference almost immediately, seeing the area grow greener.  Blue sky began to appear and the air felt warmer.  Soon we saw lots of flowers and trees blooming.  We could definitely tell we were on the wet side of the Andes.  It felt sweet.

Above is Chilean Firebush (Embothrium coccineum), and these small trees dotted the landscape, adding much color.

Our lunch stop was at a car museum in Monocopulli, Chile -- a Studebaker museum! Jimmy was in heaven seeing all the cars. Me? After a quick walk-through, I wandered around outside, as usual. Cars and chicken for lunch at the cafe!

All Studebakers!  No Smart cars!

Really?

Before long, we began seeing THIS guy!  OMG!  Caro told us this was Osorno Volcano (which we called The Pointy One, to distinguish it from all the others in the neighborhood!).  It's an 8,000' stratovolcano, and though in geological terms it's still considered an active volcano, the last eruption was 1869.

Blow me down, if this wasn't the view from our hotel (The Radisson in Puerto Varas)! Osorno stands on the southeastern shore of Llanquihue Lake ... isn't this an amazing sight?  We are enjoying fine weather, too, although our guide, Javi, continues to remind us that in Patagonia rain can and does fall at any time. 

It's early spring here and the lake water comes from snow melt, yet here you see people playing in the water.  Now, isn't this an amazing sight?!!

Lastly, before dinner, a "learning and discovery" class was held at the bar on how to make a Pisco Sour.  A few of our group participated in the drink making, and most folks joined the tasting and drinking, though neither of us did.  The process turned into high hilarity (as you can imagine) and we all had a great time.  We walked to our restaurant, where we enjoyed seafood dinners (Yum, king crab!).  We'll be in Puerto Varas for two nights.  More tomorrow.

Fun times! 10/14/26

 

Today we'd embark on two activities, one familiar, one not. First, we'd travel by our little bus out to the Patagonian steppe to visit a local family (the Haneck's) and go for a horseback ride!  Apparently riding a horse is the most traditional way to explore this part of the world.  We were game ... but we didn't want to ride in the rain.  The lady of the family, whose name was Monica (I think) lent me her rain jacket in case drops fell.  Good idea, 'cause I'm sure that's why the rain held off!  

Their place is located roughly 15 kms from our hotel in Bariloche inside the Nahuel Huapi National Park area, much of it on a very rough road, compliments of ongoing flooding rains.

Here's a picture you don't see every day!  I don't know how to ride a horse.  I don't know anything about horses, except they're way bigger than me.  Consequently, I'm a bit afraid of them.  The gauchos helped each of us "hop on," so that part was easy.  The horses followed the leader, mine was second in line.  We were told, "one hand on the rein, the other on the saddle," so I couldn't take pics, but the scenery was green, soggy wet, and very scenic.  The horse and I became friends; her name was Monique or something like that, so I chatted with her.  She didn't do anything stupid to make me look bad. 😉.

The one picture I took.

After the ride, we enjoyed a traditional Argentine asado (barbecue) featuring beef, lamb, sausage, homemade bread, and family-brewed craft beer.  I forgot to get a pic of the feast, but above the group poses.  The Haneck family has been in the area since 1874, migrating from Germany -- just one of the many European families who were given land by the Argentine government as a reward for helping establish a border between Argentina and Chile.  Nice hosts.

Jimmy and I both liked our horse ride very much.  Clip-clop, clip-clop.

After that, we chose the optional raft excursion on Limay River.  The river was as high as people had seen it in forever, and very fast.  Very fast.  No real rapids were involved, tho we did make it to maybe a Class One section.  Just fun!  Nine of us, above, plus the boat guide/steerer (new word invented by me).  The landscape was dry, similar to our northern deserts, and the rock (mostly basalt) was fantastic.

Remember, it's only early spring here in South America,

some trees are barely in leaf.

This rock face was awesome with its natural stone steps!  Enlarge the pic if you need to, it's quite a sight.  We spied lots of similar stone faces, but this was the best I saw. 

Loved being on the river. It originates at the eastern end of the Nahuel Huapi Lake and meanders for about 240 mi, eventually meeting the Neuquén River and together they become the Río Negro.

Too soon it was over and we disembarked at a farm, where we were served empanadas, salads, bread and drinks.  Very tasty light repast after our float.  Above, the bridge to a small island on their property was awash.

