Early summer in Huerquehue
The medium-sized bus slowly went up the steep gravel road towards Huerquehue national park. It was early in the season, but the bus was full. The popular San Sebastián trail and multi-day trails into the park were still closed, so the only option was taking the Los Lagos route. I…
A hike to top off Patagonia
The lake Nahuel Huapi covers two of Argentina’s provinces: Río Negro and Neuquén. A very popular place for people to explore the lake and its surrounding mountains is Bariloche in Río Negro. Although I spent a lot of time there, I was disappointed by the extortionate prices for boats to…
Adventure in Futaleufú
Futaleufú is a small town on the border between Chile and Argentina. I took a detour from the carretera austral to visit this place, since it’s famous for rafting. Arriving here was not the easiest, especially since I left from a small town called Puyuhuapi. Earlier, when I was staying…
In a quiet town in Argentina
Iruya is a small mountain village in the province of Salta, way up North in Argentina. Funnily enough you can only reach it from the Jujuy province. There’s a “bus” from Humahuaca that takes the main road towards Bolivia and then turns into a gravel road, to continue on a…
Overnight at refugio Frey
A girl in my hostel had warned me. She tried to go to Villa Catedral by bus, but the bus never showed up. She was at the wrong stop. Supposedly I was at the right stop, but time passed and I didn’t see a bus. 5 minutes. That’s possible. 10…
My most expensive hike yet
There are many accessible hiking trails around Bariloche, but some lie a bit deeper in the Nahuel Huapi national park. Several trails, including some to the mountain huts, start from Pampa Linda. A rough dirt road gets out there and the road closes during parts of the day. Yet I…
Los Alerces, but which one is it?
I’d come into Argentina to see the los Alerces national park. With the fires around El Bolsón, I’d decided to skip the Lago Puelo area and this was my chance of camping near the lakes and enjoying some nature. Of course there was now also a fire here, but it…
Queulat, just before it closes
“We haven’t really had much summer this year”, says my host in the hostal in Puyuhuapi when we compare the weather here with the Netherlands. “It’s been very rainy.” And of course it rains during my stay as well. But it suits the setting. I’m here to head into the…
Cerro Castillo
Doubts. They just keep coming back. No matter how many hikes I’ve done, problems I’ve solved and adventures I’ve lived, I always end up questionning if I’ve got what it takes. This time I’m feeling particularly vulnerable. I leave camp early and the thoughts start rolling in. Then I’m doing…
Patagonian challenges
Some days are tough. There’s not always a clear reason and often it’s more a feeling of being out of sorts. Of being in your head. Of not really being in the moment. And I had this the day I took all my things into the Chacabuco sector of Patagonia…