21st November continued
On our way down we wondered weather to visit the falls or leave the park, we were tired
so we decided to find a place to stop and rest. We checked our another beautiful hotel,
but a little expensive and we were in such a mess, after our adventure that we didn't fit
in, we carried on towards Bolson, there was snow on the mountains, we later found out
that this was strange this time of the year. Alex was lucky!
Arriving in Bolson it was still raining and cold, we decided to take a look at cabañas
Viejo Vado, lovely for 23 us a night,and decided to stay for 3 nights,we asked the
owner for a restaurant recommendation, and ended up at Amancay, we had a delicious
and relaxing
meal with wine for 28 us.
22nd November
A late rise in the morning we went to a trout farm and bought some very fresh fish,
the guy pulled them out of the water and banged them on the head, minutes later they
were in a bag on the way back to our cabaña, we made a lunch of trout stuffed with
boar ham, and relaxed with the television, all afternoon "home", we later went to see what
was happening with our return tickets, with no luck again!
But with one thing we were lucky, we found out that the road from Bariloche had been
closed that day due to the snow storm, lucky we had come straight here.
23rd November
We went for a drive to lago Puelo, a picturesque lake set in between the mountains, to
our delight flocks of black necked swans were very near the shore, we got closer to take
some pictures, but, a bus load of school kids parked and out they came, shouting and
throwing sticks into the water, Birds were gone :-(
In the afternoon we decided to visit some waterfalls, they were very small, but the roads
and woods were full of flowers, and to our delight, the person in charge of the area had
some dried "colmenilla" mushrooms, which we bought from him, we took a walk and
tried to find some fresh ones, but the weather was not right, but the walk worth it.
We then visited a farm and bought fresh eggs, milk and bread from a very nice
woman, she also sold jams
and other bottled goods.
24th November
Our last day in Bolson, we really are liking this small village, and would stay for
another week, never less, we pack up our van and go and visit the local market, buy
yet more dried mushrooms, cherries and strawberry's, the market is really hippy, lots
of hand made articles, a great food area with empanadas of every type, home brewed
beer, we were tempted to stay on for a Argentinian style curanto made by a group of
mapuche women who were in town promoting their culture, but we wanted to see more of
Argentina.
We decided to take the "ruta de los Alerces" and we made the correct decision, after a few
kms of the typical dry landscape, we were driving on a road through forests of trees,
amazing blue and green lakes, the dirt road was bordered with yellow "retama" flowers,
and more "lupulos" in all the shades of blues, purple and pink. In the middle of this
beauty, disaster struck! another flat tire ( the first one had been before Mendoza with a
garage near by ) It was still raining, and Fernando finally took up the courage to try
and change the tire, with cardboard on the floor the keep him dry out of the puddles,
and a raincoat, he finally accomplished the deed, I was very proud of him, through he
wasn't that happy as he was covered in mud!
We continued along the gorgeous road and tried to find a nice place to stop, this time we
wanted to enjoy the countryside.
It was still raining but maybe this would be our last chance to sleep in the wooded
Andes, we found a parking spot and started searching the forest for wood to make a
fire, after getting a supply big enough, we lit the fire with our last dry wood and put
the rest near so it would dry, we were lucky, it was not raining hard, Alex tried fishing
again, and after an hour gave up and left his rod in case a fish came along during the
night :-)
We put a blanket on a log and sat down to enjoy the heat from the fire and watched the
flames grow and send small fireworks into the sky.
25th November
Alex went to fetch his rod, it had tangled badly during the night, but nothing that
could not be mended, we took a walk, and then continued to Trevelin, another rainy
day, we found an Internet café and called home and again tried to call about out flight,
no luck... We got our tire repaired, the guy was very nice working on a Sunday.
Now it was time to try a tea house, we went in not knowing what to expect, the owner, a
descendant of welsh immigrant's, came and asked: how many teas? I asked if there
was not a menu, no. So we asked for 3 tea's, and what a surprise we were in for!
