A kind of holly on the forest floor on a hike to Cerro Belvedere, near Villa La Angostura
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Hope you all are enjoying some time off recuperating from the stresses of the season, and partaking in a favourite pastime, with good friends and family at your side.
Usually I am in some remote spot on the 25th of December. But this year, due to poor weather and closed trails in the nearby parks, I’ll be in “civilzation” (if you can call frenetic Bariloche at peak-season civilized). Part of the day will be spent at a sauna in Bariloche, and the evening El Bolsón, my favourite Patagonian town (and home to the world´s best ice cream).
Frank and I have been facing some ongoing challenges these first couple of weeks of trvael, nothing major that we can’t overcome, but things aren’t going as smoothly as we had hoped. Troubles with The Rhino first, which set us back 5 days in total. Then the disappointment of fowl weather – brutal winds and heavy rain and snow – and closed trails in the parks which meant we were re planning our trip a few times a day. At the moment we are grappling with repairing our camp stove (I wish I’d replaced it before I left Canada). Our cleaning tool is damaged (kerosene is filthy, so Frank cleans the jet twice daily), but we’ve just switched to cleaner kerosene, so are hoping this will alleviate the need for the tool. More of concern is a leak at the join of the hose to the valve. Perhaps we will revert to Barbeque-ing our food like the Argentineans. Charred pasta anyone?
In the photo gallery are some shots of cool Patagonian flora. The wild out-sized lupines are out in all their glory, as is a red honeysuckle-like bush called the notro, and a peculiar golf-ball fungus called “llau-llau” (say ¨zjaow zjaow¨) that grows on the coigue tree (a notrofagus, or false beech). The fungus is edible, and smells and feels like an apricot. You’ll also see the cinnamon-barked arrayanes trees – which look a lot like the arbutus tree common to the west coast. The arrayane tree, really a shrub, is a relative of the myrtle and is unique to the Lakes District. Casting an orange glow to the surrounding forest, the arrayanes stands evoke an enchanted, fairy tale mood. Someone in our tour group mentioned that the forest in Disney’s Bambi film was inspired by arrayanes groves. I was lookin´out for thumper, but a huge boatload of rowdy students arrived, killing the magical mood. Unfortunately the forest, which is also a national park, has been turned into a tourist destination from Bariloche, which makes it highly unlikely that timid bambi (or any other animal in its right mind) would hang out in this enchanted forest for too long.
Where´s Bambi?
