Patagonian Grand Adventure

Day Two – 14 February 2014

It was Valentine’s Day.

And a visit to a chocolate factory was on the itinerary for today!

I was up and out of my room just after six. I went down to breakfast which had a very nice spread of breads, fruit and some hot selections including, for the first time that I’ve seen at a buffet, poached eggs. There was fruit but Marcello had specifically told us not to take any because we couldn’t take it to Bariloche.

Sure enough, one woman took a banana and had to turf it at the airport.

The flight to Bariloche originated from the domestic airport which was on the edge of the sea. Gorgeous on such a clear morning. As with all my experiences with South American airports, there was a line-up at the LAN counter but they opened up a special aisle for us. I think Marcelo had connections.

After check-in we went through security and sat at the gate. And sat. And sat. Not sure why, but there was some delay for all flights. They called it an air control delay but I think it had something to do with the military band and TV cameras on the tarmac. Some big wig we think. Once on the plane, the flight attendant announced something and all the Argentinians on the flight clapped.

Soccer scores, maybe?

We finally got airborne by 10:45 – about an hour and a half late. The prized seats on this flight were the window seats. I was in seat C, but someone pointed to an empty row ahead of us.

You know what I did the moment the seat belt sign went off.

I had a great view of Buenos Aires as we took off, but since Bariloche is east of the Andes, there wouldn’t be any mountain views.

We got a small lunch and it was served by the most delicious flight attendant I had ever had the pleasure to accept a cup of Coke from. I tried to sneak a picture but missed his gorgeous smile complete with perfect teeth.

Actually, it took him about three attempts to serve me. We kept hitting turbulence, so they’d serve an aisle and the light would come on and they’d pack it up. Five minutes later, they were back to repeat the same thing over again.

We landed by 12:30 and all the Argentinians clapped. It kinda plays on the mind to think they give a sitting ovation to the pilot for landing the plane – as if that were not in his best interest as well.

Granted, he did a nice job.

We met our local guide inside and were on the bus by one. We were officially an hour late and too late to make the chocolate factory as we found out later. Marcelo was smart not to tell us earlier or he would have had a bus full of cranky women. He waited until most were well plied with free beer at lunch.

Our local guide for Bariloche was Rachel. We started off with a one hour drive to the other side of Bariloche for our late lunch. On the way, Rachel explained that Bariloche was not in the Andes but in the foothills.

The landscape was quite barren and gets about a thousand millimetres of rain a year. Just a little farther west, it gets double that, and on the border, it gets closer to four thousand millimetres a year, so we expect the greenery to get thicker and thicker the farther west we go.

Bariloche is located on Lago Nahuel Huapi which means Island of the Jaguar. The lake is fed by glacial melt and is fifteen hundred metres deep. It stays cold year round but never freezes. Since it is inside the park, there are limits on building on the shore as well as restrictions on building anything on the islands. People are allowed to boat and fish on the water but water skiing and jet skis are not permitted. And they’re allowed to swim. For five minutes at a time.

Remember, it’s cold water, so that restriction is self-imposed.

The homes and buildings in and around Bariloche have that distinctive European flavour.

The region was settled by Swiss, Germans and other Europeans and the area is known as the European melting pot. There was already a large German community after a certain group of Germans moved there in the late 1940s.

But really, you only need to know one thing when it comes to the European presence.

The Germans brought the beer and the Swiss brought the chocolate.

We stopped at a lookout for some quick pics.

We also got a good look at some crested caracara birds that were hanging around looking for handouts.

Not exactly pigeons, are they?

From there, we went to check out the German contribution to the region with a visit to the Gilbert Brewery. We got a five minute lesson on brewing beer the organic way. No preservatives or chemicals in it. Just yeast, barley, hops and water. He said the beer was good for four months and then it either had to be dumped or it was a really good excuse for a party.

If I liked beer, I’d be moving there.

Can’t wait to find out what they do with the four month old chocolate.

After the chat, we sat for lunch and the table was treated to a generous supply of beer. They had a light, medium and a stout. The men were quite happy.

The women found out about the chocolate factory.

But then horses appeared and all was well.

There was even a foal.

We got a cold cut platter followed by beef on a German noodle that was quite tasty. There was ice cream for dessert but I missed it.

I was preoccupied.

After lunch we headed for Campanario Hill for some hazy views of Bariloche, the lake and surrounding mountains.

And the cats.

And photos of other people taking photos of the cats.

We had to take a chairlift up as if we were going skiing and got forty minutes to look around and curse the sun for shining on us and not the mountains. No worries. The forecast for the next few days was sunny and hot.

We got to the bottom of the hill around 5:30 and headed to the Edelweiss Hotel in Bariloche.

The hotel was right in the heart of Bariloche, only a five minute walk from the city centre and the main shopping street. Since this was a bit of a tourist town, the city centre and shopping streets were packed with tourists, but most were young people.

I dropped my bags and went out looking for water when I found the shopping street. The shops were primarily adventure gear, souvenir shops and chocolate superstores. And I mean superstores.

They were larger than any of the other shops and there must have been a dozen of them. I could have stayed all night just standing there smelling the chocolate.

But alas, I needed sleep, so I headed back to the hotel and checked out my room.

I opened the curtains and came face to face with three other windows only a couple metres away. I shut them before someone stepped out of the shower in the room across from me.