“Take time to thank your body for all its hard work”
People are always shocked when I tell them how cold Winnipeg gets. They laugh at the amount of outerwear that is piled on top of our bodies— and that we have to plug in our car every night to prevent our battery from freezing. In Winnipeg we’re prepared for the most intense cold. Because our houses have basements and are made with wood and not cement, when you step inside, it’s hot. You quickly rip off all your outerwear and can enjoy the warmth of the floor and beautifully R30 insulated walls. That’s the difference, I think I was cold the whole time we were in Argentina once the winter hit. I did not prepare.I guess I was naive and stereotyped South America to only hot as hypocritical it sounds I always dislike when people assume Canada is always cold. In short, don’t do what I did! I had pair of sneakers that were not waterproof and “breathable” or in other words “cold” I bought them because they’re machine wash friendly and so that makes it easy to wash after adventures. If I could do it again id have brought a few “essentials for Argentinian Winter” including insulated, waterproof shoes, a full wool outfit or 2 and these house slipper/socks. Wool in this typer of cold (wet cold) it’s important as wool still keeps you warm if wet.
Despite a couple of numb toes, The drive through “Los Siete Lagos” was magical. Every corner we took was a new landscape. From the beautiful Fall colors of San Martin los Andes, fresh air with sunny sky’s to something I’ve never seen before, a mix of bright orange and red foliage, mixed with snowy peaked mountains in Lácar. And then It was almost as if we turned a corner and it was winter! The red foliage was gone and we had entered winter time in Argentina. There must have just been a snowfall because the weather was so mild I’m sure the snow wouldn’t last. This first picture below was at 10:42 am , around the first lake (Lagos Lacar) the second was at 10:55. What incredible views. We pulled up to the next lake on the list, Lago Machónico and were gifted with a visit from a beautiful eagle. Emi got a couple great shots of the beautiful animal. While I took a couple of the nearby pigeons lol. We then took another turn, the sky’s parted and we came across my favorite of all 7 lakes, justifiably named “Lagos Hermoso” I took a couple steps between the beautiful trees and felt the ice cold water. We hopped back in the truck after a nice visit and hit the next 4 lakes. All bringing different elevations, stories and beauty.
It was an incredible day of views and I’m excited at some point to come back during the summer to experience these lakes in the heat. We made our way to the much anticipated Bariloche. Emi had already been before when he was young, coming on a school trip, partying all night in the clubs. Although I love a party I don’t think we’re here in the right season the streets are pretty empty and its freezing. Bariloche was a little bit of a surprise to be honest. We found a spot to park, in the over touristic streets of memorabilia shops and people yelling “Cambio?” (Money exchange) on every corner. We walked around in search for an adventure, but decided instead to get some groceries and head up to our cute little heated cabin we found on airbnb.
It was a cozy night in, and very nice having a full kitchen.
Our plan is to head into Chile tomorrow, we researched about what we need to cross the boarder and prepared accordingly. We went to get permission to drive Emi’s friends truck across the boarder, made sure we have the proper papers, checked the boarder times.. but we didn’t account for them closing the boarders due to the snow. And despite our efforts and asking EVERYONE what we should plan for, no-one said that we might need chains for our tires in order to cross the boarder, which we do. So, tomorrow we will look for chains. We would both love to continue what we planned and travel up through Chile and see some of the beautiful glaciers, but we have to roll with the punches and see what happens.
Stay tuned friends.
L+E