Follow us !

The city of Bariloche is our entry point to Patagonia. The region is on the wish list of every globetrotter thanks to its gorgeous landscapes and its “Ruta 40”, the Argentinian equivalent of the US road 66.

Bariloche is THE prime ski resort in South America. It is surrounded by lakes and a wonderful Swiss-Alps-like scenery. The area is visited by Argentinean and worldwide tourists. But the main crowd is from Brazil so the joke here is call the city Brasiloche.

The region was also home to Germanic immigrants. The buildings do not have this Spanish colonial touch anymore and some local people have blue eyes, blond hair and a mustache. You even find some last names like Otto and Weiss. A Swiss colony could be visited and, to add to the stereotype, chocolate shops are everywhere. You can even take a photo with a huge Saint Bernard dog.

When dropped in Bariloche by the bus, Ms very-heavy rain and Mr ice-cold wind where there to welcome us. I think that the quantity of water accumulated in few hour was easily beating to death Morocco yearly average. We had to forget quite quickly the warm weather of Cordoba and put on the Bolivian hat that already saved our lives in the Uyuni salt flat. As it is spring in the southern hemisphere, these unfriendly conditions somehow took us by surprise. Even the people from the area admitted that it has not even been like this this last winter.

Our plan was to spend the next 4 days hiking the area. Looking at the sky, we had the feeling that we were about to spend more time in the hotel room than outside. While hoping for some mercy from the Pachamama, our moral index took a serious blow when it started snowing and it did not stop for two days.

But, at least, 50% of our couple had its share of joy and happiness seeing all the skyline dressed in white. Bea, who is from a village in the mountain that did not implement snow, was very happy with all these snowfalls. She shoot, like a sniper, all what seemed to be a snow flake and was so excited that I was thinking that she would literally dove in this white powder. Though, the lady does not really enjoy snow ball fights.

Nevertheless, we managed to visit the area and to do some hikes under the snow and the rain. At least our last day the sun made a long awaited appearance, but it was not warm enough to take off our Bolivian hat.

Bariloche was worth the visit and it was so different from what Argentina has offered us before. The next destination on the list is Trelew on the Atlantic coast and still in Patagonia. Actually, this time, we have an appointment there with Ms Whale and Mr Penguin.

Karim