Of Waterfalls, Glacial Lakes and Microbrews

Bariloche, or B to the Loche as the locals refuse to call it, is unabashedly touristy.  No shame in its game is evident as you walk the streets lined with chocolate shops, pricey restaurants and tour operators.   Fortunately they all cater to Argentines and Chileans so the language is still Spanish and the waistlines are mostly still small.

The first day Nick, a San Fran guy I met in Cordoba, met some girls who convinced us to go to a Mexican restaurant.  Decent margaritas and better conversation made for a good first night, especially since we all posed for the classic picture rockin´some sombreros.

It was conquered and my masculinity was restored.

The next day Nick and I hopped on a local bus out to Lake Gutierrez for some hiking.  An accessible waterfall had some decent rock climbing.  I conquered it pretty easy and was feeling decent.  Then an adolescent girl and her younger brother did the same.  We knew we had to find a greater challenge.

Luckily we found a more secluded waterfall with some more challenging climbing.  It was conquered and my masculinity was restored.

The next day I met Wayne and Jo, a Canadian couple from Alberta.  They had just arrived from BA on the ol´overight express, but were quickly convinced to come kayaking with us on Lake Gutierrez.

We found Pablo, a local offering guided tours for a decent price.  Being young adults a guide of course almost never appeals to us.  It would pierce our inflated sense of rugged individualism.  But I gotta say it was a good touch.  Not only did we get Pablo we also got two other guides.

All three guides seemed to have just come along because, "Hey kayaking is fun so why not."  They took us to a nice little spot where you could climb up a little rock cliff and jump into the water from about 10 ft up.

After some convincing Wayne Wonder manned up and led the way, rolling out the double kayaking into the frigid Patagonian water. A decent jump all around, nice form and all.  I followed with a classic cannonball.  I was thinking this would be a tough act to follow for Nick.  Nah.. he nailed a classic headfirst dive.

The water was so clear.  I could see the bottom in areas that my paddle couldn't even touch.  Pablo even told us we could drink it.

That night we returned to the Mexican restaurant where some shenaniganery broke loose.   I wont do them justice trying to describe them.