El Bolson – Futaleufu

Nov 5, El Bolson to Futaleufu

We packed up and left El Bolson by 10 a.m. in intermittent, pouring rain.  Within 30 minutes, we were headed out of the alpine forests and downhill into low scrub and brush, a much more arid landscape at lower altitude. And just as quickly it seemed, we began heading up again as the skies began to clear a bit, the main feature being more forest, now all manner of trees, not just alpine, and tons and tons of yellow bushes, obviously spring bloomers, lining every highway and road. We wended our way through several small Argentine border towns until we reached the border with Chile, at Futaleufu, the rain subsiding again somewhat, enough to allow us to get through immigration and customs easily with a cursory search of the truck (not in pouring rain).

As the rain steadily increased, we headed for our hotel, the Peuma Lodge Patagonia, located about an hour south of the border. The landscape reminded us of our trip to the border described earlier…lush, green countryside, a panorama of farmhouses and seemingly endless sheep, cows and horses. There were enough mountain peaks visible through the clouds and fog to know that had it been a clear day, the view would have been something altogether more spectacular. Puema Lodge is ensconced a kilometer off the main road (which really is not a main road at all) in the middle of roaring steams and a plethora of randomly sized small barns. Three big, friendly, shaggy dogs greeted us at the main gate as we let ourselves in and continued up the gravel road. It is impossible to park nearby to any of the several guest houses interspersed throughout the sprawling property, so after we settled on a spot under one of the covered barns, the flock of sheep from below came hurrying along to meet us before we went over the footbridge to the reception lodge. In late afternoon, we took advantage of the wood-fired sauna, located at the other end of the property and admired the wood-burning hot tub (except for the rain, we would have been in it for sure), and then enjoyed a very good dinner of fish and steak accompanied by an excellent Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and turned in early.

Peuma Lodge Patagonia: Even in the rain, this is a property worth visiting. Run by a Dutch guy and his Chilean wife, the 5 separate cabins are rustically furnished with comfort and views in mind… the wood-burning stove being the only heating source, cozy bedding, plush towels, plus a view of the field and the sheep can’t really be beaten, even in the rain. And, toward the end of dinner at the main lodge, we were asked if we would like to have a staff member put a log on our cabin’s wood stove, so we would not be rushed to finish and still have a warm room when we returned (we declined, but, nice all the less!).