Packing, unpacking, repacking, packing . . . Doing this every few days does not help you feel settled. After our first 5 weeks of moving around every few days, we thought we would try a new method of travel, staying put. Since the Lake District is somewhere we wanted to spend a good portion of time, we searched for a place on Airbnb (if you haven’t heard of it, look it up, excellent way to travel!). We found a great place about 20K outside of the city of Bariloche, meaning it was closer to the activities and sights that Bariloche has to offer (biking, kayaking, hiking, boating, etc).

Our home away from home: The place we picked was a private room in a house on a Lagoon. The place was very well reviewed on Airbnb, so our expectations were high. When we arrived even our highest expectations were blown away! The place was gorgeous and perfectly located. We’re still trying to figure out how we can get a place like this in Seattle;  a custom home on the water is totally reasonable, right?

Around the house: As you can see from the pictures above, hanging around the house is not a bad way to spend a day. We enjoyed our home away from home by: hosting our own Superbowl party (with Spanish commentary), cooking every day and even making some local cuisine (we made our own chicken Empanadas!), swimming at least once a day (the exception being one day we just floated with life jackets on after a long hike – No judgment please kvh and sam ), and kayaking around the lagoon.

Daily Adventures:  Aside from just a lake front view, our place was accessible to many other activities, as it was right next to Nahuel Huapi National Park. We had time to do most of what we wanted: we biked the Circuito Chico loop, went to the top of Cerro Campanero lookout, visited Puerto Blest by boat, hiked to the top of Cerro Catedral mountain, and explored the Sunday market at Colonial Suiza.

• Circuito Chico is a 26K loop that weaves its way through most of the lakes in the region and through Nahuel Huapi National Park. You pass by Llau Llau the most famous hotel in Argentina; Arlen would not recommend this place because on our way up to see the hotel the entire pedal to his bike fell off (gotta love rental bikes!)! Needless to say, the staff at Llau Llau were not eager to help him out. Luckily, we found someone to call our bike rental shop and they brought him a new bike.  Once back on the road, we entered the National Park and found our favorite part of the loop, Villa Traful beach. The beach was tucked away down a mile long dusty dirt road, but when we got there we were stunned by the crystal clear turquoise water. It didn’t take us long to put on our suits and go for a swim! To finish it up we enjoyed 3 for 2 frozen margaritas and the view at Punto Panoramico, the highest point on the loop.

• Cerro Catedral is the biggest ski center in South America. Karen wondered why we decided to hike a ski mountain (when it seemed like something we should be doing on a snowboard), but once we started making the climb, she realized that the trail wasn’t right under the chairlift, but instead went through the forest on the backside and to a small mountain lake surrounded by jagged peaks. The lake was much needed as it was close to 95 degrees!

We don’t want to bore you with too much more writing, so here are some pictures of the other activities we enjoyed.

After two weeks in the Lake District we are heading east on a 20 hour bus ride to . . . Buenos Aires!

 

 

 

After a few days of RnR post Torres del Paine, we decided to cross back from Chile to Argentina and head North to the Lake District. Since one-way flights in Argentina are pretty expensive, the better method of travel is by bus. We stocked up on snacks and boarded the bus for our 28 hour ride from El Calafate to Bariloche, AR. We don’t really remember how we filled the time , but it definitely consisted of a lot of card games.

The Lake District in Northern Patagonia is where a lot of the local Argentinians come to vacation. It is known for the deep blue, turquoise, and green colors of the lakes and the surrounding volcanos and mountains. Intrigued by the beauty of Volcano Lanin, we then headed from Bariloche to Junin de los Andes, which is the best access town into Parque de Nacional Lanin. We were interested in attempting a summit of Volcano Lanin, a 2 day assent, but since a guide is required  guide we weren’t able to arrange something on short notice. Our Plan B was to camp in the Parque and trek part way up the Volcano; Plan B turned out to be amazing!

Once in Parque de Nacional Lanin we chose to camp closest to the Volcano trail-head, at Campo Ecofer. At the campsite you have the option to take a small boat 100m across the lake to a secluded campsite right under the volcano. To call the boat you simply ring a bell, and a kid rows the boat from the other side of the lake to pick you up . . . pretty sweet. The campsite is nothing short of incredible. Imagine setting up camp in a field of green grass shaded by trees, right on the water, with a Volcano hovering over you. To make it even better, the campsite is run by a small family on their farm, so while hanging at the site, there are beautiful horses strolling around, sheep grazing, parakeets calling in the trees, and roosters to wake you up in the morning. Peaceful and relaxing just start to describe this feeling.

We set out to do the Lanin de Sur Trek (Trek up the south face of Volcano Lanin), which follows the river towards the base of the Volcano. The route was surrounded by the Araucaria (or monkey-puzzle trees), which are spiky green trees with large cones on them. After a few hours of hiking we missed the main path at a river crossing and instead continued following the river up the valley. After a steep rock scramble up the side of the mountain we managed to enjoy some snacks and views right under the volcano.

Since we quickly fell in love with this place, we wanted to stay a third night. However on the 3rd day we woke up to clouds and rain and decided it was time to leave. To get out of the park there are 2 buses, one at 11:40 and one at 6:40. After packing up our campsite and taking  the small boat to the other side of the lake, we were surprised to see the bus start pulling away. After a few screams and an attempt of running after it (feels like elementary school), we gave up. We hitched a ride a few kilometers down the road to the information center and a hosteria / restaurant. After about an hour of unsuccessful hitchhiking attempts, we decided it is best to wait for the next bus. The hosteria was run by a really generous guy who allowed us to hang out in the restaurant and enjoy cafés while waiting for the next bus.

Since we had time to kill, and since Arlen recently purchased a nice new camera, we thought it would be fun to have a Photographer-Off during our wait. The rules: the photographer gets 3 pictures attempts of the other person in an attempt to take the best shot. Here were the two leading pictures. Which is your favorite?!

Coming up on our next post, Vacation from the Vacation!