After we left Bariloche, we headed south on Ruta 40 to Esquel. This town was a little more confusing but the people were helpful in the tourist office and loaded us up with maps and several full color brochures about areas to visit while we traveled. This is another town just outside of a major ski area, but it lacks the 'cutesy' feel of Bariloche. It's where the rest of the people go, and where nearby Chileans drive for skiing. Much more down to earth.
After spending a noisy night in our guesthouse in Esquel, our next stop was in Los Antiguos on Lago Buenos Aires. This lake is the 2nd largest in all of South America and half of our view of the lake was surrounded by the snow-capped Andes. Breathtakingly beautiful! We took a small hike here down a long and unpaved road to a lovely river. The guy in the tourist office told us to pull off at KM55 and hike to the lake from there. Only, he didn't mention there was no signage and that we would have to cross cattle/sheep fences or ford streams to get there.
We didn't make it to the lake but we had a great walk. Patagonia is a desert and there were very few trees to see on our drive. Fortunately, near the river was a small wood. We enjoyed standing in the shade, until the cold winds blew and we needed the sun for warmth. On our walk we saw sheep, cows, a rabbit, ants... very humdrum as it turns out. We did much better animal watching from the windows of our car.
On our trip we saw a deer, a Nandu and her many chicks (very cute as they ran in and out from in-between their moms' legs as she ran from the car), an armadillo, many guanacos (some with babies), and several thousand sheep. Very beautiful drive - even though in some places the roads were horrible (unpaved with large dips and wash-outs).At this point, we are looking forward to our long bus ride and arrival in Mendoza. My parents meet us there on the 15th. We can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment