Villa la Angostura
Two things we haven’t mentioned just yet. First are the pink sheepskin booties for Bennett’s birthday (Charlie’s Goddaughter). We picked them up in Calafate, very cute and very Patagonia. Bennett’s birthday has long since gone at this point, but in spite of looking every day for a post office we had been unable to either locate a post office or we’d fine one that was closed for siesta. The 2nd thing is that we also hadn’t done laundry since before we met up with Bryan so the clean clothes were running out quickly. Bryan is quite familiar with Villa La Angostura, our next stop, so we had high hopes. We arrived in Villa (pronounced Vee-Jah in Argentina) around 1:30 and since it was raining we headed into town for some lunch. After lunch we popped by the Correo, or post office, to send off the booties. No luck, siesta. So we headed to find the Lavanderia, but they were also on siesta. Sooo, dirty clothes and all we went back to the hosteria and the boys geared up for a bike ride, Rawson chose to stay at the pad and chill instead of mountain biking in the rain, and it was a good choice. 7:00 come around and the wet boys returned, showered up and settled in for some footie (Chile vs Uruguay ended tied- great result for Chile. South Africa 2010 is looking better and better). It rained sideways all evening like we were in Florida in summer!
Thursday morning we had breakfast in the hosteria and then went to check out Bariloche, located in the opposite corner of Lago Nahuel Huapi. On the drive over, about an hour, we saw the most amazing rainbow over the water in front of the town. It was the most vivid rainbow any of us have ever seen. We checked the town out and then took the chair lift to the top of a mountain to see the stunning views of Bariloche. Luckily the rain broke for us for the lift ride and view from atop. Afterwards we had the option of continuing around the lakes or heading back to town for a big parrilla lunch. We opted for the lunch, obvio. What a fantastic meal and wine. We couldn’t abandon the scenery so we drove up to Llao Llao resort to check out where the high rollers stay. We were immediately chased off by security as we attempted to check out the newly built super plush part. Apparently Bryan’s pull wasn’t impressive to the security guy guard as he sprinted down a hallway to catch up to us. Knowing our place we headed back towards Villa to get ready for dinner. Charlie insisted on a sunset stop off on the Rio Bonito to wet a line(fish). We were racing against the sun and couldn’t get access to the known better spots on the Bonito, but Rawson and Bryan got to witness some exceptionally messy casting in high winds and rain. Fun for all! After an hour of watching Charlie stumble through the river in his borrowed waiters which bared a striking resemblance to the K-mart specials August D was once lucky enough to score, first fishing effort was called on account of darkness. For dinner, we went to a local place where the boys got meat, again, and Rawson just couldn’t do it and had a salad. Early to bed, early to rise.
Charlie woke early and headed out for a morning cast on the Rio Correntoso. No fish landed there but claims to have gotten a MONSTER on the line. No witnesses, no landing, no fish. We packed up and moved on. It was another day of rain so we had a slow start toward San Martin de los Andes, along the Seven Lakes drive, which is a incredibly scenic 101 kilomreter drive from Villa. After the requisite rally driving (no other option on all gravel roads), at km # 17 we were waved down by a trucker, who promptly told us we had an issue. Bryan, our driver for the day, got out, walked to the front of the car and busted out laughing. We all jumped out and had a look. The noise Rawson had heard a few minutes prior apparently was the front license plate getting torn partially off and proceeding to drag off of the front of our Puegeot 207. Well, let just say that Rawson was laughing so hard she almost peed her pants. The video we took is a nice depiction of the incident. That was the most hysterical moment yet. However, never fear, like good boy scouts, Charlie and Bryan had insisting on buying some duck tape a week earlier before hiking in Paine. 20 minutes later, we were easing back onto the gravel with high hopes of a successful McGyver rigging. We had to take a breather from the laughter and stopped at a road side, dirt road, café for a bite. Miguel our host couldn’t have been nicer. Still pouring outside, we had a Chocnac next to the fire. Chocnac is a hot chocolate with a little cognac, delish. We chatted up Miguel and found out that there is a spot nearby that the fishing guides hang out. So we headed there so Charlie could get some good info for his last day of fishing in Patagonia. The spot was right on Lake Meliquina. We went in and met Martin, the master fishing guide from LA/Argentina. He was born in Argie but moved to LA early on, then back to be a guide in Argie. Charlie pulled out his Patagonia fishing book and Martin asked to see it and sure enough his picture was right inside. What a find. After much discussion about where to go the next day, Martin finally said he’ll take us now. So we loaded up and headed 30 minutes downstream along Rio Meliquina for some fly fishing. Charlie landed about 10 in the hour we were there before sunset, nice job Carlos. Dark and raining, we stopped off back at Martin’s so he could hook us up with a place in San Martin that his brother in law runs. What a find. La Bora was perfect! A two bedroom, two level cabana with a fire place and a sweet patio. Perfect for us. We cleaned up and headed out to a lovely dinner at La Casona. We loved this little Swiss style town. Early to bed and early to rise. We had breakie at a café in town and saw a little protest before heading to the Argie/Chile border. No idea what it was for.
