Wildlife Montage 2009

Some of our wildlife footage from the first year - Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina

Argentina - Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

From Colonia, Uruguay we headed for La Plata in Argentina, as apparently the paperwork headache was easier to deal with there, as all the customs, immigration and Capitanero dos Portos (Port Captain) was all in one place.

Le Plata

We tried no to hang around in Le Plata too long, but by the time all the admin had been done (3 days – extremely speedy), and we had done some shopping, it was 5 days later. Time really does pass differently when you are cruising.

Then into Buenos Aires – the trip there was up the coast and took about 5 hours, we reached Buenos Aires at sunset where we had to wait for a swing bridge to be opened – yes, especially for us. We felt very important sailing into Puerto Madero – right in the centre of Buenos Aires, even stopping the traffic for our arrival!

Puerto Madero yacht club was very much the larney type of yacht club (they aren’t all!) and we enjoyed having a nice secure mooring for the boat, good facilites, and being right in the centre of Buenos Aires. We were able to go and grab a cup of coffee just 100 metres from the entrance of the yacht club or get a bite to eat.

It is always strange when you finally arrive in a destination that you have been dreaming about. Buenos Aires definitely lived up to all the hype. We spent 2 weeks in the centre of the city, and still only managed to see some of the endless list of sights the city has to offer.

Gaucho Dancing

Wherever you go in Buenos Aires, it seems there is some type of festivity going on, and to accompany the festivities are usually either a tango show, gaucho dancing or another variation on that theme – if those are not the actual main attraction! What does vary is the quality of the shows, and we were fortunate enough to happen on some great gaucho dancing.

We had ventured out for a stroll along the boardwalk at the Costanero der Sur – it is a great place to walk your dog, hang and watch the crowd go by, entertain the kids, enjoy a prego roll, ala Argentian style and sip on a freshly squeezed orange juice. We were managing to watch the crowd, entertain Lucy, and so we thought we had better try our hand at enjoying the local cuisine. This proved not too difficult at all, as we all guzzled down an extremely succulent and tasty slice of Argentinian beef on an enormous fresh roll, filled with all sorts of treats like chimichurri – (which is the South American style peri peri herb and oil mixture which spices up anything and everything!) We wandered along the promenade, replete from munching our South American carnivore friendly lunch, enjoying the sites.

We arrived at a square where we were lucky enough to have chosen a day the gaucho dancers were showing off their skills. With skirts swirling and boots stamping, the dancers threw their energies into the music, and it made us want to do the same.

We were fortunate in that when we returned to the same spot a few days later we find that although the costumed gauchos has gone home, there was a relay of dancers from the public doing the same routine.
I went and asked if I could have a go, which they were very happy to oblige me with, little did they realize how much entertainment they were going to get when this silly gringo girl tried a hand (it was more like three feet) at their traditional dance. They were a great crowd, and despite my ineptitude to pick up their steps, I had a great time and no doubt did the rest of the crowd judging by their belly laughing at the site of my attempts.

Bird spotting

Next to the promenade where we saw the gaucho dancing, there is a huge protected wetland area that is teeming with birds of all types. The wetland borders the Rio de La Plata and covers quite a large area, which is crossed by tracks for running or riding a bicycle. We walked one of the shorter routes and where rewarded with a sighting of not one, but two red cardinals. Mom and I both took some snapshots, which I managed to then lose due to a technical glitch. Mum deleted her shots as mine where much better!! So here is a standin shot from the internet of these amazing little birds which have a very beautiful song, that together with their dramatic colouring make them very popular with the caged bird fans – of which there are (unfortunately) many.

The bird life in South America is extraordinary, there are firstly just so many birds here, and they are just so different to the South African birds, that even the plainest most common bird here is a fresh treat for eyes that have been looking at the same birds for decades!

Tango Show

For my birthday (which was incidentally in January – so about 6 months ago) Andrew promised to take me to a tango show in Buenos Aires, at that stage we thought we were about 6 weeks, not 6 months away from arriving here. So when we finally arrived here, a tango show was a definite on the list of treats that cost a bit more, but that we had to do while in BA. You can see tango on every street corner just about, but as with all these things, the quality varies enormously, and if you want the real deal, a quality show with dinner and all, there are again limitless options – so how to choose the right one? We were fortunate to meet an extremely friendly and helpful Buenos Airean fellow sailor by the name of Fabian who helped us out with a multitude of information including recommending some different tango shows and what their pros and cons were. We decided on a middle of the road show that was not too touristy, none of the dancers were professionals, and also a show that was popular with the locals.

