That evening I made salmon sushi, I had never tasted better salmon and we ate yet
more seafood, but I cannot get used to the size of the mussels, I think I like the small
ones better. We talked on what direction we should take next, I really wanted to drive
the "carretera austral", but the crossing would cost us 100 us, we didn't quite know
what times the ferry's crossed and how many days we would loose, we would have to
miss out on Bariloche or Valdés, and also, time was precious for us as every day was
costing us 112 us for the motor home, and even more if we overdid the kms.
That night a Storm blew up, the whole shack was shaking, rain came in a few places, it
was a little scary.
18th november
It was still raining, we decided to head back to Argentina via Angostura, we drove on a
different route, and passed many lakes and villages, but, because of the bad weather,
we didn't enjoy the beautiful mountains and volcanoes that are usually (?) to be seen
along this road.
On the border I stayed in the van and steamed the salmon we had left, just so customs
would not take it from us, but it wasn't necessary, Argentinian customs just wanted
to peep into the van and were a little embarrassed about invading our "home".
We arrived at Angostura tired, we went into the Anonimo Supermarket to shop and
decided to go to a restaurant and sleep right there instead of paying for a camping and
doing all the setting up. It was a laugh, a nice change to eat out ( not as good as own
cooking ) and a giggle to think we were sleeping in a supermarket parking, we were
getting bold! We slept with the sound of rain..
19th November
The next day we were woken by the trucks delivering to the supermarket, we had
breakfast and drove towards Bariloche.
As soon as we left Angostura the rain stopped, it was true what the lady at the San
Rafael museum had said: the rain come from the Pacific Ocean and gets caught by the
Andes, soon the vegetation became dry again, we circled the Lake and found ourselves
in Bariloche, it was raining again!
We decided to rent a room again for a couple of days, it is impossible to live in the van
when it is raining..much too small for 4 people, if we had been just two, it would have
been perfect
We parked and took a walk around the town, and visited the tourist office, they were
very helpful and gave us a list of hotels and marked off the ones in our price range.
And again enjoyed drawling at beautiful store windows full of chocolates and alfajores.
We did buy some chocolate, but again, it seems our standards are too high, or we have
been pampered too long by our Swiss guests who have always bought chocolate with
them, Mario and Catherine being the worst! They once gave us 5 kg. of chocolate, and, I
think it all went on my behind :-(
We left this German-like village and headed towards the Andes on a road called the
circuito chico, We looked at a few bungalows, but they were not on the beach side, I
wanted something with a view of that amazing lake, Fernando was getting nervous he
doesn't like searching for a place to stay, he would always take the first place that come
along, but he agrees to continue a little more, we come across a camping and it has little
cabins, go and take a look, the cabin itself was very simple, but the location couldn't be
better, the front was all window, from it the view was of a garden full of flowers and
the lake in the background, WOW! The camping grounds were also lovely, full of big
trees.
The Camping petunia bungalow cost us 25 us per night.
We took a walk, and after while, Alex and Fernando played with stones by the lake and
tried to fish, I prepared a pasta dough and used my new pasta machine ( we had boght
it in Buenos Aires) to make salmon ravioli, Isabelle helped, and we changed flour for
mud, I don't know which was worse.
We had a lovely dinner, and went for another walk and just enjoyed the sunset and the
views, we found a bird sitting on her eggs on the beach just in front of the cabaña, she
screamed every time we came near her, but Alex got some very good pictures.
20th November
We decided to drive la ruta chica, we visited la colonia Suiza, and the smoking house
weiss We were given many things to try, and came out with a lot more.
The route is amazing, the scenery couldn't get better. waterfalls, lakes, flowers
everywhere, forests of big old trees....
We later went back to our little cabin and played games,went for walks, Alex spent a lot
of time trying to fish, we also used the internet to call back home and check mails, we
had a mail from LAB telling us to contact them as our flight home was cancelled! ( due
to the little amount of people wanting to visit Quintana Roo after the hurricane and
that the airport was still not working ). I got the number and tried to call, but nobody
answered, they just put me on hold for ages, I gave up. ( We later found out that their
had been a airport strike and everyone was calling airlines). We decided that we had
time to sort it out.
We went into the town to take Alex to see the prehistoric animal museum, according to
our map it was just down the road from the center, we walked and walked, there was a
freezing wind coming from the lake. We finally saw the sign, the museum was a small
building just below, we had to carry the push chair down a slippery path, we smiled at
the sight of this "impressive" building and decided to go and treat ourselves to alfajores.
