Our last day in El Calafate began with a more leisurely stroll through Laguna Nimez bringing our days in Calafate full circle. The sun was radiating again on the small Patagonian town and we had yet to enjoy an ice cream as was seemingly mandatory in each of our destinations. After a delightful gelato we packed up our things for our next flight to northern patagonia in San Carlos De Bariloche.
Despite our late arrival daylight was still in our favor for walking through the Swiss/German designed town nestled between looming mountain sitting on the shores of lakes formed by glaciers years ago. We settled in our lodge-esque hotel right on the banks of Lago Nahuel Huapi (Tiger Island) with spectacular views.
We familiarized ourselves with our new hometown for the next 3 days before arriving at dinner at Jauja before heading back for bed.
Awaking a bit later than usual on one of our very few unplanned days, we decided to summit the nearby Cerro Otto mountain. Fortunately for those worn down from trekking in Calafate a gondola ride substituted what appeared to be a challenging climb. Upon arriving at the top of the 1.400km mt we walked through the main building which housed a museum of Michelangelo replicas (no idea why) as well as the only rotating restaurant in Argentina. The clear skies made the stunning views of the lakes and mountains even more spectacular as we walked along paths to get better views of the lakes below.
We felt it was only fitting to have a relaxing beverage in the restaurant before descending the mountain via the gondola. Once we arrived back to our cozy accommodations we wanted to soak in the sun by the pool and get a much needed breather in the middle of our vacation.
Bariloche's main civic center is beautiful with an alpine thematic surrounding a square paying homage to their argentine heroes. Just beyond the arches to the east extends the main commercial street filled with chocolate shops and young entrepreneurs who were from what I presume,running illegal money exchanges. Mom was content only after sampling at least 10 different chocolate shops before dinner at our beloved Jauja. It being Carnival in Argentina we had to celebrate with the locals. We grabbed a sidewalk table on the main drag and listened to the bands playing a collection of spanish and English music on the streets before heading back for the night.
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