Bariloche and Esquel: Visiting Andes and National Parks

(Red line is y route)

At the moment (actually it was yesterday, as I started writing...), I'm waiting for the bus to Esquel, the third place I will visit in Argentina. A lot has happened the last week and on Martijns advice, I bought a digital camera, so that I can illustrate the stories with some pictures (although it takes long to load them in blogger...), and that I also can make more pictures, instead of choosing the exactly right spot with my analogue camera.
I left Mendoza after a nice barbecue (asado) with Alejandro's family, at which they gave me a mate (a cup to make the Argentinean variation of coffee or tea with the yerba plant, with a metal straw). Yesterday, I was drinking mate at a camping site and a man from Buenos Aires came to me. He asked if I was drinking mate and looked into my cup. "That's no mate, that's soup", he said. Because I put way too much water and less yerba in it. So with two friends from a Buenos Aires outdoor club, they showed me how to make it and we shared the mate (drinking mate is a social event - one prepares it and you all drink of it).
In Mendoza, we also had a nice lunch with Alejandro and his brother Guillermo and a few goodbye-beers with all the Spanish-students and -teachers. In the weekend, Ale showed me around in the Mendoza region and we tried to fiend some vineyards, but that was not easy, because every yard was fenced. People are quite scared for burglary as it seems. All houses also have bars in front of the windows, and you hear a lot of car alarms in the night.
It was sad to leave Ale and his superb hospitality. He brought me to the busstation. We might see eachother in the south, which I will visit and where he might do some fieldwork in March. But on the other hand, I found it nice to travel on to a cooler place without the smog of Mendoza! (Over 30 degrees, sandy soil and loads of old diesel cars, trucks and buses really polute the nice air, and because of the unsafe situation, everybody takes his car instead of a bike).

Then, a 18-hour bustour followed, through the pampa and later through the lower Andes. This was a marvellous tour! Although 18 hrs. in a bus is a long time, I could speak in Spanish with my neighbour and see the great sandy and redish rocky mountains, rivers and lakes. Finally, we arrived in Mendoza and I found a nice, simple hostel... with Dutch guests. And the days after, I hiked into the mountains and met Dutch people again. They are everywhere. It's nice to relax and talk Dutch, but on the other hand, I did not necessarily need to meet them... I don't really like this "us"-feeling.
(Lago Nahuel Huapi and the National Park)

But about the hike: I wanted to hike for three days, so with a heavily loaded backpack with food, my little tent, cooker etc. I took the bus to Villa Catedral, a ski resort. But as soon as you hiked away from the lifts, you entered the marvellous National Park Nahuel Huapi, with it's great forests (partly burned, unfortunaly, but that gave a special vegetation again), big trees, bamboo (!) and lots and lots of sun and dust. This, in combination with a steep trail up to 1700m made the hike very heavy. But finally, I made it to the refugio and camp site and it was great. There, I met a Belgium, Scottish and English guy, with whom I hiked on during the second and third day. First, we hike apart, but we kept on meeting and then we joined. Their company and my camping cooker made a great team, we had a lot of fun. I really like the British dry humour, their travelling stories (they were all on their way for several months) and Doug, the Scottish, even gave a small golf course. They were relaxed hikers. Back at the bus stop, after three days, we had some beers together and then... there came no bus. But after waiting and hitch-hiking for 1,5 hrs, there came a fourwheel drive who took us down to Bariloche again. We were very late, I was tired and had to clean and wash a lot, because today my bus was going, but it was a great experience!

About Bariloche: it`s a very touristic, Alpen-like place with great views on Lago Nahuel Huapi, the National Park N.H. and... wooden houses and Saint Bernard dogs! See http://sintbernardhonden.blogspot.com for some pictures...

OK then a small time jump: it's one day later, after a long bus trip through the great Andes and pampa, I've arrived in Esquel. I've just had lunch with Clare, who I met at the Spanish course in Mendoza. She teaches Welsh to the people of the Welsh community here in southern Argentina. It was very nice to meet again and tonight, we'll be having dinner with more Welsh people and Esyllt, another Welsh girl from the language course.
(The view out of the bus on the pampa and the first hills of the Andes)

Meanwhile, I´m camping in my 1,5 person Vaude Refuge, which has my hiking poles as tent poles. Until now (without rain...), it's been small but alright...
(My private hostel)

There you see how easy it goes to learn to know people in Argentina. That's really great. Everybody is very interested in what you're doing and if you try to say something in Spanish, they help you or try to speak English, they really want to communicate.

Well the next message will come from Esquel or the next stop: Peninsula Valdez at the Atlantic Ocean!

Greetings to all of you!

Jeroen