In the evening we had neighbours in the room next door, it really ruined it as we could
hear every detail of what they were saying, it just did not fit in with the scenery.
21st November
We had wanted to reach Perito Moreno glacier, but as a lot of other people we had made
the mistake of thinking that it was in the town of the same name it is in Calafatte
actually, a lot further south, it dawned on us that, we were not going to have time so we
decided to visit glacier Tronador.
We left Bariloche and headed towards Bolson to find the road to Tronador, as we started
driving I noticed that with the slow rain a little snow was falling, I pointed out the fact
to Alex, he was so excited. But the best was yet to come..
We drove on, the road to Tronador was a small dirt road, and you can only travel in
one direction at certain times of the day. We came to a bridge that
advised that only vehicles weighing less that 3 tons could cross, we stopped, and took a
look into the freezing transparent deep blue water, it did look inviting, but something
inside us said that if we went fell in we would freeze.
We waited and then asked a passing car if it was safe to cross, they told us that
tourist buses crossed daily, so on we went, holding our breath, and we made it!
The road winded up through lakes and waterfalls, at one moment we even had to drive
through a part of a lake, it began to snow again, and as we got higher we were driving
through snow, a Spanish tourist stopped us to ask if he would have a problem driving,
we said we doubted it, but of course, we had food and wine :-). Further up we passed a
lovely looking hotel, and a place where tourists stop to view the black ice that is pushed
down from the glacier, there were at least 4 buses with tourists, the road further on was
fresh snow with no tire tracks, we asked if it would be safe to drive up to the glacier, we
were told that it was safe and even better before the snow was crushed and become
slippery with the buses going through, so on we went, we were the first to arrive, all the
snow was clean and bright, as soon as we got out of the van we heard it: a loud
crashing sound that was similar to thunder, Tronador was angry!
We walked up closer, Isabelle was a bit upset with the cold weather, but Fernando showed
her that she could eat the snow like ice cream and she started to enjoy herself.
She and Alex couldn't have been happier, the snow was falling on to our heads from the
trees above, it didn't feel cold as there was no wind, The glacier groaned a few more
times and we went back down the mountain as the tour buses were going up.
We stopped at Ventrisquero negro and Alex and I went to get a closer look. Before going
out of the park we stopped for coffee and lemon pie in a restaurant and warmed up by
the fire.
continue
more seafood, but I cannot get used to the size of the mussels, I think I like the small
ones better. We talked on what direction we should take next, I really wanted to drive
the "carretera austral", but the crossing would cost us 100 us, we didn't quite know
what times the ferry's crossed and how many days we would loose, we would have to
miss out on Bariloche or Valdés, and also, time was precious for us as every day was
costing us 112 us for the motor home, and even more if we overdid the kms.
That night a Storm blew up, the whole shack was shaking, rain came in a few places, it
was a little scary.
18th november
It was still raining, we decided to head back to Argentina via Angostura, we drove on a
different route, and passed many lakes and villages, but, because of the bad weather,
we didn't enjoy the beautiful mountains and volcanoes that are usually (?) to be seen
along this road.
On the border I stayed in the van and steamed the salmon we had left, just so customs
would not take it from us, but it wasn't necessary, Argentinian customs just wanted
to peep into the van and were a little embarrassed about invading our "home".
We arrived at Angostura tired, we went into the Anonimo Supermarket to shop and
decided to go to a restaurant and sleep right there instead of paying for a camping and
doing all the setting up. It was a laugh, a nice change to eat out ( not as good as own
cooking ) and a giggle to think we were sleeping in a supermarket parking, we were
getting bold! We slept with the sound of rain..
19th November
The next day we were woken by the trucks delivering to the supermarket, we had
breakfast and drove towards Bariloche.
As soon as we left Angostura the rain stopped, it was true what the lady at the San
Rafael museum had said: the rain come from the Pacific Ocean and gets caught by the
Andes, soon the vegetation became dry again, we circled the Lake and found ourselves
in Bariloche, it was raining again!
We decided to rent a room again for a couple of days, it is impossible to live in the van
when it is raining..much too small for 4 people, if we had been just two, it would have
been perfect
We parked and took a walk around the town, and visited the tourist office, they were
very helpful and gave us a list of hotels and marked off the ones in our price range.
And again enjoyed drawling at beautiful store windows full of chocolates and alfajores.
