Patagonia Adventures

November - December 2023

Travelling from Santiago (Chile) down through Patagonia to Ushuaia and back up to Buenos Aires (both in Argentina) on an Oasis Overland trip. Read more

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Traveler Patagonia Adventures
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- Nov 7, 2023, 11:00am
- ☀️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 581 m
- Chile Santiago Barrio Bellavista Parque Forestal -33.436619, -70.6441333°26’12” S 70°38’39” W
Day 1
Santiago 1; Highlights Tour
November 7, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Anthony and I arrived in Santiago after the long flight from Heathrow. After checking in at the hostel and planning at reception, we take the funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal and have an explore before returning for lunch.

It's a bit of a rush to join the Tours4Tips tour of the Highlights of Santiago, but we make it. We see many interesting buildings before finishing at the Centre Gabriela Mistral cultural centre in the Lastarria area (see picture captions).Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi Bien hecho
11/8/23Reply
Traveler Have a great time on your trip!
11/9/23Reply
Wow You have seen a lot already [Liz T]
11/9/23Reply
Traveler I think I did Tours4Tips too! Looks amazing
11/10/23Reply
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- Nov 7, 2023, 5:30pm
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Altitude: 581 m
- Chile Santiago Barrio Bellavista Parque Forestal -33.437966, -70.64101633°26’17” S 70°38’28” W
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Day 1
Santiago 2; More places of interest
November 7, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
After the Trips4Tips tour finishes in the Lastarria area, we wander through to the Santa Lucia Hill. There are some interesting buildings here, including an old Fort. When the part of the Mapocho River that flows through Santiago was canalised, some of the detritus was put here to make the hill larger. There are great views of the city and the Anne's from here

Back in Lastarria, pisco sour awaits at the amazing Chipe Libre. Is it better from Chile or Peru? It's hard to say, as they were both excellent!Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi enjoying your life 👍😊
11/10/23Reply
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- Nov 8, 2023, 12:00pm
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 18 m
- Chile Valparaíso Monumento a los Héroes de Iquique -33.038737, -71.62912833°2’19” S 71°37’45” W
Day 2
Valparaiso
November 8, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
We take the metro and bus to Valparaíso, a city on the coast. It is well known for its colourful buildings covered in street art, steep streets, etc, but it is also a major port. We start our exploration from the centre, Palace Sotomayor, and visit Cerro Alegre and Cerro Conception via the funicular and lots of walking. It's a fascinating place to visit.Read more
Traveler What wonderful street art 👍
11/9/23Reply
Wolfgang und Heidi It‘s like yesterday. We always talk about that amazing trip trough Chile last year. Next year we are planing to go to Argentina
11/9/23Reply
Thanks Andy for introducing me to Chile! Great pics and what a blue sky. [Sally]
11/10/23Reply
Traveler Valpo was one of my favourite places I visited too. Love your pics of the street art 🌈
11/10/23Reply
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- Nov 9, 2023, 1:30pm
- ☁️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 570 m
- Chile Santiago Barrio Bellavista Plaza de Armas de Santiago -33.433795, -70.65103633°26’2” S 70°39’4” W
Day 3
Santiago 3; Offbeat Santiago Tour
November 9, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Today, it's the Tours4Tips Offbeat Santiago tour that shows "normal" life for city dwellers. Before we cross the river, canalised in this part of the city, we see old embassies and the Posado del Corregidor (now a museum). After the flea market, we pass through various sections of the Mercado Centrale, before emerging into an area that is now popular with the various migrant communities that have settled here (Koreans, Venezuelans, Peruvians, etc.)

We then visit the Santiago General Cemetery, which is much like a small town with "blocks of flats" and "mansions," depending on the wealth of the departed. It is actually very interesting and considered a "must see" in Santiago.

Later this evening, we meet the rest of the Oasis Overland group. 24 travellers on the bus; what could possibly go wrong? Seriously, they look to be a good group, and we look forward to a great trip!Read more
great to be able to follow your adventures! [Paul Redhead]
11/10/23Reply
Traveler Have a great trip Andy, look forward to reading about your adventures!!
11/10/23Reply
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- Nov 11, 2023, 4:00pm
- Altitude: 223 m
- Chile Región de la Araucanía Pucon Pucón Río Claro -39.27275, -71.97782339°16’22” S 71°58’40” W
Day 5
En route to, and, Pucon
November 11, 2023 in Chile
We set off at 9:30 am in the 800km, 2 day journey south to Pucon. It's raining all day in Santiago today, so it's a good time to be leaving. There are 21 on the bus today, excluding Claire (our leader) and Kevin (our driver), and the layout is very different from those I have been on before, as the seats face inward with the bags stored underneath them in deep lockers.

There are many vineyards as we head south through the heavy rain, eventually stopping at a large campsite near Chillan at about 6 pm; we are the only people here. We put up our tents; these are sturdier and roomier than expected as they were recently acquired from the now defunct tour company Toucan). The cook group for tonight serves up a lovely rice dish with vegetables. There is a disco / nightclub next to the campsite; it's Friday night, and they close at 5 am.....

The next morning, we continued on to Pucon - through the rain initially, but the weather improved as we got closer to Pucon, arriving at 1:30 pm. It has a very European feel to it, with the scenery, buildings, and trekking shops.

We have a quick explore of the town, seeing the lake with its black volcanic sand, and enjoy beers and food, as you do!Read more
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- Nov 12, 2023, 10:00am
- ⛅ 3 °C
- Altitude: 1,439 m
- Chile Región de la Araucanía Pucon Pichare Cerro Redondo -39.268375, -71.71455539°16’6” S 71°42’52” W
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Day 6
Santuario El Cani
November 12, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
A walk in the park; in this case, a private park to see the area where the Mapuche lived; this privately forested area, the Cani Sanctuary, was saved from logging and entrusted to local residents in 2004.

