December 14, 2012 to January 5, 2013
Fri.- Sat., 12/14-15/12 - Denver to Los Angeles to Lima, Peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina
After spending Thursday night in a Denver hotel because of our early morning departure, we got up at 4 AM Friday and went to the airport. We were met 24 hours later in Buenos Aires. Our three flights were smooth and we were in the air for about 18 hours!
We arrived too early for our rooms to be ready, so Fede, our OAT tour leader, took us on a guided tour of the neighborhood to locate the ATM machines, pharmacies, pizza parlors and cafes, and supermarkets. At 11:15 we went to a local restaurant to get something to eat. (Our last meal was at 3 AM on the plane.) We only had 30 minutes to order ham and cheese on pita bread and a bottle of water. We were five minutes late (Argentina works on "no rush Latin time") to meet the group for an extended walking tour of the area. It was hot (about 85 deg.) and we still wore our warm Colorado clothes. Since the cameras were packed, no pictures of the tour. We finally got back to the hotel around 3pm for a much-needed shower and nap before the Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant. We had red or white wine, bread with a butter spread, beef empanadas (wonderful), steak cooked to order (tender and juicy), French fries, salad, and ice cream for dessert.
| Trip Map | |
| 12/14 - 16 | Estes Park to Buenos Aires to Bariloche, Argentina |
| 12/17 | Bariloche: Mt. Otto hike; Cerro Campanario; Hidden Lake Trail; Brewery tour |
| 12/18 | Bariloche: Floating the Rio Limay |
| 12/19 | Bariloche: Estancia Perito Moreno |
| 12/20 - 21 | Buenos Aires: Plaza de Mayo; La Boca; Corbeta Uruguay |
| 12/22 | Ushuaia |
| 12/23 | Ushuaia: Tierra del Fuego National Park; Embarking Corinthian II |
| 12/24 - 25 | In the Drake Passage |
| 12/26 | Antarctica: Aitcho Island; Port Foster |
| 12/27 | Antarctica: Neko Harbor; Cuverville Island; Port Lockroy |
| 12/28 | Antarctica: Lemaire Channel; Pleneau Island Icebergs; Peterman Island |
| 12/29 | Antarctica: Danco Island; Orcas in Dallman Bay |
| 12/30-31 | In the Drake Passage |
| 1/1 | Ushuaia to Buenos Aires |
| 1/2 | Iguazu, Argentina: Brazilian Falls |
| 1/3 | Iguazu, Argentina: Argentinian Falls; Boating into the falls |
| 1/4 | Iguazu to Buenos Aires to Estes Park |
Map or our main trip (to Antarctica) and pre-(to Bariloche) and post-(to Iguazu Falls) trips
Flag of Argentina
Argentinian license plate
Sun., 12/16/23 - Buenos Aires to Bariloche (Cacique Inacayal Hotel)
We repacked our duffels to leave the bulky Antarctica clothes at the hotel and were bused to the Buenos Aires domestic airport, in the pouring rain, for our flight to Bariloche in Patagonia in southwestern Argentina.
Our two-hour flight was delayed one hour. We sat on the plane while they refueled it. We wondered why this wasn't done before we got on. The answer was that they couldn't refuel during the thunder and lightening storm - good policy.
Our Bariloche hotel room overlooks Lake Lago Nahuel Huapi - quite beautiful.
View of Lago Nahuel Huapi from our Cacique Inacayal Hotel
View of Lago Nahuel Huapi from our Cacique Inacayal Hotel
Shortly after arrival we met for an orientation walk around town. We walked to the Centro Civico (City Plaza) and into the historic old town. Bariloche is the chocolate capital of Argentina (and maybe of all South America) and there were plenty of candy stores in the old part of town.
Street scene - house
Clock tower
Mon., 12/17/12 - Bariloche
On our bus rides today Fede explained about the unique weather and climate here in Patagonia. The planetary winds move west to east and wind from the constant anticyclone activity over the Pacific Ocean brings strong winds and lots of moisture to Chile on the west of the Andes and to the east side here in Argentina. Since the planetary winds cross so much more ocean they carry more moisture than in the North Hemisphere. The mountains will get snow and lots of it to continue the build up of the glaciers. Bariloche is on the same latitude (but south) as NYC but the wind and rain are much different. Along the mountains are forests and further east it is a desert on the Argentine steppes.After panoramic view stops to look at the mountains around Lake Nahuel Huapi, we rode a gondola up to the top of Mt. Otto (1405 meters). We looked down on the several lakes and then took a pleasant hike through the lenga forest. Lengas are distant relatives of our beech trees.
Tramway and cable cars to Mt. Otto
Up we go
Hike on Mt. Otto
Fossils in rocks
Polo grounds in Bariloche from atop Mt. Otto
Looking across at Cerro Catedral Ski area from atop Mt. Otto
Lenga tree forest
Orchid
Bee on a dandelion
Back at the top of Mt. Otto we had lunch at Confiteria Ciratoria, a rotating restaurant with views of the mountains and lakes.
Next we rode a chairlift to the top of Cerro Campanario for views of Lake Moceno. From this height we could imagine the trade route to Chile along these lakes and then by horse or ox cart across the portages.
Chair lift to Cerro Campanario
Color in water is from ash from June 2011 eruption of Puyehue volcano in Chile (there are some gorgeous photos in this link)
Sign showing mountains around Cerro Campanario
Next we took a walk through sub-Arctic forest on the Hidden Lake Trail. This was an easy walk in a forest of two different kinds of Lenga trees and full of dead cane stalks. The cane here looks like bamboo and grows for 60 or 70 years, then it blooms, and then it all dies out. The new seedlings were already appearing.
Church
Patagonian Sierra Finch
Hidden Lake Trail - Dead cane stalks
Dead cane stalks
The next event in a busy day was a visit to a local microbrewery for a "Learning and Discovery" lesson on local beer. Gilbert beer is made of mountain water, barley, hops, and yeast and then is hand bottled. The young brew master can make 300 liters of beer in a day but it takes 40 days before it is ready to be bottled. He also makes a stout beer (by adding chocolate and toasted barley), pale ale, and a red beer. His father now runs a restaurant in the same converted stable and we ate dinner there. We had pumpkin soup served in a shot glass, a round spinach empanada the size of a napkin ring, and beef stew.
At the Gilbert microbrewery
At the Gilbert microbrewery
Rainbow over Lake Nahuel Huapi
