Nahuel Huapi

Bariloche city in Argentina is a famous holiday destination. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi. Both the road and the city follow the contours of the bay, thus dividing the city into cosy smaller sections. The Nahuel Calel National Park surrounds the lakes. The temperature resembles that of a beautiful Estonian summer: 25 degrees during the day, 16 at night. The vacation destination is so immense that a continuous stream of cars poured out as we were driving into the city on Sunday, there is a shortage of diesel as well. We were only allowed to refuel 30 litres. However, we later found out that it was possible to refuel some more elsewhere. The shortage was limited to the road to Buenos Aires. Lake Nahuel Huapi is relatively large; not as a single big body of water but more as lengthy coves. There was no wind, the water was clear and clean. Mountains with white peaks were visible from afar and there was a view of a Chilean Volcano from the end of one cove. There are a lot of lakes here and one can travel from lake to lake as far as the Chilean border, both with an amphibian and by local ferries.

Road no. 40 is picturesque and full of curves. The driver faces quite the dilemma of what to look at. In reality, the driver has to hold the camera in one hand and drive the car with the other.

Bariloche city in Argentina is a famous holiday destination. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi. Both the road and the city follow the contours of the bay, thus dividing the city into cosy smaller sections. The Nahuel Huapi National Park bears the same name as the lake. The temperature resembles that of a beautiful Estonian summer: 25 degrees during the day, 16 at night. The vacation destination is so immense that a continuous stream of cars poured out as we were driving into the city on Sunday, there is a shortage of diesel as well. We were only allowed to refuel 30 litres. However, we later found out that it was possible to refuel some more elsewhere. The shortage was limited to the road to Buenos Aires. Lake Nahuel Huapi is relatively large; not as a single big body of water but more as lengthy coves. There was no wind, the water was clear and clean. Mountains with white peaks were visible from afar and there was a view of a Chilean Volcano from the end of one cove. There are a lot of lakes here and one can travel from lake to lake as far as the Chilean border, both with an amphibian and by local ferries.

Road no. 40 is picturesque and full of curves. The driver faces quite the dilemma of what to look at. In reality, the driver has to hold the camera in one hand and drive the car with the other.

The views are breathtaking even before reaching the lakes.

While preparing the car for launching it into water, we were approached by Nico, who thought that the next lake would have too steep shores for an amphibian. He promised to get back with more details. Additionally, we were approached by a vacationing Chilean, who started off asking us questions but then spent a couple of hours answering ours. Delightful casual encounters are becoming a staple during this trip.

A perfect ramp for the Amphibear and local boatmen. Judging by the number of trailers on the shore, it seems to be a very popular place. You do not have to wait after anyone, there is plenty of room, the bottom of the lake is solid enough for a car and safe for a boat.

This is where a deep and narrow bay cove leads to Chile.

In the evening it became clear that we would not be launching the car into water due to other travel arrangements and the necessity of Internet. We searched for a local lodging house so that we could continue our journey to Chile around the lake and on the picturesque road no. 40 the next day. We spent the night at another camping site, which was covered in dust instead of grass like the adjacent camping ground. The reason for this was simple - we had run out of Argentinian pesos and neither of the campsites accepted card payments, but the dusty one was willing to wait until the morning. As usual, Amphibear was a hit around the camping ground. Unfortunately, I am not able to give coherent answers to most questions any more. I do not have enough vocabulary to convey all the information. Therefore, English speakers get all of the information and Spanish speakers continue to be informed that we are driving around the world.
Argentinian helpfulness is extraordinary. Once they found out that my pontoons were broken, they searched out a local handyman who can do anything with aluminium. What a pity that this is not enough to continue our journey.

Translated by Luisa Translation Agency