We set off on the 7:50 am minibus to the area, we being me, Ant, Mark & Chris, and Phil. It's a long walk uphill from the administration entrance, and we stop at the various observation points (see captions). The actual park entrance is at The Sawmill Hut. There was a lot of snow yesterday from here upwards, although it is lovely today, and it is hard work walking up the steep slopes. We see the ancient Pewen trees held sacred by the Mapuche people; these are considered living fossils as they were around with the dinosaurs. We finish at the Laguna Negra and double back; it is considered too dangerous to go on to the Melidekin viewpoint (views of volcanoes), and there are warning signs not to go further. However, back in Pucon, we are lucky with the light and have an amazing view of the Villarrica volcano from the town.

A great day out; 13 miles, half hard uphill with the return downhill difficult due to the snow and the trees thawing.Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi Nice picture! 😊
11/12/23Reply
Traveler Some lovely photos. Hope you are warm enough and are well fed!
11/13/23Reply
Traveler Yes thanks!
11/13/23Reply
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- Nov 13, 2023, 6:00pm
- 🌧 6 °C
- Altitude: 785 m
- Argentina Rio Negro Departamento de Bariloche Perito Moreno -41.096391, -71.44683641°5’47” S 71°26’49” W
Day 7–8
Bariloche; en route and campsite
November 13, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ 🌧 6 °C
We leave the hostel in Pucon at about 8:30am for the border crossing into Argentina; this is over the Andes, and it is rather cold up there. It's a slow process, taking several hours, but we make it entering Argentina via the national park Lanin and away from the mountains. We make rwo stops, one for lunch and the other for a cooking group shop at a supermarket.

We are driving through an area known as the Argentine Lakes District; there are good views, despite the steamed up bus windows - it is raining outside, but it stops eventually as near Bariloche.

We arrive at the Camping Petunia campsite, 13 km west of Bariloche, at 8 pm! The food group does a great job, and it's late to bed; it's very cold tonight.Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi Have fun… Heidi and I are still in sonny southern Arizona. Haven’t seen many clouds in 3 month
11/15/23Reply
Traveler Thanks! You have fun too in the sunny north
11/15/23Reply
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- Nov 14, 2023, 10:00am
- ☁️ 3 °C
- Altitude: 787 m
- Argentina Rio Negro Bariloche Centro Civico -41.133442, -71.30984341°8’0” S 71°18’35” W
Day 8–9
Bariloche
November 14, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
San Carlos de Bariloche, to give it its full name, is an attractive town in the Nahuel Huapi National Park in the foothills of the Andes; in the Rio Negro province; it has an alpine feel to it.. We get the 20 bus there, thanks to help from locals as we didn't have a SUBA card, and they paid oir fares using theirs!

We walk along the promenade facing Puerto San Carlos, past a recreation area to see the large cathedral. Then it's back via the main roads to the Centro Civico.

We have a money exchange, SUBA bus card, and shopping for warmer sleeping bags, gloves, etc, to do. It all happens, and then we have lunch and take the 20 back again, past the camping site, to Cerro Campanario.Read more
Great photos & commentary Andy - there is a travel writer in you. Good to see some beer being consumed to assist the local economies ! [Barry Dean]
11/17/23Reply
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- Nov 14, 2023, 3:00pm
- ☁️ 7 °C
- Altitude: 1,047 m
- Argentina Rio Negro Departamento de Bariloche Cerro Campanario Bariloche -41.075218, -71.47708141°4’31” S 71°28’37” W
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Day 8
Cerro Campanario Aerosilla
November 14, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
A few km from our campsite, the Cerro Campanario Aerosilla (chairlift) takes you to the top of a cerro (hill) that offers amazing views of the area on a good, clear afternoon from 1,052m above sea level - and it was a good, clear afternoon!

We walked down from the top. After some downtime, a few of us walked up the road (3km) to the Cervezeria Wesley for beers, bus back, and then stopped off at the bar Oveja Negra, just outside the campsite, for more beers. It was a great night out, and the new sleeping bag enabled me to sleep!Read more
Traveler Great pic!
11/16/23Reply
Traveler Cervezeria Wesley looks like a cool place! Glad you're warmer at night Andy, I'm sure the beers helped too to get a good night's sleep 😄
11/16/23Reply
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- Nov 15, 2023, 10:00am
- ☁️ 4 °C
- Altitude: 1,021 m
- Argentina Rio Negro Departamento de Bariloche Llao Llao Villa Tacul -41.04535, -71.55519541°2’43” S 71°33’19” W
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Day 9
Llao Llao Municipal Park
November 15, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
We take the bus to the Llao Llao Hotel, a resort, golf, and spa centre where the very helpful receptionist provided us with a hiking map. The hotel is set at the edge of the Llao Llao Municipal Park, a protected natural area that includes a recreational conservation forest as part of the Circuito Chico area.

We set off and see the various points of interest along the short walking trails; we do most of them in sequence (see picture captions). We walk 10 miles in total, with the ascent to the peak of the Cerrito Llao Llao being particularly arduous; it was well worth it, though.

Layer on, it's back to Oveja Negra for empanadas and beers wirh Mark and Chris.Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi Cheers
11/16/23Reply
Traveler Shame you couldn't stay in the hotel for a night!! 😄🍻
11/16/23Reply
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