A Chilean Adventure

We woke up this morning and quickly got ready to hit the road again. We know that Bariloche is supposed to be a great city, but we’ll be passing back through on our way back to Chile so we can visit then if we still have the energy. Now our focus is on getting to Torres del Paine and possibly Tierra del Fuego.

On the way south we stopped in El Bolsón, which is another tourist town. We picnicked in a park and then strolled the town. We stopped in a store to check the prices of sleeping bags. We found two that were $23 each, they’re supposed to be good in temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius, and they’re small and easy to pack.

Then we found a very large and impressive artisan fair. We walked through the long line of craft and food stands, but we didn’t make any purchases. When we get back to Puerto Varas with the car, we still have to take a bus to Valdivia so we can’t have too much luggage. Once through the fair, we made our way to a specialty ice cream shop and tried a local flavor. I’m not an ice cream expert, but I know it was pretty good.

We started south again and after we’d gone for a while we saw signs for “Museo Leleque.” We decided to stop and learn about the local history. The museum’s location seven kilometers off the highway on a dirt road doesn’t allow for many visitors. The guide was willing to walk around with us and offer us more information and answer questions. The museum was about the history of Patagonia, which was first inhabited by the Tehuelche people. They were driven out by the Mapuche people (another native tribe from present-day Chile) and by the European settlers. The museum also showed the process of colonization by the Europeans, which explains why Argentinean people are so fair-skinned - there were a lot of immigrants from Spain, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and more. Considering that we just randomly decided to stop there, it was pretty fascinating and educational.

The rest of the drive to Esquel was pretty uneventful. The only thing we really noticed was that the landscape really seems like something you’d see in southwest U.S., although neither of us have been there. Being on the east side of the mountains, it doesn’t get much rain and therefore not much vegetation. I think I’ve heard it referred to as the Argentine pampas.

Esquel is a nice little town and we arrived early enough to relax a little. We found a campsite for the night and then went back into town to stroll around. We heard from our Chilean hitchhikers that the beef in Argentine is a must-have, so we asked some locals their recommendation for the best restaurant to find good meat.

After eating jelly and caramel sandwiches and crackers for a while, we couldn’t wait to splurge on a hot meal with real meat. (The caramel is actually called dulce de leche, and it’s kind of a substitute for peanut butter, which cannot be found anywhere in
Chile. I think it’s a fabulous substitute!) Danielle got steak and I got pork and we shared. It was fabulous! I don’t know if it was as good as American meat, but we really didn’t care tonight.

Afterward, we headed back to our campsite to get settled into our new sleeping bags for the night.