El Bolson, Argentina - Day 3
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Yesterday, Andi and I made the decision to stay in the town of El Bolson for our last three days in the Patagonia Lakes District. Originally, we’d planned to travel further south to the towns of Esquel and Trevelin, but decided five hours of driving on Sunday, in addition to a two-hour flight, would be too long of a travel day. Instead, Andi booked us two nights at a mountain lodge about 20 minutes outside El Bolson.
We checked out of the Sublime airbnb apartment around 9:30am and walked into downtown El Bolson for breakfast. Andi thought we should eat at Jauja, the restaurant he worked from yesterday. Juaja was a busy place! Maybe the word is out that this is the only reliable internet in town?
We scored the last available table and placed our orders for breakfast. Andi and I both ordered the jamon & queso tostada (basically a toasted ham & cheese sandwich), Aden ordered the American breakfast that included scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast & Tory ordered waffles. Tory also tried an “el submarino” which is a mug of steamed milk served with a chocolate bar on the side. Submarinos are a popular breakfast drink in Argentina.
After breakfast, we hopped in the car and drove from the city center of El Bolson to our new countryside lodging accommodations. What a beautiful place this was! Morada del Sol is situated in the foothills of the Andes Mountains on 5 hectares of forest land. The lodge includes indoor & outdoor pools, sauna & massage services, a community kitchen, and lots of activities for the kids (trampoline, basketball court, soccer field, etc). There are also a few bonfire pits and shady spots on the property perfect for a picnic or BBQ.
Our room accommodations were fairly simplistic in comparison to the other amenities on property. We reserved one large room that included a full-size bed, a set of twin-size bunk beds, and a bathroom.
Our room wasn’t available for check-in until 3:00pm, so Andi and I decided we’d go for a family hike this afternoon. Some of the most popular hiking / adventure trails in the El Bolson region begin just up the road from Morada del Sol. The property manager gave us several suggestions for excursions; ultimately, we decided to walk to the convergence of the Blanco and Azul rivers at the start of the El Cajón del Azul hiking trail. The actual El Cajon hike looked beautiful, but it was 20 km (12 miles) long in total and we weren’t looking to do that extensive.
Departing from the lodge, we tried driving our crappy Cronos rental car (which we’ve nicknamed Barry for Bariloche) to Chacras de Wharton (the place where the hike began), but we could not get our rental car to drive up the steep gravel road. Three hotel employees watched in amusement as Andi tried multiple times to get our car up the hill. The wheels on our vehicle spun out every time. Finally, I suggested we exit through the gate on the other side of the property which was a little out of the way, but not as steep of a road. This rental car is Andi’s nemesis!
Finally, we made it to Wharton and the start of the hike. We paid $1,000 Argentinian Pesos (or $2.50 USD on the Blue Dollar Exchange) to park and then started walking down a very steep, dusty trail straight down to the river. This wasn’t exactly what Andi and I had in mind when we considered going for a family hike. To be honest, we were all miserable! It was 83 degrees outside and we were walking in the direct sunshine. Tory suggested at least five or six times that we turn around, because— what goes down, must come up —and this was going to be a really hot walk back up the mountain.
We couldn’t turn around though. What if this river was the most beautiful thing we’ve seen on the entire trip?! The four of us persevered. We were super sweaty and covered in a layer of fine brown dust by the time we reached the bottom of the hill about 30 minutes later.
This trail was full of surprises. Andi and I weren’t expecting such a steep hill to descend, and we also weren’t expecting to find a full bar/restaurant on the banks of the river. This was one of those travel moments where we found ourselves wondering, “Where are heck are we?” There were a couple dozen people lounging in hammocks and sitting on the shady patio around drinking Mystic Fog artisian beer.
We continued walking past the restaurant until we reached a footbridge that crossed the river. On the other side, we found ourselves a shady spot to sit by the river. The water, straight from the Andes mountains, was numbingly cold. Aden never shies away from a chance to swim. He scurried across big rock boulders to get to the middle of the shallow river. It turned into a game to see how far he could get without touching the freezing cold water.
Even if he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to swim in this river. Aside from the temperature, the water level was extremely low. I wonder if the river is always this low, or if this area is experiencing a drought toward the end of summer?
By now, Tory had forgiven Andi and I for making her walk all the way down that steep hill. She and Aden worked together to build a dam using rocks and sticks collected on the banks of the river. Tory isn’t much of a swimmer, but give her sand to build a sandcastle or rocks & sticks to build a river dam and she’ll keep busy for hours.
We hung around by the river for about an hour before we decided to make the long, hot walk back up the mountain to our car. I couldn’t believe how many hikers we saw crossing the footbridge by the river— easily 50 people. Walking up the steep mountain was no fun for us and I was only carrying a light backpack; I can’t imagine doing it with a full backpack of camping / sleeping gear.
Walking back up that steep, dusty, trail was not at all fun, but we made it back to the car in about 30 minutes. It could’ve been worse. Andi and I were proud of Tory who powered up the mountain with the most determination we’ve ever seen out of her! She never stopped. By the time we reached the parking lot, we were all covered head-to-toe in dust. Yuck.
Andi bought the kids a couple sodas at a tienda (c-store) beside the parking lot, and then we drove back to Morada del Sol lodge. Our room was ready now, so we all took showers. Then, Andi had a work call at 6:00pm, so he sat in the lodge’s lobby to do that while I took the kids to the pool. Morada del Sol has a few resident dogs on the property which Aden adores. Tory? Not so much, but she’s gotten a lot better about being around them.
We made dinner reservations for 8:00pm at the lodge restaurant. They chuckled when we requested the time, and said that was the earliest seating the kitchen could do. Andi took the liberty of ordering grilled chicken with mashed potatoes, a big salad with veggies, and an extra side of French fries for the four of us. One thing we’re loving about staying at hotels on this trip is that we can order our meals ahead of time. The food is ready to eat right when we sit down to the table, and we can add the cost of the dinner to the room — it cuts the long Argentine dinner time in half!
Unfortunately about 10 minutes before our dinner reservation, Aden started to complain that his belly hurt. He asked if he could skip dinner, and then a few minutes later threw up all over the floor of our hotel room. Oh no, not again! This is the 3rd time he’s throw up since we’ve been in Argentina. I’m honestly not sure what is going on with him, but I’m suspecting it’s the water. He was completely fine all day, hiking and swimming, and now he’s sick again.
So, Andi, Tory, and I went to dinner without Aden. He was asleep in his bed by the time we came back to the room an hour later.
After dinner, Andi said his stomach was hurting him, too. He laid down in the room with Aden while Tory and I went to the lodge lobby to use the internet. Tory talked to her friend Abby for an hour on FaceTime while I caught up on some blogging. That night, Aden proceeded to throw up every two hours, so it was a rough night for both of us. I was afraid he would make a big mess in our hotel room, so every time I heard Aden make a peep I ran to his bedside to help him.
I’m hoping everyone feels better tomorrow so we can enjoy this lovely lodge and rural area of El Bolson. Only two more days left before we head off to a new area of Argentina.
