As some of you may know, I spent a couple of weeks travelling around southern Argentina and Chile. We started off in Bariloche, which is just over the border, and boasts some spectacular scenery. It is located on Nahuel Huapi lake, seen here on the left, on which you can take some daytrips to different islands and national parks. The scenery is so dramatic because if you look to the West, as this picture does, you see the Andes and, at the very back, the border with Chile. If you look the other way, however, it looks totally different -- dry and treeless and increasingly flat: the beginning of the Argentine Pampas.Bariloche, like much of that part of the world, was settled by Germans in the 19th century. These were joined by 'other' Germans immediately following the Second World War. All these left behind a lovely alpine architecture and good chocolates. Oh yeah, and some stolen art, too. But you don't get to see that on the tour.
What you do get to see on the tour is a lot of Ansel Adams type scenery, which, thanks to the magic of digital photography, I reproduce for you here.
So after a week in Bariloche, where the steaks are cheap, the wine is Malbec, and the Nazis are well hidden, we took a 15 minute plane ride to Puerto Montt, which is the last 'big' city in Chile before the beginning of the Chilean Patagonia and the islands and fjords of the south.
We drove to all the towns in the region, including Frutillar and Puerto Varas, also heavily German, and dominated by the Osorno Volcano, seen here.
We also drove to Chiloé, which I think is the second or third biggest island in South America, only reachable by ferry. So we drove onto the ferry, and while crossing the channel we were accompanied by a group (gaggle? school? herd?) of sea lions, swimming alongside the boat and waving their flippers at us.
So, to end this particular edition of NFTEOTE, I post a picture of me in an old Spanish fort on Chiloé.
So, to end this particular edition of NFTEOTE, I post a picture of me in an old Spanish fort on Chiloé.