The show was held in an old dance hall that had had its’ hey day many years ago (I was going to try and guess what year – but I have no idea), I suppose it must have been about 70 or 80 years old at the least. There were old chandeliers hanging from the double volume ceilings, which were coated with the stained yellow of old paint and cigarette smoke. There were about 25 tables surrounding the dance floor, of which about half were occupied. Mostly with locals, although there was the odd tourist (i.e. us) thrown in. It also appeared that this was a regular spot for some of the visitors, as they knew the dancers by name – which boded well for the evening’s entertainment. The walls of this enormous old hall sported mirrors every 5 metres, enormous, old and with the silvering peeling off the back. The entire hall was paneled with wood, and you could just imagine the parties that used to be held here, if they had anything like as much class as this old hall, they must have been swinging.

The actual show was fantastic, the dancers, as I mentioned not professional, but most of them certainly professional level. There was a collection of dances – lots of tango, some other…. I have no idea what exactly, and then some more gaucho dancing, but at a rather different tempo than what we had seen in the street performances.

It was also great to see the collection of dancers, one couple in particular defying all normal dancing etiquette. She was slim, fit and completely looked the part, while he was definitely not! But they looked amazing, with this larger than life dance lead whisking his waif of a partner around, they looked like they had been made to dance together, it was an extraordinary match, but a match it most definitely was.

The other dancers were far more typical, and spun and slid around the dance floor like only tango dancers can. Leaving us captured in the romance of the tango, and with no doubt that this city’s soul beats to a tango march, we left the tango hall and wandered home through the streets of Buenos Aires, which at around midnight - was just waking up for the night.

La Boca

Downtown Buenos Aires has a colorful and now very touristy area called La Boca. It started when the inhabitants did not have enough money to buy one colour of paint for their houses, and so used paint oddments to spruce up their homes. Some tourists then started to take an interest, and the entrepreneurs stepped in.

Now the few houses have become a few streets and are very picturesque, Artists tout their wares, selling everything from earrings to paintings and woven garments of all shapes and sizes. We enjoyed a choripan (South American boerewors roll) while listening to a one man band in someones back garden churrasco (braai) joint. To finish off the afternoon we popped into a local alfajore (chocolate and dulce de leche biscuit speciality) shop to enjoy another cup of good hot chocolate and an alfajore.

San Telmo

One Sunday we took a walk to the San Telmo Antiques Faire – we had been told it was really interesting and not to be missed – but – I mean how many markets can you see – surely this will just be the same with a few more old things perhaps? Well in short, no – it was not just like any other market at all! It was unreal, we had stepped into another world. The first corner of the market that we arrived, a pair of tango dancers classed up the pavement. A classic start to a classic morning, we walked past a band with members that could not be more Argentinian- all dark skinned, dark haired, wearing wooly native knit jerseys and hats, playing wooden flutes, lutes and guitars – with a piano snuck in on the side just to add a bit of depth to the performance.

The main square was filled with proper old stuff - magical soda canisters, every colour you can imagine – red, yellow, blue and green glass bottles, with the sun shining through. Old telephones, collections of dolls, silver spoons, china and porcelain, chandeliers, hats, plates, toy soldiers, saddlery and every other type of old relic and tac you can imagine. The different thing about the tac was that it really old and genuine and I have not been anywhere I have seen such a magnitude of really old antiques ever. Generally all this stuff has gone, and somewhere like Europe, where you might find a bit, but only in small collections in little antique shops.

We finally walked away from the square and thought that we had seen the best of what there was to seen, but instead we walked off down into another sensory overload– a street filled with every type of art and craft you can imagine. We stopped to listen to one man and his guitar, he was a wonderful elderly gentleman – done up in his Sunday best, out busking for the pure enjoyment of it. Lucy took a complete fancy to him, and him to Lucy, he then sang a song just for Lucy and encouraged her to pluck a few strings on his guitar, which was wonderfully sweet, and so typical of the attitude towards children in Argentina.

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of San Telmo as I was filming – so you will have to let your imagination do the rest!

Frigate Sarmiento

We visited the Frigate Sarmiento, which is an old and now restored Frigate which lives in Puerto Madryn, Lucy loved clambering around and it was quite extraordinary to be in the room where all the hammocks used to hang and imagining them all sleeping next to each other rocking to and fro. The most interesting thing we found on the ship was a the memorial to the ship’s dog – which was the actual dog itself – which has been stuffed and preserved in a glass case.

The walk there took us past the dramatic swing bridge which was worth a snap.

