We camped for a night on an island in a river that runs through the town of Junin de los Andes, then headed to San Martin de los Andes, which reminded us very much of Banff townsite, with its outdoor gear shops and candy stores. The next day we headed out of town towards the border with Chile where we camped for a couple of nights in a free park-run campsite at the end of a mountain lake….I will let the photos tell the rest.
These large birds are everywhere down here…these two where hanging out at our campsite in San Martin de los Andes. I am betting that the locals were laughing at how many pictures I took of them, as they are really common down here, but they look so exotic to me!Our free camping spot for a couple of nights. There were benches, fire pits and picnic tables and an outhouse, and there was very little litter.Lago Chachin, with its clear blue waters. You could see the stones on the bottom through the water for many metres out.Crossing a bridge over the river on our hike to a beautiful waterfall.
We walked through an impressive forest with huge trees to see this waterfall.We took off our boots to cross a small river, then hiked on a path through this tall grass to visit Nivinco Waterfall.Nivinco waterfall.We made it back to the truck just as it started to rain.The picture is a bit blurry, but there are these HUGE bees down here, the colour of a red fox. This guy would be about 3 cm in length, almost the size of a pingpong ball …beautiful.No one told us how many flowers we would see in Argentina. Purple, pink and white lupins are everywhere along the roadside. Most of the small towns we have visited in the region have rose bushes everywhere; outside peoples’ homes, in the boulevard, outside of the supermarket…..Another waterfall….These bushes are also everywhere. We think it is some sort of legume, as when we got a chance to inspect them up close, there are little “pea pods” everywhere.
We didn’t cross into Chile here, but headed back to Ruta 40, to continue our drive through the Lakes District of Argentina….more on that soon.
