Bariloche | Isla Victoria & the Arrayan Forest
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The bus picks you up at your hotel and brings you to the harbour Puerto Pañuelo, located on the peninsula of Llao-Llao, on the shore of Nahuel Huapi lake. The boat makes the distance of 11km to the island in about 30 minutes. On the way to Puerto Anchorena, you will enjoy wonderful views over the dark-blue water of the Nahuel Huapi lake, to the Andean peaks and the lush green vegetation on the shore. The island must have been inhabited for thousands of years. Smoke-stained caves with cavemen's paintings can be found. The island has a great variety of fauna and flora. Species like cypresses, coihues, and ñires can be seen beside huge sequoias, thujas, eucalyptus, oak, and pinecones. Animals, like the native ?pudu pudu? or dwarf deer, the wild boar or jabalí, European deer, pheasant, and a variety of birds inhabit the island. You even may see Imperial cormorants. This island has a surface of 3,710 hectares, and a big part of it is impenetrable and under protection. Only the central part can be visited. From Isla Victoria, the trip continues by boat to Puerto Quetrihue, in the south of the peninsula with the same name Quetrihue. You will sail about 30 minutes and land directly at the edge of the arrayan forest. The arrayan tree has a reddish brown bark. This bark detaches in strips. Lighter layers of the same hue appear underneath. The arrayan trees have small round, dark-green leaves. In the end of the summer, the trees are covered with white flowers, turning later into round black fruits. You can find trees that grow up to 15m high and these are up to 650 years old. You will cross the forest along a nicely marked path. After an easy three hours walk (12km) you will reach the Villa La Angostura resort. There you will be picked up by the bus and driven back to Bariloche all along the huge Nahuel Huapi lake. |
