A boat trip to Puerto Blest is recommended as a good day trip from Bariloche to see some cold rainforest, waterfalls and turquoise lagoons. Sounds perfect.
Before we leave Bariloche James (from the group) and I drop off our clothes at the launderette. The woman behind the counter, who remarkably resembles Shelly Duvall in the Shining, rifles through my washload, picks up my smalls. holds them in the air and asks if they can be washed with the rest of my clothes. I apologise to James who has to watch this and wait for her to give him the same treatment but she doesn´t. Hmm.
The boat trip leaves the port outside Bariloche (Puerto Panuelo) at 9am for the one-hour crossing to Puerto Blest. On the way you get a glimpse of the exclusive Llao Llao hotel. The views from the boat are stunning. Nahuel Huapi Lake is surrounded by high peaks covered in forests at low level and snow on the peaks. We amuse ourselves on the boat by feeding seagulls by hand.
First stop is Lago Frias, a turquoise lagoon framed perfectly by forests and mountains. Back on the boat to Puerto Alegre for the 10-minute transfer to Puerto Blest for a picnic of nibbles and wine. After the meal we begin out one-hour trek through Valdivian rainforest to the waterfalls. The rainforest is cold rainforest which means you don´t get hot and sweaty. As a tree fanatic I´m in heaven and lag well behind the others to take photos of three-hundred year old trees and lianas. The waterfalls are ok but nothing special. I´m sure any others I see will be a big disappointment compared to Iguassu.
It´s now 4pm and the boat doesn´t leave to go back to Bariloche until 5pm. Some of the group decide to hike back through the rainforest to catch the boat on the other side. I do too but leave about five minutes later than the others. I try not to dawdle too much but the temptation to take more photos is too great although I´m aware that I must make the 5pm boat or I´m in trouble.
Despite minimal dawdling I reach Puerto Blest in half an hour. I don´t see anyone else so assume I need to hike the extra 3km back to Puerto Alegre, where the boat originally dropped us off. It´s 4.30 and I have no idea how long it´ll take to walk 3km. I walk fast and don´t stop at all. By 4.50pm I still can´t see the end of the road so begin to panic ever so slightly. I speed up and see some people ahead. Relieved to have caught up with the others I slow down but when I reach the port at exactly 5pm I realise it´s not my group at all but some other tourists. They tell me I´ve missed the last boat back to Bariloche but I can take the boat to Chile if I want to (not sure why they suggest this) or I´ll have to stay at Puerto Blest and go back to Bariloche tomorrow. I realise I´m in big trouble now. I´m supposed to be leaving early for Puerto Montt tomorrow.
I ask some forest workers at the port for a second opinion and they tell me there´s another boat back to Bariloche in an hour. Not sure whether to believe them or not but I don´t have a choice. I find the captain of a small boat in the harbour and persuade him to radio the boat I should have been on to let my group and tour leader know that I´m fine and I´ll be on the last boat back to Bariloche. Panic over.
I relax and start having a bit of a laugh with the captain when I see my tour leader arrive having managed to cadge a lift off someone with a motorbike. He doesn´t look too happy. I try to make a light of the situation but this seems to make matters worse and he continues to hide behind his sunglasses and a stony silence ensues. I then decide I´ll just apologise but this doesn´t work either. I feel like a naughty school child.
Back at Bariloche I need a stiff drink or two to recover from today´s adventure so meet up with some people I met in Buenos Aires. Not sure how we manage it in Bariloche but manage to stay out all night. I have a surreal moment when I realise I´m playing table football in a smalltown Argentinian bar at 5.30am. When I get back to my hotel room my roommate is already packing her stuff for our departure at 6.45am.
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