Cruce de Lagos |
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Only twenty people were heading on to Chile. Once away, the ferry quickly left the trappings of humanity behind as we headed down the long Brazo Blest, one of several long arms of Lago Nahuel Huapi. |
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An hour later, we reached the end of the arm and Puerto Blest, a tiny settlement with one hotel and a cafeteria, but with an important place in history. It was here in 1922, that Nahuel Huapi was declared the first national park in Argentina. We had a two hour break here, time for an early lunch and a wander beneath the dark green canopy of the Valdivian Selva - the cold rainforest of the Andes. |
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A 3km bus ride from Puerto Blest brought us to the northern end of Lago Frias, the smallest and, perhaps because of this the most beautiful, of the three lakes crossed. It is a long and narrow lake, surrounded by high forest-clad walls; the pale green colour of the water giving away its origins in the glaciers of Monte Tronador. |
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We quickly reached the far end where, at Puerto Frias, those of us going on to Chile passed through the Argentine customs post and met our Chilean guide who would be with us for the remainder of the trip. For the others, it was time to rest in the sun, take in the magnificent scenery and then go back to Bariloche. We few cross-border travellers climbed into a bus and continued on for 2 hours in a state of political limbo - no longer legally in Argentina, but not yet legally in Chile. |
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Pico Puntiagado slhouetted in the afternoon sun |
As we headed down the lake the perfect snow-capped cone of Volcan Osorno came ever nearer |
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Salto de Petrohue |
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View across Lago Llanquihue to Volcan Osorno from Puerto Varas |
The shingle and weatherboard architecture of Puerto Varas |