Kathleen
Argentina – Villa Angostura
April 16, 2014
The lakes district in the Southeast of the country is also called Pategonia. Here the Andes Mountains drop dramatically into beautiful, glacial blue lakes and there are awe-inspiring views at every turn. This is where Argentinains and Brazilians come to vacation, whether to hike in the Andes, mountain bike, raft or just eat a lot of good food, there is something for everyone. We were in this area during Easter week so although it was actually between seasons (summer and ski), the towns were bustling with life and locals as well as visitors filled the small towns buying souvenirs, chocoloates and ice cream in vast quantities along with many other delights. We had some gorgeous hikes and beautiful drives (not to mention the dulce de leches ice cream), the first of which was the drive from Bariloche, where we arrived by plane, to the small town of Villa La Angostura. This is about an hour and a half drive on the edge of gorgeous Lago Argentina. Villa La Angostura is home of the National Park Los Arrayanes, which is a celebration of the beautiful, cinnamon-colored trees of that name which are native to this area. There is a lovely hike to a huge old grove and the park service has built soome nice platforms for walking around and appreciating the trees. You can then take a boat ride back to town. We actually did this in reverse, enjoying the peninsula from the lake side and then walking the 13K back to town. We finished up the afternoon with a snack on our balcony overlooking the lake and considered it an entiely worthwhile day! Besides for a dinner at a spanish restaurant in town, we didn’t have a lot more time in Villa Angostura, but it was definately a worthwhile stop-over.
