Next, we make a short detour over from Chile to Argentina. We are very close to the northern border of the world-famous Patagonia region. The landscape is still dotted with dense forests, clear deep blue lakes and rugged mountain peaks. We really like this combination – it simply forms a beautiful landscape. On the Camino de los Siete Lagos, we are not looking for the most beautiful picture but want to immerse ourselves in this wonderful landscape. We start a little north of the official start of the route at Lake Huechulafquen.

Lake Huechulafquen

The first lake on the route of the seven lakes, which is not officially one of them, is Lake Huechulafquen. An unpronounceable name for us, but it offers a unique view from the eastern end across the lake to the Lanín volcano. This volcano is also said to be Argentina’s Mount Fuji. It towers majestically and prominently behind the lake, is just as cone-shaped and probably has snow on its peak all year round. A magnificent sight! Our lake tour in Argentina can continue like this.

The route leads via Junín de los Andes to San Martín de los Andes, the official starting point of the Seven Lakes Route in the province of Neuquén.

Lake Lácar and San Martín de los Andes

We could probably write about every lake on this route, how beautiful blue and clear the water is. At least as clear and of the best drinking water quality as at home. But that would get a bit boring with more than seven lakes. Therefore, we turn our attention to San Martín de los Andes. San Martín de los Andes is a small town – marketed by the tourist office as a mountain village – right on the lake. We like the small size and the predominant architectural style in this region: many of the beautiful houses are made of wood, stone and large glass windows. Just our thing, with the view of dense forests and rugged mountains with snowfields, a dream come true. In addition to the normal amenities that a tourist hotspot brings, we also see a few ski rental shops here. Interestingly, despite the low altitude of just 640m, this region probably gets plenty of snow in winter for winter sports. And that’s probably where the marketing as a mountain village comes from, after all, you can obviously ski here.

Heart of the Seven Lakes Route

The route continues through the beautiful region past Lake Machónico to Lake Hermoso. By the way, Lago Hermoso really is, as the name suggests, one of the most beautiful lakes in the region. Shortly afterwards, Ruta 40, which already accompanied us in the north of Argentina, passes between Lakes Falkner and Villarino. At this point, where two lakes meet, we stop for a moment. And on a trip like this, a moment can easily mean three nights. We find a good pitch right on Lake Villarino. So why not spend a few days there. There’s plenty of exercise too, with a fairly strenuous hike along the fall line from 950m to 2050m to Cerro Falkner. Just to see if the panorama up there is really that great, Paddy has to get up there in one day. The route is not complicated, but thanks to the short distance of just 4 km and the 1100 meters of altitude, it is very strenuous. You can do it for the panorama. But it wouldn’t have been necessary, as you’re rarely as clever in advance as you are afterwards. Mimi is happy, she decided against the hike in advance and enjoyed the beautiful lake panorama from our camp spot.

Southern part of the Seven Lakes Route

On the continuation of the Camino de los Siete Lagos, the Seven Lakes Route, we pass Lago Escondido, the hidden lake. We then come across the large and rough-looking Lago Correntoso, only to meet the seemingly gentle Lago Espejo immediately afterwards. There are always viewpoints at the various lakes, allowing us to take a short break and get a nice impression of the lakes. You can usually see a bit more of the landscape if you’re standing still or walking than when we’re simply speeding through in our campervan Ben. Finally, we end our journey through the many lakes in the south-west of Neuquén province with the huge Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is no longer officially part of the Seven Lakes Route, but we take its impression with us anyway. We just want to get to Bariloche for the feeling. One of the city names we hear again and again, and where Patagonia really starts for us.

However, we won’t be writing a separate blog post about Bariloche as it simply wasn’t worth it for us. Everything in Bariloche is really outdated. In winter there is a large winter sports area just behind Bariloche, so anyone who wants to go to a larger ski resort in Argentina probably goes to Bariloche, but in spring we don’t really like the place. Right next door, we visit the Swiss colony, where people from the Valais arrived in this region over 120 years ago and helped shape the development of agriculture and house building. Today, however, the core of the Swiss colony is more of an open-air amusement park with lots of food stalls and souvenir sellers. However, the food stalls do not tend to offer Swiss food, but rather what Argentinians like to eat. So that wasn’t worth an extra visit for us either. Well, the drive there and back was nice in return – this detour was not a waste of time. And we were able to enjoy a long-awaited hot shower at the campsite.

Now we have finally arrived: Our destination for this 2+ year trip: PATAGONIA! We are really looking forward to the nature, the flora and fauna in this somewhat harsh landscape in the south of South America.