Swans, Flamingos, and Caves. Oh my!!

Saturday night is a blur of sleeping indoors, a real mattress, and a hot shower.  AR$180 for a night in a hotel was worth every centavo.  I only wore one pair of socks to bed.

We left Bariloche and headed north on Sunday morning.  We stopped at Las Cavernas de Cerro Leones (the Caves of Lion Mountain) which are privately owned and can only be visited by guided tour.  First off, we were in a tour group with an Argentine couple who could only be described as.... limited.  Okay.  They were dumb.  And they asked a million dumb questions and felt free to comment at every juncture.  At one point, the man announced that he "didn't like Brazil or Brazilians."  What?  Does that have anything to do with the formation of caves underneath this old volcano?  Anyway, being in a tour group with this couple made me feel so much better about all of the horrible American tourists I have run into during this trip.  We, as a nation, are not alone.

The tour of the caves was fascinating.  We visited three or four caves.  One which was used as a cemetery and is 55 degrees year-round.  Another cave had some interesting cave paintings which are not very well preserved.  The final cave had a corridor about 2 feet by 2 feet into a deeper part of the cavern.  Many of you may know that I am claustrophobic.  CG did not know this... but soon found out.  At first I balked about entering the deeper cavern, but with some encouragement, CG's pen light, and the chance to be the last in line, I managed to squeeze my way through the corridor and join the group on the other side.  The inner cavern was beautiful-- the roof was formed by a series of graceful arches.  There was an underground spring with potable water towards the back.  When the dingbats stopped talking for a short period of time, the cave was silent and musky (silent, save for my deep breathing exercises!).

We traveled further north via the Ruta de Siete Lagos (Road of the Seven Lakes) which showcased beautiful little lakes and villages.  We saw one head-on accident and stopped to help (CG can fix cars).  We breezed through the gorgeous resort towns of Villa de Angostura, San Martin de Los Andes, and Junin de Los Andes.  We climbed into the mountains and drove amongst snow-capped peaks as the sun set.  The goal was to make it to Parque Nacional Laguna Blanca to camp for the night.  I was becoming increasingly panicked at the thought of camping in the snow, but the road descended into a flat desert and the temperatures advanced to a more reasonable range.  We arrived at Laguna Blanca after dark.  Using CG's memory of a primitive map at the visitor's center, we attempted to find the free camping.  We drove up and down an old ranching road without any success.  We interrupted a HUGE flock of sheep and its angry hearding dogs before turning around and finding a sandy spot on the side of the road to camp.  There wasn´t much wind.  I managed to sleep fairly comfortably with three layers on top, two layers, on the bottom, a hat, and two pairs of socks.  This morning we awoke to grey skies, rain, snow capped mountains around us and howling wind.  We ate breakfast at a windbreak near the lake.  CG checked out the residents of Laguna Lake (which is saline)-- black necked swans and pink flamingos.  We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

So, now we're in the bustling metropolis (not!) of Zapala, heading towards a dinosaur museum and then, fingers crossed, onto some thermal springs and R&R.

Until the next fast internet connection....