Our next exciting segment of our 'Argentina Chapter' adventure with Exploration Journeys was Patagonia's Natural Beauty destination. Welcome to Bariloche, a beautiful town in the Patagonian region of Argentina, known for its natural beauty and pristine landscapes, and after one week, we completely understand why. Bariloche is nestled among deep-blue lakes and set against the backdrop of the snow-capped Andes mountain range. It's an excellent place for hiking in the mountains, traversing forests, navigating across lakes and embarking on exciting adventure tours such as rafting or horseback riding.
It is also home to the breathtaking view from atop Cerro Campanario, one of the ten most beautiful panoramic views in the world, as rated by National Geographic), a nature lover's paradise.
In 2020 Bariloche was selected by Forbes as one of the best 20 places to visit in the world, placing it in position number 4 on their list!
Day 8 - Bariloche
Let's meet some Gauchos! Day one in Bariloche was all about horse riding, one of our favourites! Ironically the last time we rode was precisely one year ago in Cappadocia, Turkey!
We were picked up bright and early, along with our guide Juan of Che Patagonia, the lovely Fred of Exploration Journeys organised to ensure no language barriers throughout the day. We instantly clicked with Juan, and after sharing all our travel stories, we felt like lifelong friends, so it was great fun having Juan join us for the day.
The horse riding ranch was located about 40 mins south of the city, where we all enjoyed the majestic scenery of the Patagonian landscapes and great lakes of Bariloche; this is definitely the lake district. November is the perfect time to visit Bariloche as one month a year, all the Scotch Broom is bursting with yellow flowers absolutely everywhere, so a constant pop of canary yellow borders the roads!
We arrived at the campsite, which was also home to the horses, positioned by the beautiful lakeside.
Everyone was matched up with a horse to commence the trail ride. As we had a bunch of beginners, it was purely a trail ride, whereby the horses would only follow the lead and were so disciplined they would not adhere to any commands; therefore, it was a very calm ride. Fortunately, we were surrounded by Patagonian snow-capped mountains, native trees and the lake, and we were lucky enough to go water's edge and ride alongside it for a moment.
Our ride finished about two hours later, and we bid our new four-legged friends and gauchos goodbye.
Next up, we were treated to a home-cooked lunch by the lake, with local dishes such as empanadas and BBQ, followed by a brownie with the Argentinian favourite Dulce de leche, which is similar to caramel, basically caramelised milk with sugar. It is delicious, although in small doses.
The afternoon took us back to the hotel for an afternoon of rest and to prepare for the next few busy days of adventures in Bariloche.
Day 9 - Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina
Bariloche is captivating; you are fully immersed amongst the Patagonian mountains and emerald green and turquoise lakes.
This morning was the perfect start to our day, with mesmerising panoramic views over Bariloche.
Our lovely guide Facundo (who we had some fun with and his name!) and fabulous driver Pablo, picked us up and ensured we were the first on the chairlift to avoid the queues and the tourists. Pablo was kind enough to skip the football as Argentina was playing. However, in hindsight, we might have done him a favour if you followed the World Cup.
It was a peaceful experience as the chairlift rose us up Campanario Hill nearer to the skyline, where we could take in one of the world's top ten best views as rated by national geographic! The lakes with backdrops of snow-capped mountains and green meadows flush with vivid yellow scotch broom; the views were like no other!