Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: Manzano Historico

Coming Full Circle in Mendoza, Argentina

While we were camped at a peaceful lake in Central Chile, snow was predicted in the mountains, where the border stations are located. Since Maya’s international health permit was expiring soon, we needed to prevent getting stuck because of road or frontier closures. So, at the end of March, Mark, Maya, and I left Chile with no intention to return. Unless we decide to sell our truck camper in Santiago, its capital, whenever we are done with this adventure. 

Loncopué

Entering Argentina for the last time was smooth, but involved a lot of bumpy roads and disappointing campsite hunts for one reason or another; the strong winds, incessant traffic noise, and an anxious Maya being the main culprits. We encountered countless sleepless nights on our drive north. 

(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)

When we moved to a different town and found a relatively peaceful, wind-protected, and grassy spot among the herds and shepherds moving their animals from their summer grounds in the Andes Mountains to the winter valleys and farms, we felt better. It was cool to be a part of “the pack.”

Here are two videos to get a better feel of the camping scene:

Caviahue

Then, it was time for an unexpected highlight in Argentina. Caviahue contained a few attractions based on our resources, but it was located at an even higher elevation, meaning it would freeze at night. Since this causes condensation and discomfort issues, we wanted to keep our time there to a minimum and managed to complete all our excursions within 24 hours.

First, we drove to this fascinating, beautiful, and diverse area and hiked along a clear lake to a stone bridge. Erosion had impacted the volcanic rock here, creating this natural arch.

Then, we reached and admired patches of monkey puzzle trees. Also called Araucaria (or Pehuen in the local language), it is the national tree of Chile and of the Argentinian province, Neuquén, where we found ourselves. 

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Mendoza Province, Argentina, Part Two – Atuel Canyon & San Rafael

Mark, Maya, and I would meet our Vermonster friends Heather and Jon in Tupungato, where we’d spent a few chilly nights previously, and travel together through Atuel Canyon and San Rafael for a week or two. If I complained about the cold in a previous blog post, well, winter seemed to have arrived early. That’s when living in a poorly insulated, solar-powered camper becomes less enjoyable.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Tupungato

After hugging our friends from Meat Around The World goodbye in Mendoza, our trio drove back south to Tupungato. We would have loved to meet Heather and Jon at Bodega Giaquinta to buy more wine, but the new, restricted opening times didn’t fit our schedule, so we returned to the municipal campground. Our friends would buy extra wine and meet us there.

We parked in the same spot, were accompanied by the same, wagging dogs, and enjoyed more walks among the fall colors. But, by now, it was way too cold and cloudy to sit outside or walk to the shower block. We used our own amenities, filled up with drinking water afterwards, and managed to plug into the electric system of our friends. This allowed our Lithium battery to finally charge to 100% – a huge help – which hadn’t happened in six months or so!

It was wonderful to see our friends again and spend more time together. On this first evening, Mark made ossobuco and squash risotto for the group. Delicious!

Manzano Historico

It was grey and it was cold, so we weren’t in a rush to explore the canyon yet. On the drive to Manzano Historico, we made a brief stop at Bodega Azul. We managed a little wine tasting and bought a couple of bottles of wine (Mark and I really like their Chardonnay), but the place was expensive and fully booked for lunch, so the atmosphere wasn’t ideal. We moved on early afternoon.

Little did we realize our next destination was even higher up… That dawned on us when I saw all the roofs in town were white and wondered why. Snow! To our horror, the picnic tables were covered with the white stuff when we pulled into the municipal campground. We needed the heater here during the day as well.

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