Today I head west. I generally like to head west. I board my flight in the Buenos Aires's domestic airport for a two hour flight to Bariloche-located in the Lake District of Argentina. I had heard that Bariloche is also very European: home to great skiing and even better chocolate. Unfortunately, I would only have the evening to explore.
As I stepped off the plane in the Bariloche airport, which rivals Missoula's for convenience, I immediately locked eyes with one of my Bio Bio guides. You can generally tell a river guide by their footwear and eye wear, and Alex fit the bill.
I met John, a financial consultant from New York City, who would also be on the trip with us, and he, myself and Alex piled into the van to head to our hotel.
The further into Bariloche we got, the more it reminded me of home. The Lakes District looks much like Glacier National Park on a bluebird day. Spectacular glacial lakes dump into more spectacular glacial lakes creating hundreds of miles of the backpacker's paradise. I was already falling in love with Patagonia.
After settling into my hotel room and meeting my roommate, Ellen, who shared the same birthday as me(only a slightly different year) I met the rest of my group. Immediately I knew that we were going to have an incredible week together.
Everyone in our group had a different story, but we all had one thing in common. We all had adventurous spirits that led us to paddle one of the most spectacular rivers in the world.
Alex took us to dinner at a traditional Argentine steakhouse, and as an "open-minded" vegetarian, I sampled my first piece of beef in over 2 years. Little did I know at this point that my "sampling" would be a theme throughout my trip. I can see why Argentinians take pride in their meat!
After dinner it was back to the hotel then off to bed to prepare for a travel day to our base camp in the Futa Valley. The cool mountain breeze lulled me to sleep.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.