You’ve probably noticed the new header picture. It was inevitable, right? Sorry Colonia, it was fun while it lasted!

Saturday, January 26 – transit from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires

I had a flight around 3:30pm today, but check out was at 10:00am. Mmmm, what to do? Honestly, it was too hot to get motivated for any outdoor activity. So, I decided to camp out in the hotel lobby and review my pictures (literally 100s) and work offline on my journal. I surprised myself and was actually very productive!

My hotel’s front desk staff told me getting to the airport by 2pm for my flight would give me plenty of time (this is a small airport). The minivan was booked (Taxi? Too expensive, of course!) and I indeed arrived at Mayor Carlos Eduardo Krause Airport by 2. But wait, there was a HUGE line wrapped around the arrivals area waiting to check in for my Andes Airline flight. And it’s not moving very fast. I’m seriously wondering if I, or my luggage, are going to make this flight. And the folks behind me in line are looking a little worried too. But then I happened to notice the Arrivals display and realized the Andes flight from Buenos Aires was running late. A quick walk over to the departures display confirmed my hope – my flight was running 90 minutes late. Whew! One of the few times I was happy for a delay!

Sidebar: I should have done my homework on Andes Airlines before booking. The departure from Buenos Aires was late; you now know the return was late; and while at the airport on Sunday for my departure to Bariloche, I notice that the Andes flight to Puerto Iguazu had been cancelled. Yikes! Dodged a bullet there!

When flying into Puerto Iguazu, the pilot had announced that the passengers on the right side of the plane would have a brief view of the falls about 2 minutes before landing. Unfortunately, I was on the left. However, on the return I luckily was again assigned to the left, with a window seat (double lucky) and armed with this knowledge was able to get the picture below of the falls. It’s not the greatest shot (the hazy window didn’t help), but still kind of cool.

Sitting next to me on the flight was a young man named Mbaye. He had immigrated to Brasil from Senegal 6 years ago. He is now the owner of a business selling tools, with shops in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aries. Impressive! He spoke French, Portuguese, Spanish, but very little English. So of course we talked for most of the flight!

I spent the night at the same Apartment Hotel as my previous two bookings in Buenos Aires. Even had the same apartment! I really like this place and the city. I will seriously consider returning here next winter.

Sunday, January 27 – transit from Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche

This flight was booked on LATAM Airlines. Much better experience than Andes! Their online check-in was very efficient. Sadly though during the process I noticed that I was assigned a middle seat on what looked like a fully-booked flight (duration: 2 1/2 hours). I did see however that a window seat on the exit row was available for an additional charge. As I’m rather frugal, I really didn’t plan on taking the seat. But, couldn’t hurt to check. The cost for the seat PLUS priority boarding? $4.30. Ahh, yes please!

San Carlos de Bariloche (Bariloche) is in Argentina’s Patagonia region. It borders Lago Nahuel Huapi, a large glacial lake surrounded by the Andes Mountains. Bariloche is a popular base for hiking and skiing the nearby mountains and exploring the surrounding Lake District.

The hotel I chose is across the street from the lake on a hill and is about a 20 minute walk to the city centre. I took Holly’s advice and splurged a bit by upgrading to a lake view room. Glad I did! The rate, including a nice breakfast buffet, is about $97/night. I’m booked here until Thursday.

I walked into town this evening. Bariloche is known for its Swiss alpine-style architecture and chocolate. There was plenty of both on display! Overall though I wasn’t impressed (Hence, I didn’t take any pictures. I’ll get some though before I leave). Very touristy (which you know I love!). But I will be trying the chocolate (I’ve read that a company offers a factory tour with free samples!)! And this is a good place to be based for excursions. For dinner I stopped in a little shop run by a Hungarian family and had a falafel wrap.

Monday, January 28 – Bariloche

After two long days in Iguazu Park, followed by two travel days, I’m pretty much exhausted. It’s such a beautiful day though (clear skies, temps in the low 70s), I willed myself outside!

About two miles down the road from my hotel is Cerro Otto (Mount Otto), with cable cars ascending to the summit (around 4,500 feet above sea level). At the top is a revolving restaurant (apparently the only one in Argentina), and hiking trails. To get to Otto I take a walk along the lake. This turned out to be a great few hours! There was beautiful scenery along the way and on the mountain. Below are a few pictures.

Besides being exhausted, I’m a little tired of moving every few days! So I decided to extend my stay here in Bariloche until Sunday. I even got a lower rate for the extra three nights ($92 per)! Whoo hoo! Now I need to decide which excursions I want take while I’m here. I also need to do some advance planning for the rest of the trip. And I have to remind myself once again that this is an 11 week journey, not a 10 day vacation! Rest days are a good thing!