Crossing the Andes 11 January 2013

Friday, 11 January 2013

I got my luggage out on time for the pick-up.  We are doing a lake crossing instead of the usual bus crossing because on New Year’s eve, the crossing station burnt down.  They are supposed to have it rebuilt in another two weeks.  In the mean time, we will be crossing via four buses and three boats.  The day started out cloudy.  As we were leaving Puerto Varas, we could not see the volcano.  

On the bus the guide spoke about the Patagonia region of Chile which is where we are.  The area on both side of the border was originally settled by Germans and the German influence is still very strong.  There are German schools and clubs and the Lutheran Church is still very strong.  English is a required subject in all schools.  As we rode, we passed many prosperous looking farms.  There were dairy cows.  Only sport fishing is allowed in the lakes. Commercial fishing is done in the ocean.  There is significant salmon farming; in fact, it is the largest industry in the area. 

Native animals in this area include condors, which I haven’t seen and am disappointed, small deer (about 40 cm tall), puma and wild boar.

We stopped at a Chilean National Park where we saw a beautiful waterfall tumbling over volcanic rocks.  The river is the Petrohue River commonly called the emerald river because of its color.  In the park there were several souvenir stands.  I bought sweaters for Muffin and Avi and booties for my babies.

We got on a boat which took us to Peulla, where we stopped for lunch. We encountered the horse flies which bothered us for the rest of the trip.  They are very large and buzz around you.  I don’t know if they bite, because I had used my Off in hopes of keeping them off.  They claim that the horse flies are only around in January, but I have my doubts.  My then loaded into a bus which drove us over the Andes.  We went through Chilean customs and on the other side of the mountain, Argentinean immigration.  The mountain trip reminded me of the tour of Monenegro that I took on the Adriatic tour.  I also thought of the road trip out of China, although the road here is better.  

 Entrance to the Chilean National Park

Map of the Park

Stream

Stream

River

 Falls in National Park

Falls in National Park

Wild Water

Wild Water

Me with Falls in the background

 Wild Water

Wild Water

Note Volcanic Rock

Further down the river

Getting on the boat

Boat to cross the Emerald Lake

Volcanoe

Volcanoe from ship on Emerald Lake

 Volcanoe with cloud cover arriving

Andes hidden in part by clouds

Heading across the lake

Views of the Andes

House on isalnd owned by boat companies CEO 

 

 Small waterfall coming off the mountains

The mountain with small water fall

Getting off boat

Lobby of hotel with map of where we were going

End of Lake

From bus

Look out point - note mountain ahead

Sign descibing scene

Native Flora

Native Flora

From road - Looking at where we had come from

Another view - down the mountain

Leaving Chile

Entering Argentina
 Map of National Park

Me in front of sign

Getting on the next boat

Getting on boat

After the Argentinean immigration, we had to wait quite a while for the boat with the horse flies buzzing around.  The first boat ride was quite short.  There was another short bus ride and we got on another larger boat which took us close to Bariloche which was our destination for the day.  The scenery was magnificent.  
It was nine o’clock by the time we arrived.  I dumped my luggage in my room.  I complained about the heat.  Apparently the hotel does not have air conditioning because the nights here are cool and windows may be opened.  A group went out for pizza at a restaurant down the block from the hotel.  It was 10:30 before I got back to my room, which is rather small.  I took care of my pictures and then collapsed.