Argentina

November 6-29, 2009

November 18: Campanario, Curanto and Colonia Suiza: Campanario

One of the suggestions from the national parks office had been to take one of the lifts up a mountain to get a great view. Since we were heading to Colonia Suiza for 11am, we decided we'd first go up the Campanario lift which was on the way.

On the way up there were lots of signs below the lift indicating the various species of trees... some native, others introduced. There are 4 different vegetative zones in Nahuel Huapi park and Cerro Campanario demonstrates the Transition Zone.

At the top we had an amazing view of Bariloche and the surrounding Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. Too bad the weather wasn't nicer... blue skies would have greatly enhanced the view!

Arriving at Cerro Campanario.

Christopher holding his lift ticket.

Samantha and Rubby getting on the lift.

This is fun!

Along the way various trees are identified...
like this transplanted native tree which is a monkey puzzle tree, or "pehuen" in mapuche.

A rauli tree (nothofagus nervosa) and a nire tree (nothofagus antarctica).

Retamo (Diostea juncea)

Enebro (Juniperus communis) and Chacay (Chacaya trinervis)

Hi Samantha and Rubby!

Maqui (Aristotelia chilensis) - This tree was going to be important for the cooking of our lunch today!

A maiten bush (maytenus boaria) and a cypress tree.

Rubby and the kids in front of the not-so-pretty cafe.

Panoramic view from Cierro Campanario overlooking Lago Nahuel Huapi and
the surrounding mountains that are all part of the national park.

Samantha taking some pictures too.

View towards Colonia Suiza on the other side of Lago Moreno.

Panoramic of Lago Moreno with Colonia Suiza at the left and Cierro Lopez and Cierro Capilla in the background.

Another stunning view of Cierro Lopez and Cierro Capilla.

Despite the weather we had a nice enough view to not just see the panoramic signbut also the corresponding real thing!

A popular excursion from Bariloche is to cross Lago Nahuel Huapi by boat, visiting Isla Victoria along the way and then heading to either Parque Nacional de los Arrayanes or further to the western fringes of the park to Puerto Blest. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time and opted to do some driving excursions rather than going on a long boat ride with the kids.

The kids had fun playing with the panorama signs.

A virgin shrine at the top of Campanario.

From left to right: Cierro Catedral, Cierro Bella Vista and Cierro Goyes.
The view towards Cierro Capilla with the main Campanario observation deck and cafe in the foreground.