Tigre

I wrote a little about Tigre in the last post, but there is definitely a little more to say – so here goes.

Tigre is a town that – hence it’s name borders on the Tigre River. It is the main access portal to the Delta. The Delta is a huge area and is accessed by boat only. There is a fleet of river taxi’s – well more like busses as they seat around 60 - that serve the Delta. People in crafts of all shapes and sizes to get around, and sitting on our mooring we did a lot of people watching as the people of all shapes and sizes matched or often did not match their crafts.

Rowing is a huge sport here and has a long history. Every few hundred metres you pass another character filled, big, old building.

The clubs are still very active and you all ages partake. Each club has metal tracks to take the boats down to the water on trolleys.
We had a magic moment when standing at the club jetty when an eight came sliding past – quite unususal in itself – but what was more unusual was that the average age must have been 75, and I am absolutely not exaggerating. Their timing was perfect and the boat going along a lick, though they were not too preoccupied to wave at Lucy, who waved and blew kisses back at them!

They have an extraordinary market here, which is enormous – called the Puerto dos Frutos, as it used to be the main fruit and veg hub where everyone used to come to sell their wares. Now it is more touristy, and enormous, you can find anything you want – from a sheep skin to selection of fine herbs, semi precious stones, Chinese plastic toys and garden implements. Everything you need alongside everything you don’t!

We had quite a trouble getting into Tigre and while we were there the water disappeared completely. Apparently this only happens once a year – we just happened to pick our timing really well. The water was so low that there was light coming up through the heads outlet pipe – which in layman terms – that is the outlet pipe for the toilet – which normally is well and truly underwater. The boat was well and truly grounded with the keel wedged in the mud, and we just hoped it was not getting damaged.

While we were in Tigre, we also decided to invest in a new stove, our stove has been on its way out or a little while. The top two rings have given up the ghost way back – and we now use a separate top plate that perches on top of the stove. When we are at anchor or tied up, this causes no problem, but when at sea this is very tricky to cook with – as the pots – although still gimbaled on the base of the stove, tend to slide around. Which means you have to stay by their side and monitor them, which as you probably know by now – is no fun for me!!? The other problem is that actually finding a stove in South America is a real challenge. It might be another few months until we find another stove, if at all. So we bit the bullet and shelled out R10 000 for a new stainless steel stove (the steel being half the reason they are so expensive) – ouch. Living on a boat is not always cheap. The next challenge was once we had it back on the boat was fitting it.

Andrew had carefully measured the dimensions, to double check it was the right size, but that did not ensure easy fitting- but with a bit of chiseling, chipping, sawing and hammering (sometimes of the new stove – so it had to go in, it definitely could not be returned) oh yes, and needless to say a small amount of swearing from the installer – the stove finally came to rest in it’s new home.. Looking very smart and ready to cook up a storm, I am sure we are going to enjoy using a proper stove again!

Tigre Delta

While we were waiting for the water to return, Mum, Lucy and I decided to take a tour to the White Cat – which was a restaurant in the Delta itself. We caught one of the water taxi/busses that we had been admiring so much, and were whisked along to our destination. The delta is fascinating, along the River Lujan, where huge hulks of abandoned ships litter the waters edge.

The houses range from people’s smart holiday houses to ramshackle favalla style shacks. The water taxi’s fly along and I managed to get drenched by one going the other way as the swell crossed our boat and the wave crashed in our open window, which created much amusement to the rest of the more knowledgeable passengers.

Recolleta Cemetry

We visited the Recolleta cemetery, which is fascinating. The most beautiful tomb being of a young woman and her dog , very sad as she died at the age of 26, of what I am unsure. The cemetery is very old, and very large, filled with cats and coffins, it is really eiry walking the alleys, filled with coffins and casting your mind back to try get a glimpse of these past people of another life.

Buenos Aires Zoo

We visited the Buenos Aires Zoo, which was mainly for Lucy. She had a great time, and enjoyed the swans and the goats most of all – not the elephants and the lions! We also managed to find her a ride on a pony as we departed, which really rounded of the day perfectly!

Ocean Crossing Clip 2008

This is a short clip from Andrew's ocean crossing to Ihla Bella, Brazil 2008.

Sailing with Edu

Ski Bariloche - Some fun on the slopes

Road Trip Argentina

Upon arriving in Argentina, we had a quick visit to La Plata to do our paperwork, and then spent 2 weeks in Buenos Aires. Following that, we moved the boat to a place called Tigre, where we left it and hired a car and drove around the country for 5 weeks. This is an account of our Road Trip around Argentina, including our 3 weeks in the beautiful Bariloche. I have skipped a recount of Buenos Aires, which will still follow. This account is from when we left the boat in Tigre until our return 5 weeks later.