First we were served slices of homemade bread, white and brown, butter, cheese, 3 types
of homemade jam including rhubarb, then we were treated with a platter of six different
cakes, 3 slices of each!
It was so good, YUM!
It is still raining, we continue towards Esquel and as the weather doesn't seem to want
to change we continue in the direction of the coast, as we leave the Andes behind us,
tears come to our eyes, will we ever see them again, I hope so!
The road runs through very dry territory, the hills on each side are made of red stone,
the formations in some places are amazing, we get out to stretch our legs, the wind
almost blows Isabelle away, a couple of parrots fly past, we look for fossils, Another of
Alex's hobby's ( an other being fishing). Fernando calls, he has found something that
looks very much like a shoulder bone, we take some back to the van, even if it is not
really a dinosaur bone at least Alex has the thrill of his life.
The road continues we stop at a gas station to try and fill up our tank and buy milk
for Isabelle, we are out of luck, the station only has power a couple of hours a day, the
workers were inside spending the day doing ?? and smoking cigarettes. A life difficult
for me to understand.
We find a gas station in the next town and are able to fill up and buy milk, it is
getting late, Fernando wonders weather we should spend the night at the station, i is
dirty and the wind is shaking the van, we still have a few hours of light, so we decide
to continue.
I put a leg of lamb in the oven, we drive the sun starts to set, and the mountains turn
gold and the river we are following shines a bright blue, it made me feel like bursting
out in song, but everyone might have thought I am madder than they have ever
imagined, the meat was almost cooked and Fernando was getting tired, we were lucky!
again! We found a place just off the road, a little lower so we were protected from the
wind and from anyone being to curious about us. After some difficulty's with getting
the van leveled enough to sleep comfortably, we took a small walk and sat down to a
delicious meal. And had a very good night's sleep.
26th November
We continue, we pass blue lakes with flamingos,and then nothing, just the occasional
sheep, rabbit or vulture, We arrive in Trelew and try to find a store open to buy fresh
bread and veggies, along comes a policeman with a big smile on his face, what a nice
man, but this turns out not to be true, he has a smile because he believes he will get a
bribe from us! After asking all sorts of questions and accusing us of having stolen the
van, we get angry and we start asking him questions: full name, licence number,rank
etc, he starts to get nervous, giving us a false name he walks away with a red face.
We find an anonimo supermarket and finally do our shopping and have lunch right
there in the parking.
We head along a road full of rubbish that has been blown with the wind and no one
wants to do anything about it, this town left a very bad taste in our mouths.
We arrive at the camping ACA at Puerto Madryn, it was very full of busses, and other
campers, this was a new experience for us, as all the places we had visited yet had been
almost empty and for ourselves. We walked down to the beach, we saw the flat areas
that were cut out of the rocks and that were used by the welsh inmigrants to build there
homes when they first arrived in Argentina.
We explored the ponds left by the low tide, and then returned to the van, it was a very
noisy night.
27th November
We drive towards Peninsula Valdes, we decide to take the coast road and come across
some amazing beaches, after stopping and seeing other vans and campers we decide to
spend the night.
While sitting on the stony beach we see a spout of water, is it a whale? We get excited,
but no, it was just a wave, after dinner we go for a small walk under the very starry
sky, it was freezing, we really wanted to hear a whale sing, but we were here too late in
the year.
28th November
We continue to the park of Valdés, on the way we stop and see a guy with a super
telescope searching for whales? He lets Alex use his scope to see a family of guanacos
that are on a nearby beach, he tells us that he works for a tour company in Puerto
Madryn and that his job is to locate sea animals so that the boat can take its clients to
view them, he also tells us that there are usually birds over the area where the dolphins
or whales are.
At the entrance of the park we visit the museum and ask for information about seeing
the Orca whales, we are told that they are seen in two places: Punta Norte and Caleta
Valdés, at high tide. What we didn't know was that high tide was at a different time at
each place.
We went to find a tour office in Puerto Piramides and asked about whale sighting, we
were told that there was one whale and her baby nearby, but when we saw the boat full
of tourists with yellow life jackets on, it wasn't so appealing.
continue...
