Beyond Bariloche

Returning from the Ruta de Siete Lagos, we returned through Bariloche, and continued to head south.

The next town is El Bolson, a remarkably pleasant town with a vibrant market.

We almost missed it, in spite of guide book directions. The main highway skirts the main center of town, and evokes Patagonia of old, speckled with a few bakeries, meat shops, fruterias, and basically not looking very promising.

But we persevered, and found great views, and an interesting and eclectic market scene. It reminded us our our diverse mountain town in Western North Carolina - full of artists, creative folks, "old" hippies, as well as young South American ones.

Rio Azul from the mirador above El Bolson

Pother, I'm on the iPad and it's taking forever to sort back though the photos...

 

 

 

 

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More waterfalls

 Waterfalls are on my mind; not only did we see a lot of them over winter break, but my gardening companion is currently sending off his talk descriptions for scheduled programs about waterfalls and wildflowers (hmm, I always get to "review" them before they go).

Here's the same amazing waterfall (with feral Colorado lupines in the foreground) with my gardening companion.  Maybe it'll be a publicity shot?

TS with waterfall

The light on this one was better, but taken unawares.

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Amazing waterfalls

We live in an area of abundant and lovely waterfalls in the Southern Appalachians, but the ones in Patagonia --hmm.  They were both abundant and spectacular.

Waterfalls draw us, wherever they are -- they're special.

Here was the first we saw (still on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos).

The lupines (everywhere) have escaped from cultivation (probably our Western Colorado species).

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More along the Ruta de Siete Lagos

views along the road - amazing

kite-surfing in the brisk Patagonian wind

Digitalis (a European species) --self-seeding, but lovely

San Martin de los Andes (from an overlook above the town)

The Ruta de Siete Lagos (Route of the Seven Lakes) was a great circuit to start our exploration of the Argentinian Lake District.  Wonderful lakes, landscapes, and views, and good hiking.

We stayed overnight in San Martin and then returned back, staying in Villa Angostura (north of Bariloche).

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Ruta de Siete Lagos

All of the seven lakes were perfectly blue.

After flying to Bariloche, we headed north on the Ruta de Siete Lagos, a truly breathtaking circuit.

Argentina is a (VERY) large country -- it was a two hour flight to Bariloche from Buenos Aires.

The first lake was amazing. My companion had to take a swim (in the very cold water).

The surroundings were quite arid, but filled with interesting plants.

The cushion plants were really interesting (to us botanists, at least).

unusual cushion plants (adapted to arid/alpine conditions)

The first waterfall of many!

Part of an alternative route took us over gravel roads, just a taste of what was to come.

My traveling companion

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Traveling in Argentina

I've been sorting through photos, and thought I'd just post in sequence.

Traveling with my buddy (and best traveling companion) didn't leave much time to fuss with Blogsy postings on the iPad, nor downloading photos, either. 

And dinner after 9 pm!  Hmm, that seems like hours and hours after normal dinner time, and afterwards, time to go to bed, for sure.

We flew to Buenos Aires from Atlanta -- a fairly easy overnight flight, connecting in Miami.  Buenos Aires is a perfectly nice South American megacity; fortunately, we were there when it was unusually cool!

A main interest were the dogwalkers in Recoleta, one of Buenos Aires' upscale neighborhoods.

Professional dog walkers often have even more dogs in tow.

The food in Buenos Aires was also remarkable, being a cosmopolitan city. This salad was notable.

A delicious salad -- I only had one other good one in Argentina!

We trooped around visiting lots of city sights, but were ready to escape to the Argentinian Lake District and the mountains.

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Returning to winter

It's been rainy, foggy, and dark since we returned from the Southern Hemisphere.

Here with a diversity of mosses, ferns, etc.!

We saw wonderful lakes and hanging glaciers (here in Quelat National Park in Chilean Patagonia).

Not unexpected, but a bit of a transition, too, as our last few days had been in warm Buenos Aires, and very long "summer" days were part of our entire trip.

But our days are now getting longer, and here in the Southern Appalachians and the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in the Piedmont, we have plenty of sunny, mild winter days, too.  Hmm, I hope for some soon!

Amazing lichens in Chile's Valdivian rainforest!

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