Orsono volcano and Petrohue falls
We had to get up early to get our transfer to the bus for our Andean lake crossing, but then it was hurry up and wait for the rest of a very long day until we arrived in Puerto Vargas, Chile.
We first drove around and around Bariloche as we picked up a few guests at each hotel. Then we drove to the port of Panuelo on Lago Nahuel Huapi where, after paying the national park fee of 21 Argentine pesos each, we boarded a large catamaran that took us to the end of the lake at Puerto Blest. Here they split us into two groups, since the next boat was much smaller (holding a maximum of 69 passengers) and we ate our lunch as we waited by the shore.
Crossing Lago Nahuel Huapi
It was a beautiful day to cross the lakes. The sky was mostly clear with a very small amount of light clouds for much of the day. Throughout the day we had English speaking tour guides (though the one on the Chilean side was not as fluent in English as the Argentinians).
The boat leaving Puerto Blest on Lago Nahuel Huapi
After an hour wait at Puerto Blest we got on another bus for the 3 km trip to Puerto Frias. Along the way the tour guide explained about the origin of the national park (it is the oldest park in Argentina, founded in 1934) and some of the trees and plants that we were seeing along the sides of the one lane gravel road.
Enid waiting for the boat at the crossing of Lago Frias
The Andes mountains from Lago Frias
The water of Lago Frias is emerald green and filled with glacier flour giving it that characteristic color. The first lake we crossed, Nahuel Huapi, is much different, the water being crystal clear. Lago Frias is also very small and it only took a few minutes to cross by boat.
As you leave the boat you go through Argentinian immigration, where they authorize your documentation with an exit visa. From here it is another hour and a half bus ride over a very narrow and steep road that crosses the height of land forming the Argentina-Chile border. Along the way we stopped to take pictures of Mount Tronador.
The Andes mountains at Peulla
You cross over Chilean immigration and customs at the very small town of Peulla. After clearing customs we ate lunch in the cafeteria (there is also a more fancy restaurant in the hotel). To get to the cafeteria is about a 100 m walk past the hotel, and it wasn’t easy to find as we saw no signs. However, the food was very nice. We had a hot meal of about 1/4 chicken, white rice, a plate of cold vegetable salad (there was corn, broccoli, green beans and other vegetables available), and a desert of a half peach and pineapple slice. The meal cost us a total of $39 US, including a Coke, and I was so happy to actually get to eat vegetables and real food — Enid said it was comfort food — instead of all the rich cheese we have been eating.
The bus at Puella Hotel
We knew we were to get on the bus again to go to the dock for the final boat ride, but where was not at all clear. We saw some people sitting in the shade outside the cafeteria, and I recognized one woman, so we sat with them. A bus — an open vehicle with a skull of a cow on the radiator — stopped and they told us to get on. The bus took us to the dock, but it was not the same bus or group as we had been with. We imagine that they were waiting for us somewhere else, as our bus and group did show up at the dock too, about ten minutes later. Our tour guide found us and gave us a thumbs up. I think we probably made them worried, and we also realized later that day that they were calling me “Ricard Dick” so we probably missed most of the roll calls!
Orsono volcano on Lago Todos Los Santos
The last section of the boat ride, now in Chile, was across Lago Todos Los Santos. About halfway across the lake you can start to see two volcanoes. One, Volcan Puntiagudo, doesn’t look much like a volcano until you pass it, and then you can see the cone on the west side. Volcan Orsorno (which last erupted in 1869) is an impressive tall volcano, snow capped, which looks very much like Mount Fuji. We passed by it, and were on it’s west side by the time we got off the boat.
Orsono volcano and Petrohue falls
Our luggage was the very last to be unloaded from the boat. Enid got hers just a couple of minutes before mine, so got on the bus to make sure they would wait for her “esposa”. We left the last dock a bit after 6:30 pm, and drove about 6 km (waiting for construction, as they are paving this last part of the road). We stopped at Petrohue, a falls and rapids that have an entry fee of $3 US per person (but nice clean restrooms). You can tell that in the spring, during the snow melt, these would be a spectacular falls and rapids, as even now in the driest time of year they were very nice thought the water wasn’t too high.
There had seemed to be a great deal of confusion on the part of our guide, as to where we were to get off. We are staying at the Puerto Chico hotel in Puerto Varas, but the guide said we couldn’t get off there (because of the traffic, and the bus couldn’t turn in), so instead they dropped us in the town center about 2 km away. However, at Enid’s insistence he phoned our tour guide, “Pais Sur” and Enid spoke to Gabriel. He said that he would send a car for us and to wait outside the Bellavista Hotel.
After about five minutes there, the hotel desk clerk came out and got us, as Gabriel had phoned to tell us that our ride was coming, but spoke no English. Since it wasn’t their hotel we were staying at, we were very happy with the service of the Bellavista. Our driver arrived in just a couple of minutes, and we got to our hotel, which is very, very nice. It is not a big hotel, maybe 30 rooms, but very clean and we have a nice large room (though Enid thinks a king size bed is much too large!)
We were very tired, and didn’t want too much to eat for supper. We went to the restaurant hotel, which we’d been told would give us a complimentary drink by the hotel desk, and had a very nice raspberry juice. Since the original waitress didn’t speak much English, she found someone that did, and he helped us through the menu so we got a salad for Enid and a plate of fried shrimp for me, which we shared about equally. It was a very nice meal.