Ruta de Los Siete Lagos

On Tuesday we drove from Bariloche to San Martin de los Andes, our home for the next few days. We took what is called the route of the seven lakes. A paved road runs along the northern edge of Lago Nahuel Huapi and then it becomes a dirt road headed north past a series of other lakes. There is a recent and ongoing road expansion project so the first part of the gravel road was quite good and surprisingly wide. The problem was that there seemed to be limited access to the lakes and some places where it seemed there had been access had been blocked by piles of construction dirt. Eventually though we took a road to Lago Espejo Chico. There is a privately run campground at the lake, so if you want to spend more than half and hour there you pay 7 pesos/person. But it was very pleasant and quiet and had restrooms, so we paid our money, found a shady spot to park the car and took our picnic lunch down to the beach. After lunch and a rest, we strolled down the beach to the outlet, a beautiful stream where fly fisherman were trying their luck or just hanging out. There are campsites there as well.

From there we continued on, stopping at a scenic overlook to see a waterfall (and for me to photograph some local flora - see Jake's photo of me ignoring the falls to photograph flowers!). We got to San Martin de los Andes around 5pm and settled into our room at the Hosteria La Masia (photo with monkey puzzle tree and roses). It is about 6 blocks from the water (see photo of waterfront) and just two blocks from the main shopping streets. San Martin could be in Switzerland with its architecture and roses lining the streets. It's a small town, but there are many shops and restaurants, all very nice. There is a ski/golf resort outside of town, so it is a tourist town year round.

For Jake's birthday dinner we went to Piscis, a restaurant with the usual Lake District fair. Jake had a delicious main course of black ravioli stuffed with trout and topped with sundried tomatos and a green. I had beef tenderloin in a Malbec reduction sauce with a side of winter squash. We went on a search afterwards for chocolate cake, but were unsuccessful. The bakery/tea shops close earlier in the evening. We'll make up for the lack of birthday cake today I'm sure!