Road Trip Argentina - Tigre, Buenos Aires to Mendoza (1200km)

We left Tigre Buenos Aires at 2pm after an epic session of packing the car. The epic was more to do with the fact that there was no water in the river where we had parked the boat. We woke up to see that just about all the water had departed. From where we are moored, it is 100 metres to the club jetty, then across the Rio Lujan to Tigre town is about another 400 metres or so. Normally the lancha (launch)and Pablo arrive from the club comes and picks you up from the boat, and then drops you off at either at the club or on the other side of the river in town.

So Andrew had to paddle our leaking dinghy to the club (the water was about one foot deep – so no wonder the lancha could not get to us), borrow a canoe, and paddle the bags across to the club one by one until finally, after about 6 trips, us , and all of our luggage were ready to catch the lancha across the river to pack the car. What a palaver! All in a days living on a boat I guess! The other challenge was we were not very sure if we would fit into the car with all our luggage, but somehow Mum and Rupert performed a magic trick, and with 2 bags lashed to the roof with spare rope we were off.
Our next challenge was leaving Tigre itself! The roads are bad, but the signposting is appalling. Actually, that is not true, it would have to be there to be appalling; in most cases, it is just non-existent, which makes for very interesting navigating. Generally one spots a road, and tries to find it on the map, which may or may not happen, and then tries to find the next road marking that may give you some sort of idea which way to turn. A lot of road navigation has to do with the sun, and you just try and tend in the direction you are ultimately hoping to go, and you may or may not find the main Ruta you are looking for. Alternatively you are compelled into taking a desvio (diversion) for roadworks and seeing another, sometimes interesting, or sometimes not – part of town! Of course there is the option of hiring a GPS with the car, but that would take all the fun out of it now wouldn’t it ;-). So after an hour and a half, we finally stumbled upon the highway, after doing a grand total of 65 kilometres.

The countryside out of Buenos Aires is completely flat, and as well as the enormous beef herds, there are small pieces of land that are filled with all sorts of live stock – donkeys; fat, enormous pigs; and hundreds and hundreds of horses of all types. If we ended up living in Argentina, I would love to breed and school children’s ponies and send them to the UK. There just seem to be hundreds and hundreds of exactly the type of pony that people are always battling to find – steady, sound, strong boned, reliable, and good looking. If anyone is wondering where all those ponies are, they are right here!

Driving across the country, there is a random enormous billboard advertising the Alas Hotel – rather apt.

A big old Mercedes bus was parked by the side of the road for sale – looks perfect for us if we decided to trade in the boat and go for the land based travel option!!

In the dusk last night there were hundreds and hundreds of birds flying in to roost. I have never seen so many birds in the sky at one time, fantastic against the setting sun and dark silhouettes of the bare branches of the winter trees.

We stayed in a place called Junin the first night in a rather fancy hotel – of the same ilk as the South African (or rather worldwide I guess) Holiday Inn. Very reasonable, for all 4 of us, it was 500 pesos, which is R1000 and includes breakfast. A little more than we were planning on spending every night, but as it was the first time we had been in a hotel for 7 months, we thought we would treat ourselves. Lucy thought it was Christmas, space to run around in, especially after being cooped up in a car seat all day, and even better a telephone to play with all of her own – luckily we could unplug it, otherwise I think reception would have been quite busy keeping up with Lucy. She has been extraordinarily good in the car, with very little fuss, although she definitely has an ongoing entertainer, who tries to keep her interested in games of building blocks, colouring, roaring lions, galloping horses and “dugga-dugging” cars! Then if all else fails, ipods, cellphones and the ever entertaining duo of Peppa Pig and Shaun the Sheep DVDs normally do the trick. Thank goodness, as we were not at all sure how she was going to cope with being in the car, and if she was going to put up with being strapped in the car seat for hours on end, but thankfully, she seems to be taking it all in her stride.The next day, after leaving Junin and after driving for about half an hour, we have crossed some salt pans with the most extraordinary bright pink flamingos – hundreds and hundreds of them in the morning sunlight with iridescent pink wings – what a lovely way to start the morning.

Lots of Estancia Chica’s (small farms) full of shining fat herds of cows. Peculiar little houses tucked away in small groves of trees, one we have just driven past was 3 little pink A – frames in white and rust brick. Scores of birds, in particular small birds of prey, mostly unidentifiable.

