For our first South American weekend camping, we picked the SAC campground at Colonia Suiza, a small settlement on the banks of Lago Perito Moreno, which was colonised by some swiss settlers in the 19th Century and still had the architecture to match. The campsite was beautiful with an arroyo (stream) flowing right through the middle of it, crossed by a rope bridge. We found a spot by the arroyo and opted for a rest day to do a short trek and have a look around the colonia. Robbie had gone down with some sort of mild virus, with aches and a cough so we were happy to book 2 nights in one place. On Friday evening after a leisurely beer at the brewery, we were concerned to find all restaurants seemed to shut by 8pm. But fortunately we found a small neighbouring campsite restaurant that was empty but still serving trout, with views over the river, so we were well fed before turning into the tent by 10.
On Saturday morning we woke to the sound of babbling water and birdsong and set off on a short stroll on the start of the Nahuel Hapi national park trail towards Refugio Laguna Negra. We strolled gently uphill surrounded by towering conifers and passing the odd gecko-type lizard sunbathing along the way. After an hour we decided to turn back at a wooden log stream crossing, after a quick photo. At a pivotal moment re-crossing the log, Robbie was attacked by a horsefly, over-reacting almost to the extent of plunging into the (shallow but icy) water 2 feet below face first. Fortunately Hannah’s outstretched hand came to the rescue. We paced back down promptly, being overtaken only by the odd fell runner who presumably had already been up to the refugio and back.
We recovered from the horsefly with a lengthy siesta back at camp, followed by a calmer stroll through the colonia to the lakeshore. It was clearly a local tourist hotspot, with dozens of craft stalls and small cafes, and lots of Argentinian families and teenagers. The lake beach was thronged with people sunbathing still at 6pm, a few kayaks and a banana boat buzzing around. We found a quiet spot and Hannah gave Robbie a crash course in SLR photography. That night we reheated our previously frozen bean and lentil concoction with some pasta and were bemused to see large groups of teenage scouts passing by our tent from their own camping area to the banos. Still, they were far enough away to not be heard over the river, so it was another good night’s sleep with a plan to set off cycling early the next morning.
We woke at 7.30 on Sunday and duly struck camp after breakfast. Just as Hannah was pulling the last peg out of the ground, Robbie announced that he wasn’t feeling too great at all, and would she perhaps mind putting the peg back in. And also re-erecting the tent, reinflating the sleeping mats and making a cup of tea. Hannah took this news remarkably well, after a few sympathetic comments, and Robbie went for a lie down at 9.30am which lasted until noon. We realised that yesterday’s rest day had comprised walking well over 12,000 steps in very warm weather, a little too much craft beer and the virus wasn’t yet beaten. We started writing some of this blog for a few hours before Robbie napped some more and Hannah worked on her photography. Then a short walk into Colonia for juice before dinner of risotto with the green beans and spinach we had brought from Bariloche. We settled into bed early again, ready for another early departure.
At 1am, Robbie was woken both by his bladder and the arrival of two tent-loads of noisy teenage girls, who out of the whole large woodland campsite had decided that 3 feet from our tent was the best place to pitch theirs at maximum volume. 20 minutes into this performance, Robbie had a coughing fit, which seemed to only encourage them to chat more excitedly, clearly heard over the river and ear plugs. Another 20 minutes later, another coughing fit, and Robbie decided it was time to go to the toilet. The sight of a 6’2 gringo clearly on death’s door emerging blindly from the tent and staggering away towards the banos clearly was enough to scare all teenagers to bed as they had disappeared on Robbie’s return. At 2.30 am, Robbie finally got back to sleep.
Despite the strange teenage nightmare, both Hannah and Robbie felt well enough to attempt the 25 km circuito chico on Monday. A quicker breakfast and more efficient pack-up seemed to also help and we were away by 11.30. To get to the circuit we only had a few km on ripio gravel track before the delight of smooth tarmac once again, tyres intact. The circuit runs around the western end of Lago Perito Morino, where it borders Lago Nahuel Huapi via a narrow strip of land and this makes for some beautiful views of narrow channels and aqua marine water. We shared the route with numerous tourist cars, all driving very slowly, and the odd bus.
Half way round we passed the Hotel Villa Llao Llao, one of the most famous hotels in Argentina. The helipad, golf course and infinity pool looked nice, but we thought we’d stick to camping for now. Though at £200 per night, it compares quite well with a London Travelodge so we decided if we didn’t spend all our pesos by trip-end, it might be necessary to stay there for one night at least in March.
By 2pm, the heat was becoming excessive, so we abandoned cycling for a small restaurant high above the lake below for trout sandwiches. Alas they had run out of trout, so avocado and mozzarella had to suffice, but the fruit crumble cake afterwards more than made up for it. After waiting out the heat until 3.30pm, we then had a short 6km left to our campsite at Villa Maiten on the lakeshore 15km west of Bariloche. The site was fine, with a lovely grassy slope down to the lake, but unfortunately all tents (even those pedalled by bicycles) had to be pitched right next to the surprisingly busy road, 200m from the lake shore. However we did have access to a kitchen, and to an all-American burger restaurant 10 minutes walk down the road, which provided the largest chickpea and aubergine burger either of us has ever seen. Another early night after a shower, and we were now raring to head south on the start of our proper cycle tour tomorrow morning.
Pedalling_Patagonia 