From El Bolsón we went north, back towards Bariloche and the familiar territory of Nahuel Huapi National Park. This time we had decided to explore Pampa Linda, where we planned to hike and camp in the park. We received a bit of a nasty shock when we arrived at the park and were faced with … Continue reading Pampa Linda and the 7 Lakes Drive
Month: March 2019
A bit of illicit scrambling in El Bolsón
We put the border debacle behind us, camped at a delightful campsite / vineyard just over the border and pushed on early the following morning to make the long journey to Lago Puelo and El Bolsón. The scenery was more what he had imagined of Argentina, less rugged and forbidding than Patagonia with wide open … Continue reading A bit of illicit scrambling in El Bolsón
How not to cross a border – Futaleufú, Chile to Argentina
We made absolute tits of ourselves at the border crossing from Chile to Argentina. Getting ourselves across the border was very easy; the car was another matter entirely. We had our passports, driving licences and the car ownership documentation all ready to go. We knew that we had permission to cross the border because we’d … Continue reading How not to cross a border – Futaleufú, Chile to Argentina
Oh look some more hills, we must climb them! – Parque Pumalín & Futaleufú
We’d used up our time allocated to Parque Pumalín hiding from the rain, so we didn’t really feel like we had been able to get as much out of it as we would have liked but there's nothing that you can do about the weather. We picked up food for lunch in Chaitén and then … Continue reading Oh look some more hills, we must climb them! – Parque Pumalín & Futaleufú
Puerto Montt and the start of the Carretera Austral
The bus journey to Chile went incredibly smoothly, once through the Argentine border we drove through 40km of cloud to get us to the Chilean border where we disembarked with all of our belongings and stood in a line watching the absolutely gorgeous sniffer dog wag his way around our bags. Three hours later we … Continue reading Puerto Montt and the start of the Carretera Austral
The hike to Refugio Frey – Bariloche
James has been silently dying to do an overnight hike and do it properly, carrying our tent and all of our gear with us. Bariloche sits in Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi and this park provided the ideal opportunity to realise his dream. The day started fairly easily; with only 4 hours of hiking ahead we … Continue reading The hike to Refugio Frey – Bariloche
Touring town and cycling Circuito Chico – Bariloche
We had two options getting from El Chaltén to Bariloche: a 24-hour bus or a 3-hour bus and 2-hour flight. We aren’t that hardcore, particularly when the easy option is only slightly more expensive, we flew. We met an Irish couple in La Vineria who had opted for the bus; as it left at 9pm … Continue reading Touring town and cycling Circuito Chico – Bariloche
To climb or not to climb? Further forays from El Chaltén
After our first disastrous night in the tent we learned from our mistakes and donned absolutely every piece of clothing that we owned and slept much more comfortably for the next two nights. On our fourth morning in El Chaltén we collapsed the tent, ready to move into a hostel for the last couple of … Continue reading To climb or not to climb? Further forays from El Chaltén
Lacing up our boots again in El Chaltén
The 3-hour bus trip from El Calafate to El Chaltén is absolutely stunning with endless stretches of scrub land, lakes, mountains and the occasional animal; we saw a rhea and some llamas, there was much excited pointing at these. The final section of the journey is particularly spectacular as the road makes a beeline for … Continue reading Lacing up our boots again in El Chaltén
The Rolling Stones 