Saturday, a day of finding great fishing spots to wrap up Patagonia. We stopped off at a couple of rivers for Charlie to cast into. We found one that looked promising. High winds, massive willow-like river bank trees (oh, and no waiters at this point) did not improve the fishing. In fact the only thing Charlie hooked that day was himself… twice. After the second frustrated attempt, no one wanted to stand close enough to watch. That was that, no fish, but a nice time. Along the way we crossed through the Araucaria “Forest” next to the border. The sky broke just in time for us to catch some shots of these special trees in front of the volcano. Araucaria trees, known as Monkey Puzzle, are the oldest living species of trees. They are survivors from the dinosaur age. Our comment was, if you fell off of a mountain bike onto one of those, you’d basically be impaled. They are super prickly but just lovely. We said adios to Argentina for the final time on our trip and headed west to Pucon!
Chi-chi-chi Le-le-le. Pucón
Another long day in the car. At this point we’re getting slightly car weary; we’ve had enough of the rain and cold. We dropped down into the town of Pucón which is next to the Volcano Villarrica, which we intended to hike the following day. We hit the town and needed food, so we grabbed a late lunch of empanadas and fish. We needed to find a place to stay and Bryan had a couple of ideas, but as the season just ended here, many were closed. So we were on our own. We checked out one spot and it was just too expensive, so we hit their next door neighbors. Nice find. Amazing overlooks of the lake sloping down from the cabins. They gave us a great rate on our 2 bedroom cabaña. These cabañas are like little town houses really. They all have kitchens, living room and bedrooms; most also have fireplaces, which is key for us at this point. We lit a fire, checked out our photos and just snacked for dinner.
Sunday morning was raining, shocking. We took it easy, had Nescafe and cereal and changed the plan. Instead of hiking the Volcano we decided to check out the termas, or natural hot springs, nearby that Bryan’s aunt and uncle had visited, the Termas Geometricas. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, as Bryan mentioned to us in route, that the adverts for the place recommended a 4-wheel drive. Ah, we’re old hat at this ridiculous off-roading in completely unsuitable vehicles at this point! Arrived no problem. It rained all day, which couldn’t have been more perfect for the termas. The property was designed by the same architect that designed the Explora Hotel in Paine. We spent about 4 hours there just hopping from one pool to the next. Check out the photos, it was truly stunning and just what we needed. All parties agreed these were the nicest hot springs we had ever seen. There were all nestled along a narrow ravine where hot and cold sources combine. They have just really nailed blending this place into the surroundings. After the hour and a half drive back we changed and hit dinner in town. Parrilla again! Monday was a long morning of just relaxing. We were all just plain worn out at this point. Our flight was at 2:00 to Santiago. We returned the beaten down Peugeot and boarded our flight. Viña here we come!
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