The Ruta 7 that we are traveling on is one of 2 main routes across the country from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, we chose this route as apparently it has less truck traffic. The other route must be horrific, as this route is not a very wide road at all, and has a lot of truck traffic, and they are not small trucks, they are big 16 wheel or more, many with trailers. Thank goodness the car we have hired is up to the job, a little Ford Ecosport, which has a nice wide wheel base so is firm on the road, which is really important when you have to deal with crosswinds after every truck. We are only traveling during the day, as the night, the roads are far too dangerous, and also of course for Lucy’s sake.

The landscape so far is remarkable in its’ unremarkableness!It is completely flat, and just goes on forever, in saying that – we have just driven past an Estancia called La Differencia – although I am not sure what exactly that Difference would be!

The side of the road is dotted with various truck stops, many of the home grown parilla (braai or barbeque) variety, though I am not sure if I would really want to eat a choripan (boerie-roll) from any of them!

The road crosses more salt flats, absolutely amazing, hundreds more flamingos, storks, huge birds of prey – unfortunately, we cannot stop, as the road has barriers alongside, no verge, and no viewing places! I guess we will have to make do with fleeting shots through the window.

For lunch we came upon the most unexpected Parillada, there were lots of cars parked outside, which is always a good sign, and we went into a wonderful, old restaurant with a roaring parilla in the centre and a very amenable salad bar. The owner who came and served us was extremely friendly, and when brought our order of drinks, we were slightly amazed. We had asked for a agua sin gas (water no gas), agua con gas (water with gas), a pepsi and a cerveza (beer). What arrived was a litre and a half of each, alongside my agua con gas, which was an old soda siphon, complete with little tap to decant my glass of agua – absolutely brilliant. The food was excellent, and we all were ready for the road ahead to Mendoza with full stomachs.

Driving into the province of Mendoza, we drove through a state border control post and were welcomed by a 5 minute onslaught from a local tout trying to sell us a room at his hotel. This all happened about 5 metres before the official security check, who looked on while the tout spent about 5 minutes expounding upon the merits of his particular hotel, while the queue of traffic piled up behind us. I guess maybe there is some sort of mutual gratuity between the 2 parties. When our tout had finished his presentation, we drove through the security and then finally through a ‘De-insectacion’ for the vehicle, so I guess they are not too keen on bringing other Argentinian bugs into this province. Understandable, as this is the province of ‘Sol y Vino’ – or Sun and Wine, and I should think that protecting the precious vines from any dreaded lurgies that may come into the province on wheels is very important.

The landscape changes again and the vineyards became the prominent feature, looking very similar to the winelands at home in winter, very brown and dormant.

In Mendoza, we decided upon the Hotel Argentino (there is one in every town, though they are not a chain), which is on the main Plaza Independencia (of which there is also one in every town), which is just off Avenida Sarmiento (which of course, there is also one in every town, along with 9 Julio and 25 Mayo!) The Plaza is magnificent, with an incredible floodlit fountain, park benches, huge old trees and a night time market that add to the ambience that bring lovers and families alike to spend their time.

We spent 2 nights in Mendoza, which gave us a day to make use of. We decided to drive into the Andes and see if we could reach the snowline and hopefully even get a glimpse of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of Asia. Once we had finally found the road after a dozen or so false starts, we made our way though a nature reserve up a very narrow, dirt mountain pass.

It was definitely the scenic route, as the thin dirt road wended its’ way upward, soaring birds of prey, isolated retreats and herds of lamas looking out from the hilltops.
The views were spectacular. In the distance the snow covered peaks of the Andes still beckoned. We kept going upwards, gaining height quickly, easy to tell when we got out the car, as we were puffing for breath after even a short walk due to the altitude.We kept driving, passing a site with a Darwin memorial, (it was here that he discovered the araucaria tree, or monkey puzzle).We were wondering if we would ever get to the top of the pass, when we drove over a small rise and all gasped in simultaneous awe as our vision was filled with snow covered mountains as far as the eye could see.Absolutely flabbergasting views. The vista that you see in books and go – “oh wow”, and then you see them with your own eyes, you realize why you travel, because the pictures you see in the coffee table books can never be felt, however good the photographer.

