Hiking to Laguna Negra

To get our hiking legs back we decided to do an easy flat day on part of the tourist route, the circuito chico.  Then a hike up to Laguna Negra and back.  A bus dropped us at the edge of Llao-llao regional park and we set off, partly on trails and partly on the road.  The wind was pretty unpleasant, especially at the viewpoints, but the road sections weren't as bad as we'd thought - very little traffic and all sealed, bar the last 3km, so no clouds of dust.

In Llao-llao park with the broom and a tourist doing the circuit the usual way; by bike

There were gorgeous wind battered views

The best road walking we've done - quiet roads, no dust and great views!

Eventually we rolled into the small village of Colonial Suiza but struggled to find somewhere to camp.  There are plenty of campgrounds, but only one was open as it's not the summer season yet.  So with an extra couple of kilometers needlessly walked we finally set up the tent and managed to get inside, out of the freezing wind.

As if to make up for the wind, the next day was gorgeous - hardly a breath of wind and not a cloud in the sky.  Only 1km back up the road to the trail head to Laguna Negra, then it was all proper hiking - only 14km to the refugio!

The trail wound gradually up through beautiful beech forests . . .

. . . until at the end of the valley we could see Cerro Negro and we knew we had to do some serious climbing.

The first 4hrs of the hike was pretty cruisy, then the last section more than made up for it, with a steep switch back trail climbing sharply out of the forest and up into the rock.

We were very glad to see Refugio Italia on the shores of Laguna Negra

A stunning, wind swept location

We were undecided about whether to camp or stay in the refugio - until we reached the laguna!  The wind was howling across the lake - well, ok, it really wasn't that windy, but boy, it was cold!  The refugios here are a bit different to back home - you can get a fully cooked dinner for AR$100 (about NZ$25), which sounds expensive when we've been spending that much on a whole day's food in town.  But of course it all has to be carried up and the person living in the hut has to cook and do the dishes.

The refugio itself wasn't as nice as I'd expected for somewhere you can have all your meals cooked for you and is almost as expensive as our hostel in town.  It was freezing cold with only a little heater and the fire didn't get lit.  The other thing that surprised us was how late people arrived at the hut - it was a Saturday night so there were lots of locals, many of whom didn't arrive until well after 7pm.  Dinner wasn't til 10pm though - pretty normal for Argentina.

Ben spent some time outside setting up for this great night shot

Another beautiful day greeted us, time for a leisurely breakfast and some more photos before heading down again.

The refugio shows the vastness of the mountains

There were a couple of snow traverses to negotiate

Of course it was much faster heading down and before long we were back in Colonial Suiza, waiting for the bus.  Sunday is market day there, with lots of artisan stores open and plenty of day trippers from Bariloche.  What this means is that the bus doesn't come to the bus stop . . . so we missed it after waiting 45min.

We decided hitch hiking would fill in the time til the next bus (3hrs away) and luckily for us Ana, the owner of the campsite we'd stayed, drove past before we'd even really started trying, and gave us a ride back to Bariloche, much faster than the bus would have been!

Southwards! Bariloche and Lago Traful

After our incredible wildlife experiences it was hard to get on another bus, but with two months to go and plenty more to see we had to keep heading south to Bariloche in the Lakes District. We'd heard a lot of good things about the area and how beautiful it was, so our expectations were high.

Bariloche itself is nice enough, like the Argentinian version of Queenstown (though not quite so beautiful, but we might be slightly biased!) It's a nice enough town, but the real reason to come here is to get into the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

We found a nice hostel to be based at for a while, Las Barrancas, and when we asked for ideas the owners suggested we head over to a little campground on the edge of Lago Traful. As we could get there by bus and it was reputed to be truly beautiful, we duly found out which days the bus runs (Sat - Tues only) and set off.  A lovely lady on the bus told us that it was one of the most beautiful places in the world that she had ever been to.

It was a little breezy when we arrived, but the wild lupins and dramatic landscape was gorgeous

The moon and high cloud put a stop to Ben's plan to do some long exposure star shots . . .

. . . but we managed to entertain ourselves.

The next day we walked into Villa Traful, the little village on the lake . . .

. . . very picturesque and quiet, just a few people going out fishing.

We hiked up through masses of broom (not gorse!) to see some waterfalls.

The campground was very simple but in the most gorgeous location. We were the only people there for the first night, but even with two other groups we still had plenty of space. It was a very relaxing three days.

Our great Tarptent Stratospire 2 in action.
The new solid wall inner was much warmer and much better at keeping the dust out.

