Our next day's excursion brought us to the Arrenayas Forrest and Victoria Island. Our half day pickup was late as is seemingly everything here in Argentina. As our guide Raul gave us some background information we rode along the lake until reaching the port from which we'd embark. The Cau Cau (Big Seagull) catamaran was aptly named due to the large flocks of seagulls that followed the ship on its voyage. Maybe it's growing up hating seagulls but I was repulsed as foreigners flocked to the upper deck for their chance to feed the creatures by hand. After about 2 hours of sailing our group of nearly 10 english speakers of the 250 people on board went with Raul through the forrest of Arrenyas trees. These orange barked trees only grow as tall in this particular island. We learned of the indigenous people and animals that inhabited the island and of the Chilean volcanic eruption that spewed a few meters of ash in the region threatening the survival of the plant life. As the conclusion of our trip sat a small cottage that, legend has it, inspired Walt Disney for the classic Bambi.
Another hour of sailing on the Cau Cau docked us at Victoria Island. Once the property of rich family this now natural reserve was home to an ever growing variety of Sequias, Arreyanas, and other native trees. Raul led our group on the historic walk of the island explaining how the original inhabitants lived and used the land to build canoes and hunt for food. Our half day excursion got us back to our hotel quite late and a new restaurant would have the privilege of serving us as their first patrons of the evening.
The next day was our final big trek of our Trip was set to begin at 9am. However, Argentinian lifestyle got in the way and we left a bit later than anticipated. Being that we were on a tight timeframe to catch our flight we weren't thrilled about the delay. Fortunately, our trekking guide Roberto was up for the task as the continued down the road where would would hike within the Circuito Chico along the Llao Llao Peninsula. Our 1 hour and 4 minute hike to the top was filled with fantastic views of the lakes below. As we walked Roberto taught us about the flora and fauna we passed telling the legends of the famous Calafate berry. It's been said that anyone who consumes the local Patagonian fruit would return to the region in the future. Fortunately for us we enjoyed some of the delicious fruit before leaving Patagonia! At the top of the hike Roberto laid out a few pastries for us to enjoy as we gazed off into the surrounding areas. He pointed out Moreno lake, Cerro Lopez, Lago Brazo tristesta. I must say the Llao Llao peninsula meaning Sweet Sweet peninsula earns its name as the stunning views and the perfect weather couldn't have been more ideal.
After our picnic we rushed down the mountain with hopes of making it to Cerro Campanario before having to leave Patagonia. Fortunate for us the crowds were smaller than anticipated and we took the chairlift to the top of the mountain. There we were treated to what has been rated as one of the top 10 panoramic views in the world.
After a few pictures we headed back down the chairlifts, much to the chagrin of Dad who didn't enjoy the dangling of the lift, and met back up with Guillermo, our driver, and Roberto. Roberto informed us of the good/bad news that he was alerted to. The good being we had time to see the view, the bad our flight had been delayed and our connection to Iguazu was now influx. The next hour of confusion ultimately led us back into downtown Bariloche where we enjoyed some gelato from one of the towns best Chocolate shops of Rapa Nui. Something about this tasty treat seemed to calm the crew of the uncertainty that lay ahead. After flight was delayed a few more times once we arrived at the airport but finally departed after we were told that the flight to Iguazu was being held to accommodate the passengers on our flight. Upon landing in Buenos Aires an announcement over the loud speaker instructed us to speak to a gate agent after exiting the plane. This wasn't a comforting announcement but after rushing off the plane we found out that our flight to Iguazu would be on the same plane we had just exited. All we could do was laugh at the run around we endured for naught. We finally landed in the jungle close to midnight and checked into our hotel. We were once again brought to the wrong hotel room at least this time we didn't run into anyone in the room as we did in Ushuaia. We dragged our bags through the jungle area to or cabana before nodding off to sleep.
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