Bariloche, Argentina - Day 3

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Today, Andi and I had a special surprise for Tory and Aden. After a small breakfast of cereal and toast at our airbnb, the four of us hopped in our rental car and drove to Cerro Otto in Bariloche. Cerro Otto (translated Otto Hill) has a variety of activities for families to do on the mountain.

Getting there proved to be half the challenge, as we’re finding is the way in Bariloche. The city is built on hills, and driving a stick-shift vehicle that doesn’t have a lot of get-up-and-go has been tricky for us. It’s a full two-person job with Andi and I communicating together to get anywhere. There’s traffic zooming up and down the city streets, people darting in between cars, one way roads to contend with, and construction. If you slow down for traffic or stop the car to parallel park, quickly you must turn on the car’s hazard lights or the vehicles behind you will come right up behind you and honk insistently. Aden said he’ll be glad when we leave Bariloche so he'll be allowed to talk in the car again. For now, everyone has to be quiet so Dad can concentrate on driving.

Google Maps led us through town and up the mountain following a steep, one-lane dirt road. It didn’t feel like the correct way to get there, but after about 20 minutes of weaving through switch-backs, we eventually popped out near the top of the mountain. Andi and I planned to take the kids to a ropes course called EUCA this morning. The minute Tory and Aden saw the course in the trees, they both screamed, “Can we go to that? Please! Please! Please!”

EUCA is a series of zip-lines and obstacles located within the Piedras Blancas Complex on Cerro Otto. There are four different levels of courses depending on the person’s weight and height; Tory and Aden were able to participate in levels 1-3. We paid $4,500 Argentine pesos/per child (about $12 USD using the Blue Dollar exchange), then walked over to the equipment area to have the kids fitted with harnesses, gloves, and helmets.

The kids walked up to the first platform and clipped their rope harnesses onto the cable system. These type of parks are so neat because it allows the kids to climb through the trees on all sorts of zip lines and obstacles without the risk of falling. We did one similar in Switzerland about five years ago. Tory and Aden loved it!

It took Tory and Aden about 90 minutes to climb through all the different levels. Everything was going great until the very end when Tory bumped her leg and started to cry. One of the employees working the course spoke English and was so sweet with the kids. “Tory, do you want me to come up there and get you down?” he asked. No, Tory said, she would be OK and finished the last three obstacles on her own.

After that, the kids said they were done climbing. We hopped back into car and drove to the top of Cerro Otto. The only way to access the “true” top of the mountain is to pay $3,500 Argentine Pesos/per person (about $9 USD on the Blue Dollar exchange) to ride the Funicular to the top. This is a cable car that goes up and down along a short track. The same ticket permits access to a 360-degree rotating restaurant at the top of the mountain, as well as a viewing deck, climbing wall, and a fun maze.

You can also ride a Teleférico gondola from the base complex located down the mountain in Bariloche up to the summit of Cerro Otto, but we didn’t realize that. If we didn’t have our own car, this would have been a good way to get up to the top.

As predicted, the top of the mountain was busy. It was 1:30pm and we were all hungry, so we made our way to the entrance of the rotating restaurant. Of course, there was a long line of people waiting to be seated. It was easily a two-hour wait for a table. There’s no way we were going to stand in line for that long, so we walked back to the refugio snack bar and ordered choripan (grilled sausage on crusty French bread) for the kids and bondipan (grilled pork on French bread) for us adults. The sandwiches were really delicious, actually! They were quick, fresh, warm, and served with a variety of chimichurri sauces.

We hung around on the top of the mountain for about an hour admiring the view and playing in the fun maze. Then, we rode the Funicular down to the parking lot and drove our car the rest of the way down the mountain.

Next, Andi and I thought we’d drive the popular Circuito Chico loop around Bariloche. The loop follows along the perimeter of Nahuel Huapi Lake and the surrounding forest. From the city center of Bariloche, we followed Bustillo Avenue toward Colonia Suiza which is a neighboring town in the area with Swiss heritage. Boy, was that a mistake! Somehow, we got trapped on a one-lane dirt road entering into the small village with a thousand other tourists celebrating Carnival. We had no choice but to continue onward through the traffic jam as we had no way to turn around. I’m sure there was something to see & do in the little village (hence, all the people), but there was nowhere to park or get out of our car and look around.

We continued onward on the Circuito Chico loop until we reached Punto Panoramico Restaurant. Tory and Aden asked for ice cream, but there hadn’t been a good place for us to stop until now. We were able to get a table at this restaurant right away, though not on their patio overlooking Lago Moreno. That’s OK though. Andi ordered three different desserts for he and the kids to share, and order of French fries, and a glass of wine for me. It felt good to get out of the car, away from traffic, and relax for a minute or two.

Back on the road, we continued on the final part of the circuit drive. Last minute, Andi saw an open parking spot and pulled into one of the beaches along the route. We walked down to the water and found dozens of local Argentinians sitting on the rocks, drinking mate, and enjoying their holiday weekend. Honestly though, it made me thankful for the lake culture we have back home. The view of the lake was pretty spectacular with the mountains behind it, but the water wasn’t warm enough to swim and there were so many people crowded around each other perched on big, rocky boulders. We hung around there for 15 minutes or so and then continued back along the driving loop toward home.

Unfortunately, we encountered more traffic on our drive — bumper to bumper cars along the two-lane Bustillo Avenue. It took us 1 1/2 hours to drive 18 kilometers (11 miles)! Have I mentioned that big cities and crowds of people are not Andi and I’s favorite things? We had high hopes for visiting Bariloche and really didn’t expect the city to be this busy. By the time we reached our airbnb on the other side of town, all four of us were ready to unplug for the rest of the night. It took Andi 40 minutes to get a food order to go through from the delivery service Pedido Ya, but we were finally about to get a salad and some empanadas delivered to our condo.

We have one more day left in Bariloche and I’m hoping we find a place to enjoy the city without all the crowds. To be honest, we’re feeling a little disappointed. Andi and I have been looking forward to spending time in Bariloche for months, and this is not what we expected at all. Just too busy for our liking. At least we’re all enjoying our condo apartment and this incredible view.

Tomorrow, we’re hoping to find some nature and solitude.