So we then spent the rest of the day driving through the most magnificent mountain range, covered in snow, stopping to drink in the vistas, and to refuel our bodies with glorious hot chocolate.Driving up through the snow covered mountains, the snow getting thicker beside the road every kilometre, it was unbelievable to see the Andes in their snow covered glory at such close quarters. The pass travels through to the Chilean border, but we stopped short of that at the viewing point for Aconcagua, but unfortunately, we could only see the snow blowing off the top, as the weather was covering the mountain.On the way down the pass, we passed the line of trucks awaiting the trip across the Andes into Chile, it looked like the pass had been closed as the line of trucks stretched for 5 km, I have never seen so many stationary trucks in my life!

Road Trip Argentina – Mendoza – Bariloche (1200km)

After leaving Mendoza, our next stop was Chos Malaal, which was an epic 750km into Patagonia on the “mystical” (according to the Lonely Planet) Ruta 40. A lot of the road is gravel, and not particularly great gravel, filled with holes, ruts, corrugations and loose stone. An amazing days’ journey, spectacular, mind opening, landscapes ready to fill the spaces in the imagination of years of what Patagonia really looks like.

One contemplates with awe this land being concertinaed into the hills and mountains over the years. It is difficult to imagine the time period though, as it looks like it happened over night!

The landscape is littered with extinct volcanoes, and apparently we have driven past some hot springs that emerge at the volcanoes foot, but we missed the turnoff.

It is so easy to imagine the dinosaurs roaming here, you can just see a clutch of baby dinosaurs hatching out of their eggs that have been buried in the side of a mountain, finally being exposed to the sun as the piece of earth surrounding then is eroded, and they emerge, blinking, shaking off a few stones and dust and trot off, as if no time had passed at all.

Gauchos (cowboys) are seen intermittently riding across the landscape, sometimes alone, sometimes with packs of dogs, and sometimes with their herds/flocks of sheep, goats, lamas or horses. Looking every part like one imagines, with cowboy style hat, big comfortable leather saddles, warm layers of lama wool clothing and leather coats, boots and sun baked faces.

Then you come upon a random set of railway bridge pieces piled up by the side of the road – used, or never put to use, who is to know.

We left Chos Malal for Bariloche, so we have another day of remarkable scenery to look forward to. The scenery is again breathtaking. The striations running through the hills literally reach across the entire landscape. The folds in the hills look like icing on a cake but the colours are of the earth. Brown, green, ochre, red and every colour inbetween. There are rock faces that have been created where entire hills have been blown away by the harsh winds that blow here incessantly.

We are finally into the last 100 kilometres of the trip, and it is difficult to imagine the pictures of Bariloche being so close, as the landscape gives nothing away yet. Then the hills start to roll, and the cliffs appear. And we drive into a valley that takes your breathe away, even though all we want to do is get there now, we stop for the obligatory photo opportunity, though in hindsight if we had any idea of what we were still going to see, I think we probably would not have bothered with the stop!It is really cold, and it has just started to rain, there is snow lying on the sides of the road, and the wind is blowing strongly. Bbrrr, but very very beautiful.

When we drove into Bariloche, we drove straight up to the ski resort, which was really amazing to look at, snow on the sides of the roads as we got closer to Cerro Catedral, the trees dripping white – all looking very optimistic for a good skiing holiday. Unfortunately, that was the best snow we were to see while we were in Bariloche. The existing snow melted as every day we waited for more to fall. We were hoping to learn our new skills on the lower slopes of the mountain, on the cheap snow, but the only snow we were to see while we were in Bariloche was on the high peaks, which we eventually went to find after a week of frustration.

Nordic Skiing

While we were waiting for the snow to arrive on Cerro Catedral, we investigated some of the smaller surrounding mountains, the closest and most interesting, along with easily accessible was Cerro Otto, set just behind our cabanas. It was a short trip up to the top where we found the most charming log cabin which was the home base for the centre of Nordic (or cross-country) skiing – most curious indeed. So in the absence of the snow that we so desperately wanted to fall, we took advantage of what was lying on the ground and signed up for a lesson with our Ukrainian ski instructor Valerie.Nordic skiing is another name for cross country skiing, you may have seen it at the winter Olympics…. It looks like running on snow – well, that is what it is supposed to look like anyhow. I think it is quite likely that we looked quite different from that! – with Nordic skiing, unlike conventional downhill skiing, you have only a very thin ski, and no supportive boots, only a thin pair of leather boots perched on top, with a very simple toe clip. The result of this is of course, that you are far more precariously perched on top. And while with downhill skiing, once you have the basic skill, falling forward or sideways is quite difficult,

With Nordic skiing, falling anyway anyhow is pretty much standard! We had a great time with our ski instructor, who was very patient with our crew with their various levels of competency, with Andrew and Rupert leaping off snow banks by the end of the afternoon, while my Mom and I went for the glorious hot chocolate option in the cozy log cabin after tiring of falling on our derrieres, amongst other bits of our anatomy – yet again!

