SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE Y ESQUEL

Outside of San Martin de los Andes

After our great visits in Bahia Blanca and Neuquen we headed westward to San Carlos de Bariloche and then south to Esquel.  The trip to Bariloche was truly one of the most beautiful of our life time.  The first part of the day we drove through the Patagonia region that are much more barren but  many beautiful and fascinating rock formations are scattered throughout the area.  After a couple of hours outside of Neuquen, and leaving the much smaller town of Zapala, we began to see in the distance the Andes Mountain, white with snow and jagged.

Each few miles brought us closer to the foothills of the Andes mountains and the Chilean border.

We drove through two lovely towns that lay at the base of these hills and mountains....Junin de los Andes, and San Martin de los Andes.  The drive was amazing on a two lane road, part of which was dirt!  

San Martin de los Andes

We drove all day through incredible sites of lakes, streams and mountains. Much of the drive was throught the Nahuel Huapi National Forest. We were thrilled with the beauty and embraced each moment to the fullest!  We saw a small herd of pretty large sheep in the middle of the two lane road.

Municpal building in Bariloche

Late in the afternoon, we arrived in San Carlos de Bariloche late in the afternoon to more incredible views.  Bariloche sits on the very enormous lake...... Nahuel Huaupi Lake......the city sits at the end of the lake.  We drove along the lake for many, many miles and we came around a corner and there was Bariloche in the distance.... it was an unbelievable view!

Here are a few views of Bariloche.  There is a tremendous European influence there and many of the buildings are very distinctly German.  We noticed many German Shepherd dogs, and also St. Bernard's!  

We had a meeting scheduled in Bariloche but it was canceled at the last minute so we were very disappointed..... but we enjoyed walking around the city and drinking in the very unique beauty of this city that sits at the base of the Andes Mountains.  

We walked along this shore which is only a few blocks from the downtown area.

After spending one day in Bariloche, we drove south further into Chubut Province and had a wonderful meeting in Esquel, a small town which is known for it's access to great outdoor recreational activities.  We had a wonderful meeting with a great group of people, for about two hours.  Our favorite part of our trips is meeting these amazing and gracious people!

Tomorrow we will head across  eastward to the east coast of Argentina and Chubut Province to Trelew and meet up with Hermano Sosa and travel with him to Comodoro Rivadavia, and Caleta Olivia.