On our way down we wondered weather to visit the falls or leave the park, we were tired
so we decided to find a place to stop and rest. We checked our another beautiful hotel,
but a little expensive and we were in such a mess, after our adventure that we didn't fit
in, we carried on towards Bolson, there was snow on the mountains, we later found out
that this was strange this time of the year. Alex was lucky!
Arriving in Bolson it was still raining and cold, we decided to take a look at cabañas
Viejo Vado, lovely for 23 us a night,and decided to stay for 3 nights,we asked the
owner for a restaurant recommendation, and ended up at Amancay, we had a delicious
and relaxing
meal with wine for 28 us.
22nd November
A late rise in the morning we went to a trout farm and bought some very fresh fish,
the guy pulled them out of the water and banged them on the head, minutes later they
were in a bag on the way back to our cabaña, we made a lunch of trout stuffed with
boar ham, and relaxed with the television, all afternoon "home", we later went to see what
was happening with our return tickets, with no luck again!
But with one thing we were lucky, we found out that the road from Bariloche had been
closed that day due to the snow storm, lucky we had come straight here.
23rd November
We went for a drive to lago Puelo, a picturesque lake set in between the mountains, to
our delight flocks of black necked swans were very near the shore, we got closer to take
some pictures, but, a bus load of school kids parked and out they came, shouting and
throwing sticks into the water, Birds were gone :-(
In the afternoon we decided to visit some waterfalls, they were very small, but the roads
and woods were full of flowers, and to our delight, the person in charge of the area had
some dried "colmenilla" mushrooms, which we bought from him, we took a walk and
tried to find some fresh ones, but the weather was not right, but the walk worth it.
We then visited a farm and bought fresh eggs, milk and bread from a very nice
woman, she also sold jams
and other bottled goods.
24th November
Our last day in Bolson, we really are liking this small village, and would stay for
another week, never less, we pack up our van and go and visit the local market, buy
yet more dried mushrooms, cherries and strawberry's, the market is really hippy, lots
of hand made articles, a great food area with empanadas of every type, home brewed
beer, we were tempted to stay on for a Argentinian style curanto made by a group of
mapuche women who were in town promoting their culture, but we wanted to see more of
Argentina.
We decided to take the "ruta de los Alerces" and we made the correct decision, after a few
kms of the typical dry landscape, we were driving on a road through forests of trees,
amazing blue and green lakes, the dirt road was bordered with yellow "retama" flowers,
and more "lupulos" in all the shades of blues, purple and pink. In the middle of this
beauty, disaster struck! another flat tire ( the first one had been before Mendoza with a
garage near by ) It was still raining, and Fernando finally took up the courage to try
and change the tire, with cardboard on the floor the keep him dry out of the puddles,
and a raincoat, he finally accomplished the deed, I was very proud of him, through he
wasn't that happy as he was covered in mud!
We continued along the gorgeous road and tried to find a nice place to stop, this time we
wanted to enjoy the countryside.
It was still raining but maybe this would be our last chance to sleep in the wooded
Andes, we found a parking spot and started searching the forest for wood to make a
fire, after getting a supply big enough, we lit the fire with our last dry wood and put
the rest near so it would dry, we were lucky, it was not raining hard, Alex tried fishing
again, and after an hour gave up and left his rod in case a fish came along during the
night :-)
We put a blanket on a log and sat down to enjoy the heat from the fire and watched the
flames grow and send small fireworks into the sky.
25th November
Alex went to fetch his rod, it had tangled badly during the night, but nothing that
could not be mended, we took a walk, and then continued to Trevelin, another rainy
day, we found an Internet café and called home and again tried to call about out flight,
no luck... We got our tire repaired, the guy was very nice working on a Sunday.
Now it was time to try a tea house, we went in not knowing what to expect, the owner, a
descendant of welsh immigrant's, came and asked: how many teas? I asked if there
was not a menu, no. So we asked for 3 tea's, and what a surprise we were in for!
First we were served slices of homemade bread, white and brown, butter, cheese, 3 types
of homemade jam including rhubarb, then we were treated with a platter of six different
cakes, 3 slices of each!