The surrounds of Bariloche are just too glorious to be real, as the evergreen forests fall into melt water lakes, with yellow reeds at the water’s edge just adding to the picture postcard feel (actually there are a few sets of postcards here, it is really just too much for words to describe).
The views physically leave you breathless, which I have only experienced a few times in my life before – and it is then normally once, not around every corner. We took many day excursions to the areas surrounding Bariloche: Villa de Angostura, El Bolson, Mount Tronador in the protected part of the Nahuel Huapi National Park, and the extraordinary Llao Llao Hotel.

Skiing

Our skiing was interesting to say the least – not quite what we had in mind when we first thought about skiing in Bariloche.

We were there for 3 weeks and it snowed once, then just after we left it snowed hugely! Anyhow – we tried to make the best of it!The boys decided to go the snowboarding route and chose after seeing the prices of the lessons that they did not need lessons and were just going to download some instructions off the internet. This in true Andrew style was massively entertaining as we watched him try and read a printed off sheet while trying to snowboard down a mountain.
Well not quite that bad, but not far off. But in more true Andrew style, both Rupe and Andrew got the hang of things pretty quickly, though not without falling with that snowboard at least 100 times a piece! Mum and I decided to go the ski route, and we decided to pay the price and went for a couple of lessons, which were very helpful. The problem was that as there had been no new snow, all the baby slopes were very icy and pretty slippery, and of course absolutely packed, as there were only a very few at the top of the mountain.

We decided on our last day (after just a couple of days of feeling vaguely competent that we should at least try to ski down the mountain once – this was completely terrifying, as the first part of the slopes were all icy, and by the time we got there, getting worse as it was later in the afternoon! I went down quite a lot of that on my bottom! Once we got to the contour path, the going was much more in my comfort zone, and I absolutely loved coming down. I was pretty disappointed that we did not manage to do more skiing, but I guess it just means we will have to go back!

Villa de Angostura

Smaller than Bariloche, Angostura is the ‘smart end of town’ full of wooden buildings of all shape and description. The general architecture gives you a feeling of being somewhere in the swiss alps, not southern Argentina. We did not stop in the village itself, but drove down to the small port. It was really cold so we decided to enjoy the surroundings from inside a little family run restaurant we found, nestled under the trees.

The fare we sampled was excellent, the best hot chocolate we have tried yet, Andrew enjoyed a guiso – which is a type of local stew with lentils and meat – proper cold weather food. I had the most excellent trucha al limon (there are lots of trout hatcheries around this area), and Mum had a type of shepherds pie thingy. The food did not disappoint, and we all went away with nice full bellies!

Hotel Llao Llao

We visited an amazing old hotel, that is was really like something from another era altogether – well I suppose that is exactly what it is!
You walk in the door and two classic dog bronzes welcome you in the entrance hall, their heads polished by hands greeting them with a rub.

You walk down a wide staircase, with brass carpet rods keeping them in place. Huge antler chandeliers bedecked the double volume ceilings and the reindeer covered highbacked chairs decorated the tea room, awaiting our visit. The hotel also had a window that looked out on Mount Tronador, the largest peak in the area. The architect having framed the mountain perfectly with a huge window looking out from one of the many restaurants in the hotel.
We enjoyed a late afternoon tea and scones while Lucy became best friends with the 2 brass dogs, and kept giving them big hugs and kisses!

Nahuel Huapi National Park

Today we took a drive to the Nahuel Hapi National Park, the views were again extraordinary, it becomes very difficult not to become blasé when day after day you see new sights of possibly the most beautiful landscapes you have seen in your whole life.Well today was definitely another day of wow, I have never seen landscapes like this before today. The lakes of melt water that surround this area (there are dozens), are so crystal clear, the colour of the lakes is an aquamarine, teal blue, depending of course on the sunlight and the way the wind is blowing, and if there are clouds or mountains casting their shadows across the water. The forests have been there since the dinosaurs, and look like something out of Lord of the Rings, with huge thick evergreen forests stretching on and on, the rocks covered with moss and trees draped with lichen.

The sun shining through the canopy and catching the shiny side of the leaves, casting shadows that make you believe that around the next corner you will find a pixie skipping across the road. It is just jaw droppingly beautiful, and leaves that wondrous feeling of awe, that makes you just want to stop and look at the view all day.

