Hey Folks,
I'm back in Buenos Aires now, after an 19 hour bus ride from Bariloche. It's not as bad as it sounds. The humidity of February is gone and it's much easier to get around here now. I'm back in Buenos Aires to start my tour of Patagonia. The plan is to go down the Atlantic coast, into Ushuaia, then to Torres del Paine in Chile, back into Argentina (El Calafate) and finish off in Santiago de Chile in early April. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But really really excited.
But anyway, back to Bariloche. It was fantastic. If you like the great outdoors, hiking, watersports and beautiful scenery, put this place on your list. I feel that no matter how well I try to describe this place, in words or with photos, I just won't do it justice. It's so easy to get here and it's so safe. It really has that "holiday feel" to it. It has been packed for the past few months (with foreign and local tourists) and is just beginning to cool down now. Local buses (costing less than 70 cent) take you to the starting points for the hikes. And basically, off you go. The trails are marked and eventually you arrive at a refugio (cabin in the mountains). The tradition is to bring some food and a bottle of wine and chill out for the evening. Then hike onto the next refugio the next day or come back to Bariloche. If you were to complete all the hikes here, it would take months.
One of the hikes I did was with a Swizz girl, Sabrina. It was to a place called Laguna Negra, it took about 5 hours and the final part was quite tough but so worth it. About a third of the hike was along by the river and through the forest. I never experienced a hike like it before. Even on those days in Ireland when it's sunny, it cannot compare to here. I think it's the richness and freshnesss of the place. This will sound silly but the sky is so blue, the forest so green and the mountains are so dramatic. There is no electricity or mobile reception up in these mountains and you truely feel like you're on top of the world.
The lakes have the most fantastic colours - blues and greens. They are surrounded by the most beautiful and dramatic mountains. The glaciers left diffent minerals behind in these lakes and that's what give them their different colours.
We went to see Mount Tronador too. There is a glacier here and you can see and hear the water rush down the side of the mountains, in little waterfalls. I have photos but I just don't think they do the sight any justice. You decide!
I'm having problems uploading the photos. I'll try again tomorrow. So have a click back here later on in the week and I'll see if I succeeded.
So, I'm off to meet this group and explain for what feels like the hundredth time who I am, where I'm from and what the feck I'm doing here.
Missing ye all loads and loads, I swear
Lots of Love
Sarah.
