Lakes District - Argentina

We'd had a wonderful trip around the southern parts of Chilean Patagonia seeing several glaciers, then driven our motorhome Vdos to the border to cross into Argentina. It was slow-going on narrow ripio/gravel roads, but so picturesque, passing mountains, rivers, lakes and lush forests.

Scenery along the road to Río Futaleufú International Pass (Ch-Arg border Patagonia)

Eventually we arrived at the Río Futaleufú International Border Pass. At the border, we had no problems passing out of Chile. But at Argentinean customs, one of the officers was very excited that we were from New Zealand (NZ) and took great pride in showing us all his NZ All Blacks team rugby stickers. A devoted rugby fan!

Driving into Argentina after the customs process, we saw signs to “Eco Camping” near Trevelin.

We had originally planned to go further than Trevelin, but there was a huge tulip farm right next door to the camp, and the tulips were in bloom. We had a great view of some spectacular colours from the fence-line, so decided to stay there.

Tulips seen from our campsite near Trevelin, Argentinean Patagonia 

The camp was lovely, clean, well-organised, and in a vineyard. It had water, power and clean bathrooms with hot showers - bliss when you are travelling! They even did casual food and made us a pizza for dinner, which we enjoyed with their local wine.

We were keen to carry on to San Carlos de Bariloche (Bariloche) in Argentina's lake district, as we'd heard it was a lovely alpine town built originally by German and Swiss immigrants.

So following a peaceful night beside the tulips, we set off early the next morning. 

Old-town centre, San Carlos de Baroloche, Argentinean Patagonia

After driving into the city through an industrial area and scruffy housing, we reached the charming city centre. Located on Lago Nahuel Huapi, it has a lovely lakefront area and a well-preserved historic town square.

We visited the very helpful tourist office there, and picked up some maps and camping information so we could stay in Bariloche.

Driving around the Lago we saw lots and lots of cabanas/holiday accommodation, but only one camp – Camping Petunia. We found a parking place there with a peek of the lake, but decided to move on the next day, as the facilities at Petunia were pretty dire.

Lago Nahuel Haupi on 7-Lakes Route, Argentinean Patagonia

Driving west out of Bariloche the next morning, took us around the Lago and through the Nahuel Huapi National Park for some spectacular lake and mountain views.

Then we bumped our way on bad roads, into the small town of Colonia Suiza. We found it to be very quaint and rustic, full of houses and shops built out of wood in the Swiss style. There were Swiss flags everywhere, further proclaiming its heritage.

Colonia Suiza Village restaurant - yummy trout

We had a wonderful lunch of trout there, at a very sweet little cafe. The trout was fresh from the lago and simply cooked. It tasted fabulous. Finding no other camps, we drove back to Petunia for another night.

Our aim was to drive Argentina's 7-lakes route (Ruta de los Siete Lagos), so we headed off the next morning, driving north on Ruta 40. It was a lovely drive, taking us alongside beautiful Lago Nahuel Huapi. Shortly after, we arrived in Villa La Angostura, nestled between the mountains and the Lago.

Villa La Angostura, Argentinean Patagonia 

Villa La Angostura turned out to be a very lovely place. On the edge of town, we found the fabulous Camping Unquehue, which was clean and well cared for. We happily settled down for a nice break and got heaps of washing done, and caught up with the blog etc.

A few days later, we explored the town, and bought some local and tasty food as a treat. The weather was much warmer during the day, which was really enjoyable.

One day we walked down to Puerto Angostura on Lago Nahuel Huapi.

Puerto Angostura on Lago Nahuel Huapi, Argentinean Patagonia 

We were looking for a boat trip to the Los Arrayanes National Park which is on a peninsular near Puerto Angostura and usually accessed by water. The Park is home to Bosque de Arrayanes, a unique forest of ancient myrtle trees that we wanted to see.

The local tourist companies there said their boat trips were full, or didn't go until later in the day. We were quite disappointed as we'd walked for about 40 minutes to get there. 

Then we saw a catamaran loading a group of people, so we cheekily asked if they had room for two more. Despite the fact their office said they were full, the captain let us on. Yaay!

Bosque de Arrayanes myrtle tree, Los Arrayanes National Park, Argentinean Patagonia

Once in the National Park, we took the interesting circular walk through the most amazing coloured myrtle trees. Normally myrtles grow as bushes, but it seems that here, they grow very tall, and are an interesting orange colour.

The way they have grown and their age, make them unique in the world, and the area has been declared a national monument. Now, human activity there is restricted.

Villa La Angostura boat trip. View leaving Los Arrayanes National Park, Argentinean Patagonia

At the end of the walk, we had a coffee and apple pie at the Park café to keep our strength up, before heading back to the boat for the half-hour return trip. What a good day we'd had.

Our next outing was north along Ruta 40, the main road for the 7-lakes drive. The road runs alongside Lago Nahuel Huapi for much of the way and the scenery was wonderful.

We saw several of the lakes. 

Lago Espejo Grande on 7-Lakes Route, Argentinean Patagonia

We liked the look of the beach at Lago Correntoso, and saw busy fishermen there. Further along the route, we found Lago Espejo Grande, also known as the Mirror Lake. 

Just up the road a bit was Lago Espejo Chico which had a nice beach, and at Lago Traful we stopped at the mirador (lookout) and had a wonderful view down to the distant snow-capped mountains.

Overall, it was a very picturesque drive. After Lago Traful, we turned back to the south again. 

Lago Nahuel Huapi on 7-Lakes Route, heading to the Argentina-Chile border

We headed south in order to get to the border to cross back into Chile, as we wanted to visit the lakes there.

However, on the Argentinean side, instead of the quick border crossing we had come to expect from our experience further south, we came across a very large queue of cars.

It eventually took us 3 hours to complete the customs process. As a young Argentinian guy in the queue said "It's South America!"

Once through, we drove up and over the Cardenal Antonia Samore Pass which crosses the Andes Mountains.

C. A. Samore - over the Andes into Chilean Patagonia

This was an incredible drive. We wound our way higher and higher, with lots of snow on both sides of the road, to see great views of the towering Andes peaks, and many rivers and waterfalls. It was truly spectacular.

Reaching the Chilean border post after about 39 kms over the mountains, we encountered another queue. Fortunately, this one only took us half-an-hour to clear.

C. A. Samore - over the Andes into Chilean Patagonia

However, our half-dozen fresh eggs, which we had forgotten to boil, were confiscated in the fresh food check!

Then we were off again, traveling much later than anticipated, towards our next stop, the Chilean lakes district.

The above is part of our 4-months of independent travel in South America.