Sunshine!
Left the campsite in bright sunshine and cycled along a beautiful and relatively quiet paved road with views across open grassland to the surrounding mountains and hills. It felt good to be cycling again, especially along a smooth road where you had chance to look up and admire the passing countryside. There was an unpaved (ripio) hill section that had recently been surfaced and had hardly any traffic on it. When we reached the top of the hill we discovered a plaque to say it had just been opened (Feb 2010) which was quite fortunate! The road continued to undulate past lakes and through woodland until we reached the National Park entrance, where we paid $30.00 (£5.00) each (a bit cheaper than the £19.00 for Torres del Paine) and picked up a leaflet. The weather had turned hazy when we reached V. Futalaufquen, but it was still warm. We pitched our tent in the prettiest campsite so far (Camping Rahue Calel). Empty rolling green lawns stretched beneath a canopy of trees as far as we could see. It was totally quiet and we couldn’t quite believe our luck. We looked around for a site for a pitch as far away from the toilet block as possible.... but close enough to the administration building to deter wild parties. The grass was thick and bright green and dragonflies darted between us from a pool close by. We sat on a picnic table and listened to the sound of birds, insects and distant horses…….it was perfect. We cycled into the centre, which (like most settlements in a National Park) was a collection of timber buildings comprising of an information centre, snacks kiosk, post office, first aid centre and restaurant. The restaurant looked dark and empty so we rode down to the lake where people sat next to their cars listening to the radio and drinking mate. We returned to the campsite in time to see two white cars arrive with blacked out windows and park next to our our tent. The gregarious nature of Argentinians means that in restaurants, campsites, parks etc. people will naturally want to congregate around you. Which is fine, unless they happen to be wearing pork pie hats and leave the car to do cart wheels and whoop so loud it echoes around the campsite. We noted that the car boots were facing us as they flung open the doors and turned on the radio, ready to pitch a huge marquee with a hundred metal poles. Two hours later with the tent up and the car battery in danger of going flat, they set off in their car and we set about finding another site to pitch! An hour later we were pitched at the far end of the campsite and became paranoid at the sound of every car engine approaching. We made the right decision as, when they returned, the music continued until we fell asleep.
The new road with no traffic
So smooth and curvy!
Opened a week before!!
Camping heaven?
