Kayaking in Bariloche
Bariloche is a small town at the top of Ruta 40, situated on the edge of a lake called Nahuel Huapi. It’s famous primarily for sports and Swiss people, being home to a large Swiss Colony on the outskirts of town.
We spent the first day in an effort to cycle round the Circuit Chico, a 60km bike ride round the lake. We hired a couple of rather clunky bikes and set off round the course. This turned out to be a lot more hilly, or better described as mountainous, than described on the brochures so we got as far as the Colonia Swiss and turned back. The guy at the bike hire shop was surprised to see us back so soon, but kindly assumed we’d cycled round the entire circuit really fast, rather than turn back at the first opportunity. We completed the rest of the route by bus and it really wasn’t that spectacular so I don’t think we missed out too much.
Being back in town earlier than expected we took the opportunity to warm up and undo the days exercise by enjoying another benefit of the Swiss presence – a multitude of artisanal chocolate shops – by having a hot chocolate and cake platter.
The next day we hired kayaks and a guide and paddled round the edge of the lake. The was far more enjoyable than the cycling, yet more tiring as any time we paddled away from the shore the wind got up and made getting back very hard work. Thankfully, mid way through we stopped on the shore for cakes and maté which revived us for another couple of hours.
As with the day before, we then ruined all the exercise benefits by enjoying an excellent platter of Patagonian smoked meats and cheeses, followed by a much anticipated Swiss cheese fondue.
The next day the others went to San Martin dos Andes, a village in the mountains, which didn’t really appeal so I just stayed in town and made all the arrangements to get north to Mendoza and Buenos Aires.
