DAY 6
With a windless day forecast we finally had a relaxing day without sailing or major driving on-the-cards. Even so, decisions still had to be made. We had originally planned to fly from Bariloche down to our final destination – El Calafate – in the south, but the price of tickets had suddenly hit the roof and now driving was the only affordable option. The shortest route was via Highway 40, an unmade road passing though thousands of miles of desert, but that seemed way too risky. We would have to drive the long way round, right down to Rio Gallegos – pretty much at the bottom of Argentina – on the paved road and then drive back up. Looking ahead this was going mean two more long days in car, plus the fact that once we were down south, we would inevitably have to drive back to Buenos Aires at some point, a thought I already wasn’t relishing. We spent the day taking a tour round the magnificent area, paddle boarding in front of awesome mountains and finishing at a high view point with a perfect vista of the lake and the famous Lloa Llao Hotel which was absolutely incredible! Pretty much at every turn there would appear another gorgeous view, with more stunning waterways, many with the possibility for amazing for windsurfing blasting or SUP exploring. Snow-capped mountains, crystal clear water, forested hillsides and Swiss-style architecture really do combine to make this place a true picture-postcard destination and, with amazing skiing in the winter, it’s pretty hard to fault this place. Once again Tommy delivered the goods on our final night in Bariloche and treated us to a typical Argentinian barbecue at his house along with more beer to wash everything down. Now almost at the halfway point in this trip we had already covered two stunning locations but, as far as I was concerned, the real jewel in the crown was yet to come – the glaciers and stunning scenery of Santa Cruz, southern Patagonia. Bring it on!