The last of the winter snow on the high peaks

Early morning contemplation.
'Why didn't we bring something yummier than muesli for breakfast?'

Lago Traful - clear as glass

Picture postcard perfect.
Actually none of the postcards we saw looked this good!

The colour of the lake is extraordinary

Eventually our time was up and we were ready to head back to civilisation for hot showers and a real bed (and to get out of the dust!). Time to plan the next excursion, which is supposed to involve a bit more hiking.

Punta Ninfa - Elephant Seals and Orcas

After our great day trip around Peninsular Valdez we did wonder if it was going to be worth the money for the half day trip to Punta Ninfa to see elephant seals.  They looked pretty inanimate and a bit boring, but at least we would get to see them up close, at least we hoped so.  It was a long dusty drive out there, across the almost completely flat Patagonia plains.  The occasional estancia was like an oasis in amongst the low scrubby bushes.  There was some wildlife; guanacos (related to llamas), rheas (large flightless birds like emus), maras and of course sheep and horses.

Finally we arrived at the end of the peninsular, ready for a steep scramble down to the pebble beach

One woke up, had a stretch . . .

. . . checked us out and decided we needed closer investigation.

The somewhat undignified but surprisingly quick elephant seal shuffle

The large eyes and soft fur made these guys incredibly cute

Suddenly we were very close . . . 

. . . a brief pause for a scratch before a serious investigation of my boot . . .

. . . and before I knew it I had a new BFF (best flippered friend).

One of the enormous (and slightly funny looking) males was keeping a close eye on us all

Smitten!

I could have happily sat for hours with my elephant seal, who kept getting closer and closer and really wanted to sniff more of me than just my boots.  I, in return, really wanted to stroke him, but didn't think that would be the best plan.

However, there were more elephant seals to see, so reluctantly I said goodbye and we walked on down the beach, looking somewhat like strange Indian hunters as our guide made us walk crouched over to prevent us looking threatening.

The amazing size difference between the females and the males

Elephant seals come with some extraordinary statistics, to go with their extraordinary selves:
Males can get up to 4.9m and 3,000kg, females are a much smaller 3m and 900kg
They can hold their breath for nearly 2hrs
The deepest recorded dive of an elephant seal is 2,388 metres but generally dive between 300 and 600m

The males make a peculiar noise that reverberates round their strange proboscis

We were all engrossed watching the elephant seals when my eye happened to be caught by something in the waves - orcas!  The orcas in this area are famous for hunting seal pups off the beach by intentional stranding, where they rush up with the wave and grab their prey, then wiggle back into the water.  After watching videos of this in our hostel the night before it looked pretty violent (especially given how cute the elephant seal pups were!) but we headed down the beach after the tall dorsal fins.

The large male elephant seal seemed to be standing guard as the orcas scoped out the possibilities

After five or ten minutes of circling in the shallows it was clear that none of the seals were close enough

We pressed on down the coast after them . . .

. . . marvelling at how close they would come to the beach and how easily they cut through the waves.

Finally they got too far ahead of us and we had to turn around.  No actual lunges up the beach were made while we were watching - I was a bit relieved but the photographer was slightly disappointed.

On the way back we watched two males having a face-off.
The one nearest the water quickly gave in and reversed into the surf

My friend from earlier having a splash

Another cub was very interested in us

We felt incredibly privileged to have been able to spend an afternoon in the company of such extraordinary animals.  Our group, which was only five people, were the only ones on the beach until another two people turned up as we were leaving.

It was an amazing, unforgettable afternoon!

Peninsula Valdes - Whales!

Slightly groggy from another marathon 22hr bus ride, including a 3hr breakdown, we arrived into Puerto Madryn, the town just outside of Peninsular Valdez, ready to sign up for some whale watching.  After the horrendous weather in Buenos Aires we were lucky to get perfect conditions for some wildlife watching.

Not so wild, but cute

Somewhere there's a whale

Southern Right Whale youngster getting a good look at us while his mother waits

Picture perfect whale tail

The whale watching trip was only an hour and a half so all too soon we were back on land.  Luckily there was more wildlife to see in the park.

Nesting brown backed hawk 

Elephant seals

Desert Cavy

Mara - related to guinea pigs

Magellanic penguin

The penguin choir . . . not so musical as it's quite a braying noise

Solo performer

Flat out elephant seal at the river mouth

Large seagull type

Even though we looked hard for them no orcas put in an appearance and eventually it was time to leave the park and head back to town, across the flat Patagonian plains.