Saturday, April 5th to Monday, April 7th, 2025 - First View of Patagonia: Bariloche

Nahuel Huapi Lake, Bariloche, Looking West

The reason I chose this trip with Overseas Adventure Travel was to go to Patagonia, so I was happy to leave Buenos Aries and fly a few hours west to Bariloche - near the northern border of Patagonia. When I read about this town before arriving, I was prepared to visit an Alpine style ski resort surrounded by mountains, on the edge of a large glacial lake. It fit the description pretty well, but in this blog, I'll cover the mountains and the lake and we'll come back to the town, and the people we met, later.

On the Banks of the Limay River - East of Bariloche

This area lies in the boundary between the Argentine steppes and the foothills of the Southern Andes mountains. In fact, it is the semi-arid landscape that leads to it being included in Patagonia. The dryness is due to the fact that the weather comes in from the Pacific Ocean to the west, and drops its moisture over the mountains - mostly on the Chilean side. This creates a rain shadow over this region of Argentina which extends all the way to the Atlantic Ocean about 500 miles east. It is not arable land for growing crops and is mainly used for grazing livestock - most often sheep and cattle. You can see in the photo above, the extent of the browned off button-like grass that covers this region. It felt very much like many hills I had seen growing up in Australia.

Campanario Hill

Like skiers seeking the thrill of the mountains, we headed for the hills first, although we were a little skeptical about ever actually seeing the view through the cloud cover.

Campanario Hill

Our tour leader, Marta, insisted that the sun would show up, and indeed, slowly, the cloud burned off to reveal the beauty below. In case you think we were heroic mountain climbers, I have to confess that we took a chair lift up to see the view!

Lago Perito Merino - Looking South West

No doubt, in the winter, one would see much more snow, as this would be one of the areas that draws the many skiers that come here.

View From the Bus - Fall Colors - Nothofagus Pumilio

I was intrigued to learn about the vegetation in these moist, mountainous regions, which are dominated by varieties of Nothofagus, or 'false beech'. I had seen similar vegetation when backpacking in New Zealand and Australia in my younger years and loved the soft, cathedral-like space these trees created there, often with a soft underfoot and sparse understory. They provide historical evidence of the way in which South America, New Zealand and Australia were all connected in Gondwanaland before it broke apart around 180 million years ago, through continental drift.

Lenga Beech - Nothofagus pumilio

The lenga beech, in particular, was my favorite nothofagus, as it was turning red, giving the lanscape some lovely color - especially as we went south. It was also easy to remember and identify, as the edges of the leaves are unusual. The scientific name is 'irregularly lobed', referring to the double bumps between the veins. When Marta referred to these as 'boobs', it became very easy so see and remember!

Condor Habitat

We took a walk in the proximity of Nahuel Huapi Lake called Brazo Tristeza, about 19 miles west of Bariloche. Here we glimpsed the first hint of condors flying high above our heads. These are the cliffs they were soaring above.

Andean Condor

When you consider the fact that these birds have a wing span of ten feet and weigh up to 30 pounds, you can appreciate that they were waay up there. Even with my 250mm lens and my best efforts, I was never able to catch them any larger than a pin head, so here you just get a fuzzy look at their outline as they soared above us on the updrafts.

Chimango Caracara

As if to make up for the remoteness of the condors, this little guy, the caracara, was ever present and very cheeky. They were not at all afraid of humans and were happy to beg for scraps. We saw them throughout our trip.

Brazo Tristeza Hike - Tristeza Branch of Nahuel Huapi Lake

The day had become glorious, the trail through the woods had a gentle uphill gradient which was perfect for my challenging knees. It provided us with a variety of glimpses out through the foliage that revealed the beauty of the lakes and the mountains beyond.

Raft Preparations on the Limay River

To give us a good encounter with the steppes of the region, our travels also took us to 'float' down the Limay River, which began about 12 miles north-east of the town of Bariloche.

'Limay' - Clear Water in Mapuche Language

The Limay River originates from Nahuel Huapi Lake and becomes a substantial waterway as it travels 240 miles to the north-east, where it joins the Rio Negro. The water ends up in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 530 miles due east. The name comes from the language of an indigenous tribe, called the Mapuche, and means 'clear water'.

Columnar Jointing in Basalt Cliffs

It was another glorious day! We were travelling downstream from a launch site not far from the lake. At first the walls on either side were steep and rocky, the basalt showing the distinctive cooling columns characteristic of their volcanic origins.

Fall Colors, Basalt Cliffs

Ranchers had planted poplars from Europe, to provide protection from the strong winds that sweep these plains. Their yellowing in the fall was beautiful and was similar to many little towns in some regions of Australia where settlers had also chosen the same trees from their homelands in Europe.

Mount Cathedral

As the river opened up, we were able to see the Cathedral Mountains off in the distance, which has spires of granite that tower above the landscape. The mountain high mountain in the background is a popular ski resort in the winter.

Upland Geese

We were able to see a number of birds on the shore. The two white birds on the right of the photo are male upland geese. The smaller and better camouflaged female was keeping her distance off on the left. While the male's chest is very distinct, it does have some coloring on his back, somewhat like the female.

Male Upland Goose

Here you can see the male goose's coloring better.

Chamango Caracara's

We were told that we would see the caracaras everywhere, and sure enough, here they were. They were ready to swoop down from their perches to scoop up any crumbs left from our lunch.

Grazing Horse

The river banks were busy. We also saw cows and a great egret, in addition to this horse.

For Rent

As we drifted to the end of our trip, I could imagine myself renting a little cabin like this and staying in this glorious landscape for some true leisure time. It was this steppe that felt so much like Australia with its sunburnt colors. However, I suspect the winter is where that resemblance would end!

My next blog will cover the people we met in this town, a less ancient mix than the views I have just shared. Please join me for a visit to a ranch, a German beerhouse, a glimpse at the town, and a couple of speakers who shared some controversial topics.