We did buy some chocolate, but again, it seems our standards are too high, or we have
been pampered too long by our Swiss guests who have always bought chocolate with
them, Mario and Catherine being the worst! They once gave us 5 kg. of chocolate, and, I
think it all went on my behind :-(
We left this German-like village and headed towards the Andes on a road called the
circuito chico, We looked at a few bungalows, but they were not on the beach side, I
wanted something with a view of that amazing lake, Fernando was getting nervous he
doesn't like searching for a place to stay, he would always take the first place that come
along, but he agrees to continue a little more, we come across a camping and it has little
cabins, go and take a look, the cabin itself was very simple, but the location couldn't be
better, the front was all window, from it the view was of a garden full of flowers and
the lake in the background, WOW! The camping grounds were also lovely, full of big
trees.
The Camping petunia bungalow cost us 25 us per night.
We took a walk, and after while, Alex and Fernando played with stones by the lake and
tried to fish, I prepared a pasta dough and used my new pasta machine ( we had boght
it in Buenos Aires) to make salmon ravioli, Isabelle helped, and we changed flour for
mud, I don't know which was worse.
We had a lovely dinner, and went for another walk and just enjoyed the sunset and the
views, we found a bird sitting on her eggs on the beach just in front of the cabaña, she
screamed every time we came near her, but Alex got some very good pictures.
20th November
We decided to drive la ruta chica, we visited la colonia Suiza, and the smoking house
weiss We were given many things to try, and came out with a lot more.
The route is amazing, the scenery couldn't get better. waterfalls, lakes, flowers
everywhere, forests of big old trees....
We later went back to our little cabin and played games,went for walks, Alex spent a lot
of time trying to fish, we also used the internet to call back home and check mails, we
had a mail from LAB telling us to contact them as our flight home was cancelled! ( due
to the little amount of people wanting to visit Quintana Roo after the hurricane and
that the airport was still not working ). I got the number and tried to call, but nobody
answered, they just put me on hold for ages, I gave up. ( We later found out that their
had been a airport strike and everyone was calling airlines). We decided that we had
time to sort it out.
We went into the town to take Alex to see the prehistoric animal museum, according to
our map it was just down the road from the center, we walked and walked, there was a
freezing wind coming from the lake. We finally saw the sign, the museum was a small
building just below, we had to carry the push chair down a slippery path, we smiled at
the sight of this "impressive" building and decided to go and treat ourselves to alfajores.
In the evening we had neighbours in the room next door, it really ruined it as we could
hear every detail of what they were saying, it just did not fit in with the scenery.
21st November
We had wanted to reach Perito Moreno glacier, but as a lot of other people we had made
the mistake of thinking that it was in the town of the same name it is in Calafatte
actually, a lot further south, it dawned on us that, we were not going to have time so we
decided to visit glacier Tronador.
We left Bariloche and headed towards Bolson to find the road to Tronador, as we started
driving I noticed that with the slow rain a little snow was falling, I pointed out the fact
to Alex, he was so excited. But the best was yet to come..
We drove on, the road to Tronador was a small dirt road, and you can only travel in
one direction at certain times of the day. We came to a bridge that
advised that only vehicles weighing less that 3 tons could cross, we stopped, and took a
look into the freezing transparent deep blue water, it did look inviting, but something
inside us said that if we went fell in we would freeze.
We waited and then asked a passing car if it was safe to cross, they told us that
tourist buses crossed daily, so on we went, holding our breath, and we made it!
The road winded up through lakes and waterfalls, at one moment we even had to drive
through a part of a lake, it began to snow again, and as we got higher we were driving
through snow, a Spanish tourist stopped us to ask if he would have a problem driving,
we said we doubted it, but of course, we had food and wine :-). Further up we passed a
lovely looking hotel, and a place where tourists stop to view the black ice that is pushed
down from the glacier, there were at least 4 buses with tourists, the road further on was
fresh snow with no tire tracks, we asked if it would be safe to drive up to the glacier, we
were told that it was safe and even better before the snow was crushed and become
slippery with the buses going through, so on we went, we were the first to arrive, all the
snow was clean and bright, as soon as we got out of the van we heard it: a loud
crashing sound that was similar to thunder, Tronador was angry!
We walked up closer, Isabelle was a bit upset with the cold weather, but Fernando showed
her that she could eat the snow like ice cream and she started to enjoy herself.
She and Alex couldn't have been happier, the snow was falling on to our heads from the
trees above, it didn't feel cold as there was no wind, The glacier groaned a few more
times and we went back down the mountain as the tour buses were going up.
We stopped at Ventrisquero negro and Alex and I went to get a closer look. Before going
out of the park we stopped for coffee and lemon pie in a restaurant and warmed up by
the fire.
continue
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