Patagonian Grand Adventure

Day Four – 16 February 2014

Weather: Oh. Em. Gee!

Translated from Spanish that means incredibly sunny and hot.

Today was “off the bus, on the boat, off the boat, on the bus and then rinse and repeat until in Chile” day.

I was up at six and had my luggage out for 6:15 no problem. Breakfast didn’t open till 6:30 which meant we had to eat quick to catch the bus at seven. The transfer through Andes to Puerto Varas was done by a special tour company called Turis, and if we weren’t there at seven, they would have left without us. They also provided our group with a local guide for the day.

All seventeen of us were in the lobby for seven no problem and the company collected our luggage like an airline complete with luggage tags. We loaded up and headed to the dock a little less than an hour away.

We got aboard the first catamaran for the one hour and ten minute sail to the far side of Lago Nahuel Huapi. The sky was clear over Bariloche but there was fog in the mountains.

The forecast was for sun and a high in the mid-20s so I expected it to burn off the fog and as we set off, the sun began to peak out. I went up on deck to wait for the mountains to appear.

The boat’s photographer was up there taking a picture of a woman holding something in the air and then WHOOSH!

A sea gull went over my head and grabbed a cracker from her hand.

You guessed it. We had to try it!

But of course, I had to take my own picture.

The photographer handed out crackers to anyone who wanted to try and then went down to process the pictures. Only $5 or 50 peso for the photo and worth it just as a tip for giving us the crackers.

Then the sun came out. In spades!

We arrived at the end of the lake where there was a green river flowing into Nahuel Huapi.

As we got off, jackets and sweaters were put away and we boarded a bus for the next boat. The route that we used was the main route between Puerto Varas and Bariloche for transporting people and goods up to 1974. After the new highway was opened, only tourists and adventurers use the old road.

It was a one lane road, but since this company was the only one that used it, they could communicate with other buses and knew that nothing was coming in their direction. And they drove like they know there was nothing coming.

Along the route we kept coming across this cyclist who seemed to be making better time than we were.

After a short drive, we came to Lago Frias which was as green as Lake Louise due to the sediment coming from the mountains. The catamaran staff made us sit inside until the safety briefing was over then it was like a stampede of llamas to the viewing deck above.

The trip was only thirty-five minutes but one can take dozens of pictures in that time no problem given the snow capped mountains and green water.

On the far side of Lago Frias was Argentine immigration where we got our passports stamped for our exit from Argentina. We were delayed waiting for the boat to go back for our luggage. But hey, if you have to sit and wait, why not do it on the edge of a scenic green lake.

We were on our way within an hour and drove through the rain forest. At the top of a steep switchback, in the middle of a forest and in the middle of nowhere, we came across the sign indicating that we were entering Chile.

Our guide gave us some information about Chile as we barreled down the one lane gravel road. His first question was – did we know what Chile means?

Most said they had no idea.

“Neither do I,” he replied to a few chuckles.

He suspected it meant ‘End of the Earth,’ and we were wondering if the bus was headed that way.

Chile is separated by water on one side, the Andes on another and a high desert in the north. It’s this isolation that has led to its strict rules about importing fruits, plants and more. They don’t have foot and mouth disease for example.

Then he asked us if we know how they forecast the weather in this area of Chile.

Everyone shrugged.

He said they look out the window, and if they can’t see the mountain, it’s raining. If they can see the mountain, there’s rain coming.

But on our tour, we had to go to the arid Steppes to get rain and go to the rain forest to get rock-splitting sunshine.

We made another stop for a photo before stopping to wait for our luggage to catch up. It showed up and then passed us as it had to go to Chilean customs first. We had a bathroom stop with an incredible view of Mount Tronador.

From here, we continued on to customs where the group that had gone before us was still standing in line. Not sure what the hiccup was with them, but we got through customs fairly quickly considering that they like to open luggage and only had one employee stamping passports and one opening luggage. Once our luggage was checked and passport stamped, we walked down to a local hotel for lunch. We didn’t really lose any time as the last boat didn’t depart until four, so we had almost two hours for lunch.

Lunch was a great cream of chicken soup and pasta. Not sure what the dessert was but it was like a meringue. We finished up by 3:30 and boarded a bus for the short drive down to the dock. This had to be a very popular route as the catamaran was full. The wind was up a bit and the water was choppy, but I didn’t notice the waves on the catamaran.

After the safety briefing, I headed for the deck and expected it to be crowded but either most of those inside have done this trip a million times and/or they find twenty-six degrees cold in the wind.

The best part? This lake, Todos los Santos, has volcanoes!

Including Mount Osorno, a conical volcano! An unexpected treat on a gorgeous day!

Apparently, when the Japanese come to visit, they say Osorno looks like Fuji. But the Chileans say no, Fuji looks like Osorno.

There was also the extinct Tronador and Calbuco (which erupted in 2015).

The crossing took two hours and there was a bit of craziness getting off the catamaran, finding our bus and then picking out our luggage.

It wasn’t as crazy as it sounds but there were a lot of people in a small area that was also a beach, so we were competing with the beach goers as well. We hit the road by seven and there were delays on the way to Puerto Varas with road construction. We pulled into our hotel, the Cabano del Lago, by 8:30 and Marcelo said the buffet was set for 9 pm.