Spied a few critters today!  Bright fella top left is a Long-tailed meadowlark, at right is one of several guanacos, bottom right are male (white) and female Upland geese, bottom left Neotropic cormorants park on a tree branch over the river.

This area is the ultimate in picturesque.

Showers here and there ...

The lake that fronts our hotel and the origin of Limay River.

What a majestic sight.  Who would tire of it? Not us.

At the hotel, we naturally gravitated to the indoor pool and a lovely swim.  Whew, lucky lucky us.  Tomorrow we'll travel south to Puerto Varas, Chile.

Bariloche, Argentina, 10/12/26

 

It was only a couple of hours in the air flying above the clouds south to Bariloche, and as we neared the airport, the plane descended below the gray overcast ... and suddenly this vista appeared before us!  Imagine!  We'd heard Bariloche called, "Little Switzerland," but OMG, we were not prepared for this stunning sight.

We'd spend the next three nights at the wonderful Cacique Inacayal Hotel, our room overlooking 40-mile-long Lake Nahuel Huapi, below.  The lake and the snow-capped Andes.  Wow, lucky us!

After settling in, the group went on a Bariloche walkabout.  The city of roughly 140,000 is the gateway to Patagonia's Lake District.  The day being very fine, Bariloche was full of people Out and About.  Also it might have been a day off for people celebrating Indigenous People's Day; otherwise known in the US as Columbus Day. We found and joined a protest parade ... the majority of those participating were Mapuche.  They are the largest indigenous people of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. Their name means "people of the land" (mapu for land, che for people) in their native language.  We walked in their protest parade for several blocks, below.

A giant Monkey Puzzle Tree outside our fourth-story window.

Zoom in on the treetop.

Check out these two sunrise photos the following morning!

Above and below.

 

On Tuesday, the 13th, we began our morning driving to Campanario Hill, and a chairlift ride up a steep peak, climbing high above the tree line for a panoramic view of Patagonia's scenery.  After photo-ops, we descended, which was a bit scarier than the ride up!

WOW!

This short video shows a little more of the overall picture.

It was pretty chilly up here, though the elevation was only about 3400'.

Stupendous views.

A few of the bird species we saw today:  Clockwise from top left:  Black-faced Ibis, Ashy-headed Goose, Southern Lapwing, Chimango Caracara, and another shot of a Lapwing.  We encountered lots of those Ibis and Lapwings.

We made our way to the municipal park (above) where we embarked on a learning hike with our local guide, Marta, who made it even better with her extensive knowledge of the park and its flora/fauna. 

Argentine mistletoe (Ligaria cuneifolia) bloomed all along our hike.

A forest within a forest.  Here we started a short walk winding through a dense Andean forest that is home to the most famous concentration of arrayanes (Luma apiculata) or Andean Myrtles.

Certainly two different types of trees here!

As the hike progressed along the dirt trail and wooden walkways, the landscape was surrounded by twisted, cinnamon-colored tree trunks that are smooth to the touch and always cool (true, I touched). The area has been protected as a national park since the 1930s to safeguard this unique ecosystem. The more twisted the trunks, the older the trees. Very different. These trees need to have their feet wet.

We ended our two-mile-plus-loop here at (oh heck, which lake was this?).  What a terrific hike, especially with Marta as our guide.

 

Next was lunch (and beer) at Gilbert's.  While the group learned about making beer, Jimmy and I wandered the grounds, so very green and alive with birds.  I enjoyed a lentil stew, while Jimmy gobbled up his wild boar stew.

Truly, a most wondrous spot on earth.

As we returned to the hotel in our little bus, we stopped for a final photo-op which was teeming with kids, above.  They were so excited to see Americans and each of us was surrounded by a gaggle of kids who were trying out their English.  "What is your name?"  "Where are you from?"  (oooh, California!) And one asked me, "How old are you?"  I replied, "One-hundred and seventeen."  OOOOOH, they howled.  I don't think it would've mattered what I answered.  It was great good fun. Above, Ed and Debbie are questioned (and another photo-op) by these Spanish-speaking young people.

Ahhh, we were back in time for a dip in the heated indoor pool, followed by a soak in the hot tub.  Hi Jimmy! Nothing better!

All-in-all, a terrific day.  Dinner was at our hotel, but I couldn't tell you what we ate.  We were tired from all our activity, but pleasantly so.  Bedtime came early.