Blanco y Celeste: San Martin de Los Andes and Bariloche

At last, I've been persuaded that Argentina has some beauty!! We went to the mountainous part this last weekend, to visit our friends there, and to also have some time with Merle and Lew Stronge. I had been to San Martin de Los Andes years ago (1996) with Rachel Bailey when we travelled together, and had never returned since. Two workers were living there then, Ruth Gonzalez and Mirna Barjacoba. I had been robbed of my passport, so couldn't leave the country (we had planned to go to Chile), so instead travelled around the south of Argentina. We had a little Sunday am mtg with the two girls, Mirna didn't speak English and Ruth spoke a little more English than I spoke Spanish, but between us we somehow got by!! They took us to visit a lady called Eli who lived halfway up a moutainside. She wasn't serving God, but her parents had been until they died in Chile. She had two daughters, 4-year old twins called Marcela and Gisela. Today Marcela is in the work!

Rachel remembers Eli saying that maybe WE would one day return as "señoritas" which is what they call lady workers here... (I don't remember that!).

So I am, 19 years later, returning to San Martin de Los Andes, as a "señorita"...who ever would have thought??!!

Some of the scenery on the way to San Martin de Los Andes from Neuquen.

This is the young couple that live in San Martin de Los Andes. She is from Buenos Aires and he from Cordoba. Her uncle died suddenly two years ago. Sadly he once served God, but went his own way in life. He left the house to his nieces and nephews, so Jorge and Sol have gone there to live meantime, while they get the house in order to sell. Now that Marcela has gone from here, there is just one other lady who goes to the meeting, Marcela's aunt Blanca. She suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, but makes a supreme effort to get to the meeting.

With Marcela's mum Eli outside their log cabin.

Having tea at Eli's

Views from the back of the house! The township down in the valley.

Looking out over the town of San Martin

Sol in her little shop beside the CNG station. Started out with just two stands selling lollies to gas station customers, and have gradually increased it to lots of different items!

More views of the lakefront, San Martin de Los Andes

Views on the road from San Martin de Los Andes to Bariloche

There were a few avid trout fishermen along here!

Lew's accidental selfie while trying to take the below photo of Merle and I...

These photos were all taken along the "7 Lakes Highway", a very picturesque route between San Martin de Los Andes and Bariloche. You just keep coming across lake after lake, each one prettier than the last! This area was covered (totally) in volcanic ash from the Chilean volcano two years ago. It was just grey everywhere, the stock had nothing to eat, even lay on the water of the lakes. The following year, the vegetation and roses all grew back lusher than ever!

Dining in Villa La Angostura...trout and humita

Some of the scenes around Villa La Angostura, a pretty little resort town on a lake. There is quite a Swiss-German influence in this part of the country, typified in the houses and hand-made chocolates for sale.

In Bariloche we made the most of the rental car and went out for a drive one day sightseeing. It was fun as we hadn't planned anything much and came across some gorgeous scenery! Here is the view from the top of "Cerro Campanario" (1,050 m above sea level).

The Patagonian region includes deserts, steppes and the southern end of the Andes mountain range, and is shared by Argentina and Chile. A river called Rio Colorado forms the boundary of Argentinian Patagonia. There are amazing glaciers and glacial lakes found in Patagonia, along with a variety of fauna, like the condor, "guanaco" (a member of the alpaca family, but smaller), "ñandú"(rhea, a member of the ostrich family), on the coast, whales, penguins and sea-lions. It's also known for it's game, wild boar, deer and trout. A very pre-historic land, you definitely get the feel that you're looking on a very ancient landscape when you look out on this! Interestingly, dinosaur fossils have been found here.

The native tribe of Indians that survived the marauding Spanish (very few survived in Argentina, most killed off) is called Mapuche, and there are a lot of people of that descent in this area.

Bariloche is built on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi (an Indian Mapuche word meaning Island of the Puma). It is HUGE (529 km squared), has an altitude of 770m above sea level, and a maximum measured depth of 438m. Oh and an average surface temp of 7oC! Brrr.

This is the Llao Llao, a posh hotel built in the 1940s. We went to visit it, didn't stay the night though!

There are roses everywhere in this area! The gardens of the Llao Llao were spectacular (as was everything else).

If you've got a spare $US500 you could stay a night here (or even $1,000 to do it in style), but we decided to just stick to the buffet lunch, the food was absolutely delicious, and the setting...well a picture paints a thousand words!