Lake Nahuel Huapi

The weather was still windy and rainy when I made my way to the jetty to join a Lake Nahuel Huapi excursion. Four Israeli girls joined the excursion too. They were travelling around South America, except for Brazil and the northern part of the continent.

I had reservations whether the weather would allow me to see much but it turned out well. The wind chill on the top deck was extreme but the scenery was fantastic.

The catamaran picked up more passengers from Llao Llao, where I had been yesterday.

Our first stop was to Peninsula Quetrihué to see the forest of arrayanes with their cinnamon and white coloured bark.

It's possible to take a chair lift to the summit for part of the hike, but we preferred to walk. It wasn't that strenuous anyway. The wooden path protects the soil from compaction by visitors.

Here's a close up of the bark. The sun was out by this time, brightening up the day.

The trees in this national park are up to several hundred years old. The sign next to the log section is asking visitors in Spanish to guess: How old am I?

The views from the top of the peninsula were fantastic, and some of most memorable scenes of the whole trip. Unfortunately I finished a roll of slide film at this point and realised that I had not brought along a spare roll, so this postcard-perfect scene was taken on print film, so not as good as the slides.

Another great view.

Someone repeated a rumour that the catamaran was leaving soon from the jetty at the other end of the hike and this got the girls worried so we descended, but the rumour turned out to be false. So a couple of the girls whiled away the time dancing on the jetty.

I spent the break sitting on top of the catamaran soaking in the sunshine and admiring the scenery. Some gulls came looking for handouts but they were too suspicious to accept from outstretched hands.

The return journey was uneventful. In the evening I packed my backpack and bought some groceries for breakfast as an early start was required for the crossing to Chile the next morning.