Chocolate

Bariloche is well known for it's chocolate, and with good reason. There are chocolate shops everywhere and hot chocolate to die for, rich, and creamy, it really just tastes like liquid chocolate instead of chocolate powder and water which is the normal case. We of course had to go on a chocolate crawl, and managed to visit 5 chocolate shops one day before crawling home with our loot. This was what we ended up with each, and no, none of us managed to finish our plates the first sitting!

Road Trip Argentina - Bariloche to Peninsula Valdes (1000km)

We leave Bariloche, and are heading for the Atlantic ocean. Our destination is Puerto Madryn National Park to see whales and sea lions. The first day’s trip was through the mountains, icy passes and clear mountain rivers and streams. The winter colours are remarkable in their richness, the rose hips and berries adding red and orange highlights to the palette of autumn colours that painted our views.The extreme temperatures that the roads endure clearly take their toll, with constant road maintenance not being a sufficient stem to rapid deterioration. A boulder tumbled across the road to remind us who was here first! We stopped for supper at a small town called El Bolson, and then headed on to Esquel to find some basic beds to rest on before the 700km across Patagonia that we had planned for the next day.

Driving across a huge valley with a wide river running through it. We are driving down one side, and close to the eroded rock faces that look just like castle walls, as the lower layers of softer rock have been blown away by the winds, leaving the tops remaining as turrets. The river brings life back to the wind swept landscape, and Poplar and Willow trees hug the banks and drape their branches into the water. Ponies of all sizes and colours graze along with cattle and sheep, with some new, early lambs playing ….

The region is obviously known for it’s geology and variation of rock types, as we have passed various signs advertising rocks of the area for sale.

The size of the landscape is completely mind blowing, as we drive on for hours, and it just goes on and on and on, and just changes again and again, which is difficult to believe, as you kind of think, oh well I have seen it all, and then you go around the corner, and you are faced with a pink cliff of rock, with the sunlight bringing out all the colour, and you just blink, not believing there are more new things for you to see.

The rock changes again, and the striations run vertically, covered in green oxidised copper, creating hundreds of towers of rock. Lamas scattered at the feet, browsing the Patagonian shrubbery for berries and tasty treats.

The local specialities of ciervo (deer), jabali (wild boar), trucha (trout) and Patagonian cordero (lamb), are served in many restaurants. The taste of the Patagonian vegetation is apparent in every mouthful of succulent lamb that melts in your mouth.

Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdes

We arrived in Puerto Madryn and were immediately met by whales in the bay, which boded well for our visit there. We drove through from Puerto Madryn into the Peninsula Valdes Reserve, and booked ourselves into a rather larney hotel called La Restinga. The only hotel right on the beach. We could see the whales breaching while we got dressed in the morning, and while drinking our coffee. Life could be worse!

We drove around the Peninsula, which is much larger than one envisages in search of elephant seals and orcas, but rather sadly it seemed like we had planned our visit just a couple of weeks too soon. The elephant seals, which number in their thousands when they arrive in August, were nowhere to be seen, just a single, solitary animal, holding the fort until the others arrived back to breed in the season. The orcas where a similar story, the closest we got to a viewing was the page of calendar that the park ranger tore out of his February calendar to give to Lucy which noted the Orca sitings for last February!!

We were not to be put off, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the rheas, maras and guanacosin their natural environment, and were determined to make the most of the whales that were teeming in the bay. The following day we went out with one of the local whale watching companies and had a wonderful morning watching these gentle animals at such close quarters. Even though we get to see a lot of whales back home in South Africa, they are just impossible to tire of, watching them play and court in the waters around the boat, knowing that with just one flick, they could easily overturn your 10 metre boat with all its’ occupants, certainly adds an edge to the experience.Of course, they never do, as they are such very gentle giants, and don’t seem the slightest bit interested in us which adds even more to their magical charm.

Road Trip Argentina - Peninsula Valdes to Buenos Aires (1300km)

We were now in the home stretch, and there was not much to stop us trying to get back with as little stopping as possible. We did find one interesting town, where we stopped over en route back – which was a place called Las Grutas – or The Caves. This is a place on the coast where the sea has created caves in the cliffs at the back of the beach which are a perfect habitat for a particular type of parrot. Flocks of this noisy and colourful birds came into roost as we enjoyed the last of the light. A pod of dusky dolphins playing in the surf added to the ambience of the walk along the beach, and amazing man made pools reflected the setting sun.This was the only really interesting place on this home stretch drive, and other than sleepy towns and lots of trucks, we were all keen to get back to the boat and to see if we would be able to dig our way out of the mud at Tigre Sailing Club!