It was so good, YUM!
It is still raining, we continue towards Esquel and as the weather doesn't seem to want
to change we continue in the direction of the coast, as we leave the Andes behind us,
tears come to our eyes, will we ever see them again, I hope so!
The road runs through very dry territory, the hills on each side are made of red stone,
the formations in some places are amazing, we get out to stretch our legs, the wind
almost blows Isabelle away, a couple of parrots fly past, we look for fossils, Another of
Alex's hobby's ( an other being fishing). Fernando calls, he has found something that
looks very much like a shoulder bone, we take some back to the van, even if it is not
really a dinosaur bone at least Alex has the thrill of his life.
The road continues we stop at a gas station to try and fill up our tank and buy milk
for Isabelle, we are out of luck, the station only has power a couple of hours a day, the
workers were inside spending the day doing ?? and smoking cigarettes. A life difficult
for me to understand.
We find a gas station in the next town and are able to fill up and buy milk, it is
getting late, Fernando wonders weather we should spend the night at the station, i is
dirty and the wind is shaking the van, we still have a few hours of light, so we decide
to continue.
I put a leg of lamb in the oven, we drive the sun starts to set, and the mountains turn
gold and the river we are following shines a bright blue, it made me feel like bursting
out in song, but everyone might have thought I am madder than they have ever
imagined, the meat was almost cooked and Fernando was getting tired, we were lucky!
again! We found a place just off the road, a little lower so we were protected from the
wind and from anyone being to curious about us. After some difficulty's with getting
the van leveled enough to sleep comfortably, we took a small walk and sat down to a
delicious meal. And had a very good night's sleep.
26th November
We continue, we pass blue lakes with flamingos,and then nothing, just the occasional
sheep, rabbit or vulture, We arrive in Trelew and try to find a store open to buy fresh
bread and veggies, along comes a policeman with a big smile on his face, what a nice
man, but this turns out not to be true, he has a smile because he believes he will get a
bribe from us! After asking all sorts of questions and accusing us of having stolen the
van, we get angry and we start asking him questions: full name, licence number,rank
etc, he starts to get nervous, giving us a false name he walks away with a red face.
We find an anonimo supermarket and finally do our shopping and have lunch right
there in the parking.
We head along a road full of rubbish that has been blown with the wind and no one
wants to do anything about it, this town left a very bad taste in our mouths.
We arrive at the camping ACA at Puerto Madryn, it was very full of busses, and other
campers, this was a new experience for us, as all the places we had visited yet had been
almost empty and for ourselves. We walked down to the beach, we saw the flat areas
that were cut out of the rocks and that were used by the welsh inmigrants to build there
homes when they first arrived in Argentina.
We explored the ponds left by the low tide, and then returned to the van, it was a very
noisy night.
27th November
We drive towards Peninsula Valdes, we decide to take the coast road and come across
some amazing beaches, after stopping and seeing other vans and campers we decide to
spend the night.
While sitting on the stony beach we see a spout of water, is it a whale? We get excited,
but no, it was just a wave, after dinner we go for a small walk under the very starry
sky, it was freezing, we really wanted to hear a whale sing, but we were here too late in
the year.
28th November
We continue to the park of Valdés, on the way we stop and see a guy with a super
telescope searching for whales? He lets Alex use his scope to see a family of guanacos
that are on a nearby beach, he tells us that he works for a tour company in Puerto
Madryn and that his job is to locate sea animals so that the boat can take its clients to
view them, he also tells us that there are usually birds over the area where the dolphins
or whales are.
At the entrance of the park we visit the museum and ask for information about seeing
the Orca whales, we are told that they are seen in two places: Punta Norte and Caleta
Valdés, at high tide. What we didn't know was that high tide was at a different time at
each place.
We went to find a tour office in Puerto Piramides and asked about whale sighting, we
were told that there was one whale and her baby nearby, but when we saw the boat full
of tourists with yellow life jackets on, it wasn't so appealing.
continue...
 |
| |
 |
