Valle Encantado

Anna taking in the view from the balcony at the Hosteria Isla Victoria

The hosteria at Isla Victoria was beautiful and located on a 19km x 700m skinny island on the huge lake around Bariloche. It is the only building with guest lodging on the island; there's a small schoolhouse, lodging for the staff, and some park ranger offices; the rest is wilderness. Bariloche is a small outdoorsy town known for its proximity to the Andes, its beautiful lake, and its supposedly world-class chocolates.

Shortly after we arrived on Isla Victoria, we got a phone call from Harry, the guy with the travel agency who arranged all of our activities, telling us that a guide would be meeting us in the morning and taking us to a "special place" where there would be a hosteria, caves, rapelling, and some surprises. Harry hadn't let us down yet, so we were excited to see what he'd come up with.

We got up early the next morning and met our guide, Maxi, down by the dock. Maxi took us to shore (30 minute boat ride), where we took the van to Bariloche (40 minute ride), and then continued on past town and into a countryside that looked very similar to El Califate. I was skeptical about travelling so far to get to another ranch hosteria, but when I woke up from my nap I was met with a beautiful river running through the landscape and shortly afterwards a much different geography of hills covered in badlands-like rock formations. We took the van down a small side road down to a small lake, where we got on another boat and travelled across to the Hosteria Valle Encantado. It was isolated, serene, rustic, and beautiful, and the weather was substantially warmer and clearer than on the lake.

Maxi led us through the hosteria and on some trails to the base of the rock formations, which he told us some guests will climb for weeks on end, as there is some highly technical rock there. We worked our way up, dropped of the parents at a viewpoint, and climbed up through some more rocks to a point where we rappelled down to the people waiting. I think I hate rock climbing. I am irrationally freaked out by it and don't really enjoy it as a result. Indoors at the rock gym is one thing, but outside is scary. I'll give it another shot sometime but it might just not be my thing!

On our way to la Cueva del Puma--the Puma Cave!!

Anna's parents and Maxi

Anna rappelling down from the caves

From the rappelling we worked our way back to the ranch for lunch, which was awesome steak as per usual in Argentina. At the end of the delicious meal, Maxi came over and told us to all close our eyes as there was a surprise for us. We obeyed and were soon after met with the beautiful sounds of a small guitar-like instrument. When we looked up we saw a long-haired Argentine woman playing said instrument on the lawn in front of the building. She had a beautiful singing voice and played us about five songs of traditional Argentinean and Chilean styles. It almost brought tears to the eyes to have such a personal surprise show--what a treat!!

Lunch and a show

After a short nap on the lawn and in the hammock we headed to Bariloche to sample some of the renowned chocolates. Of the many chocolate shops, we picked the best-rated one in the Lonely Planet guide and were frankly disappointed. The chocolate was OK. Luckily, we had another destination--ice cream! And it kicked ass.

Back on the island we mostly just kicked it--hot tub, dinner, and then the movie Serenity. It was sweet in a cheesy sci-fi kind of way. We made arrangements with the island guides for the next day and then got in bed to rest for another action-packed day.