Kayaking in Bariloche
Today I wanted to go on a full day kayak tour on the lakes in the area of Bariloche. Unfortunately there wasn’t a full day tour offered since the wind in the morning was too strong. I also heard due to the strong wind people couldn’t go kayaking at all during the last five days. I used the free time to have a sleep-in which I really enjoy on non-travelling days like this.
Around 2pm I was picked up for my kayaking trip by the operator called BarilocheKayak.com. Nobody else of my travel group wanted to join since many people were simply too exhausted from the activities of the last days and wanted to have some more relaxed time in the town. When arriving at the lake I met two couples from Venezuela, who are on a two week vacation in Argentina and will join me kayaking.
First you put on your funny outfit consisting of a life jacket and a neoprene type of thing avoiding water is splashing into your kayak and you getting wet. Then you grab your paddle and your partner, sit down in the kayak and here we go. I was kayaking with a local woman who was guiding us around the lake. It all remembered me on one of my first self-paid vacations in teenager age when I went on a two week canoeing vacation in the south of Finnland.
The wind in the afternoon wasn’t strong and so we had a gentle trip on the lake. We were paddling for a duration of approx. 3-4 hours which was a good exercise for my arms. About half way we stopped for afternoon tea and Argentinian style of cake containing lots of Dulce de Leche, a caramel type of sweet. I also used the time to chat with the guys from Venezuela. We talked about the route they are travelling in Argentina and their difficulties to change their local currency into US dollar. When they go and see a bank in their home country they only get a certain amount of US dollar for their travel which is 800 USD or so. This makes it a bit more complicated for them to travel since often it’s impossible for them to directly change their local currency into the one of the country they are travelling in.
In the evening I was again cooking in the hostel and chatting to the people surrounding me. My fellow travelers Jurie from Japan and Canning from Canada went horseback riding today and not just enjoyed the horses and landscape but also an all-you-can-eat lunch with unlimited wine.
Most of the other people have walked around in town. Bariloche is famous for its Swiss-style of architecture and for its chocolate. People who have been to town today told me they have seen more chocolate shops in one street as in no other place before. Some of them have also bought chocolate and let me sample it. The locals are even so crazy about their chocolate that they have built up a massive chocolate Easter egg in the middle of the central square which is supposed to be broken up and distributed on Easter Sunday.
