Trek and overnight on Mount Tronador

We hired a car and drove 2 hours from Bariloche to the base of Mount Tronador to start a trek up the mountain to Reefugio Otto Meiling  where you can stay overnight at the snow line.

Another glacier with waterfalls.

We were very excited by all the snow.

The refugio with fabulous views! An Argentinian Artic Commando troop were camping just outside the refugio whilst on exercise. 

 Home for the night. The dowstairs of the refugio was really cosy with candles everywhere. We had given two guys from the UK a lift to the base and ended up having a really great evening chatting with them.

There were about 60 people sleeping in the loft of the refugio so I was a bit concerned that Keith and I wouldn`t get any sleep. It was suprisingly quiet and we actually both had a great sleep. I slept till 8.45 and Keith got up for sunrise to take photos.

Dinner! Yum.

The morning after the night before :)

Cable car up Cerro Otto

We were feeling quite lazy and so, with a planned hike the next day, we decided to get the cable car up Cerro Otto, a peak just above Bariloche. It is very touristy at the top but the views are still spectacular.

Had a drink in the great revolving restaurant.

A full scale replica of Michalangelo's David at the top!?! Odd.

Wonderful Meal out in Bariloche

Thank you Kerrie and Nick! Kerrie and Nick treated us to a good steak whilst travelling as our Christmas present and it really was amazing. The restaurant was called El Boliche de Alberto and lived up to the great reviews we had read. The steak was the best that either Keith or I had eaten and the total bill came to 30 pounds including a bottle of red. It was so good that we returned for a second meal a few days later.

Bariloche - Trek from Cerro Catedral

A great way to make our way to the top of the mountain before trekking along the ridge and back down to Villa Catedral. The area is a very popular ski resort in the winter.

The next chairlift that took us further up the mountain to the start of the trek.

We were walking with Daniel and Martina, a South African couple from London who we had had a drink with the previous evening- We met them at the bike hire the day before and then later up the hill for the sunset.





A nice start to the 7 hour trek! Bariloche is famous for chocolate and so produces very good hot chocolate.

The first 3 hours of the walk involved a lot of unexpected climbing

The peak of Cerro Catedral





Bariloche Argeninta - Cycling the Circuito Chico

The Circuito Chico is a popular day bike ride just outside of Bariloche. We set off at 12.30pm and spent 6 hours cycling the circuit. The views of the many lakes were amazingly beautiful.

A nice place to stop for lunch

A quick stop at the microbrewery to rehydrate.

We dropped the bikes off at 6.30pm and did a quick hike up a nearby hill to catch the sunset. It was a tricky 30 minute walk down in the dark without a head torch.

If we had arrived before 5pm we could have skipped the very steep climb up and caught the chairlift. Keith was very pleased that we had to walk :)

Trelew - Argentina - Punta Tombo Penguin Colony



Cute Magallanic  penguin - there are some gravel paths through the colony that cover roughly 1/10th of it, leaving the rest undisturbed. The penguins walked and sat across the paths so we had to be very careful where we were stepping!



Penguin in a hole

Birdlike penguin

Lizzie & Penguin

Penguins sleeping

Punta Tombo is the largest South American Penguin colony with approx 1 million Magellanic penguins arriving each year.

Wife picking feathers off husband penguin

Keith and penguin

Lama and penguin