1. Despite there being a bus system that is pretty proficient, the buses do not go to many different trail heads and areas off the beaten path (and there are a lot of them). This forces you to travel amongst the mainstream sights, not seeing the true beauty of Patagonia - the quiet, pristine splendor of mother nature. The buses are also, usually, very crowded with locals. It is possible the bus may pass you because the driver doesn’t feel like stopping for another passenger.
2. Another reason that a car rental offers options for a better trip is that it allows you to more easily go outside the city center. Bariloche city center is not the most beautiful township and is definitely not the reason that people travel to this gorgeous area of the world. Bariloche does offer some fun out-on-the-town adventures. But the night life alone is not reason enough to stay in an ugly, crowded city when you can stay in beautiful accommodations with world class views outside of town. A car rental gives you the ease ability to stay where you want, when you want, without any hassle.

Here are a few different car rental companies that offer a good product at reasonable prices:

• 4×4 Rental Patagonia: this is a good company for 4×4 car rentals, something that is difficult to find in this part of the world. Located on Calle San Martin, city center Telephone: (cell) 15-515294/95/95
• Andina Rent-a-Car: basic service, well priced. Located on Calle John O’Connor 596 Telephone: 43-9138 or cell 15-418467
• Dollar Rent-a-Car: Internationally known company with known sevice. Located on Calle Palacios 191, piso 1 Telephone: 43-9078 or 0800-555-dollar
• Max Rent-a-Car: this is a local company, located in the kilometers of Bustillo. Bustillo KM 11.400 Telephone: 44-8876 or cell 15-585722
• Patagonia Rent-a-Car: another local company, based out of the center of town. Located at Avenida Belgrano 165 PB E Telephone: 45-6766
• Thrifty Rent-a-Car: another Internationally known company. Located in center of town on Villegas 355 Telephone: 42-7904

Rental agencies are able to, often times, have your car where you need it at a predetermined time. You can also discuss where you want to drop the car off. Be sure to ask them about paperwork to travel into Chile and insurance (which should be supplied with the car).

Buen Viaje!

The refugios range from beautiful, handcrafted log buildings with full-time caretakers offering homemade beer, to abandoned shacks with the possibility of being tainted with the Hanta Virus.

For that reason, it is important to have information on the various refugios that you would like to visit before arriving. The Argentinian hiking club, Club Andino, offers free information on trail conditions and the status of refugios.

Here is a small sampling of hikes in the Bariloche region. To learn the locations of the trail heads, please contact the local Club Andino chapter.

• Refugio Lopez: Located on the coast of the Nahuel Huapi Lake, this hike climbs steep, lush, forested terrain. The views are outstanding and give you a 270 degree look at the Seven Lakes Region, Chile, Lago Moreno Oeste and Este and, of course, Nahuel Huapi. This hike takes around two and a half hours. The refugio has two large dormitories, a common kitchen and bathrooms with hot water. The caretakers serve hot food.
• Refugio Manfredo Segre: Also called Refugio Italia, this refugio is accessed via the Laguna Negra trail head. The trail is immersed in a thick, enchanting, old growth forest along a rushing, bright green river. It is approximately five hours to the refugio. It sleeps sixty people, serves food and drinks, has nice bathrooms and other services. In the summer the caretakers throw full-moon parties.
• Refugio Frey: This log and stone refugio is nestled at the base of spired peaks. The area surrounding the building is a rock climbers paradise. The trail begins in a few different places, one being the Bariloche ski area, Catedral. You can ride the chair lift up helping with elevation gain. The trail wanders among the knife-like ridge giving an amazing 360-degree view of the entire area. The refugio sleeps forty people complete with mattresses and blankets. The caretakers offer food and a warm atmosphere to sit and share stories with others.

This is just an example of the amazing trail systems that lead to warm, inviting buildings with kind people and tasty food. Traveling to Argentina is a wonderful experience in itself but combining it with the adventure and beauty of the refugio trail systems, and it will be one that will never be forgotten.

The Internet allows you to search through many different options, depending on your needs, likes and dislikes. There is every style of lodging available, from the city apartment to the forest cottage.

One of the wonderful aspects to spending your nights in private lodging is the ability to feel like one of the locals. Majority of the rentals available are in upstanding neighborhoods, allowing for safety and the chance to meet the hunky native next door or the beautiful maiden that lives down the hall. There are also no curfews, obviously, so no need to feel bad coming home late at night after experiencing the nightlife of your travel destination.

I think the best part about the vacation housing rental market is the price.

A stylish, roomy one bedroom/one bathroom apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Recoleta, rents for US$65 a night. A hotel in that price range would be no where near the same quality and comfort as the private accommodation.

The houses are always outfitted with all of the needed amenities of a working house. Be sure to inquire that there are sheets, towels and kitchen ware included before making your reservation.

These type of places are located throughout the world. Here are a few different companies in Argentina that offer services assisting you in finding the perfect place to call your own for a few days (or months):

• Reynolds Properties: this rental company assists in sales and rentals. They also have a concierge service that has three different levels of service to assist you in making your vacation the ultimate experience. They have hundreds of houses and apartments to choose from.
• Apartments Buenos Aires: this company also assists in sales and rentals. They are a newer company.
• Apartments Bariloche: this is a spinoff of the Apartments Buenos Aires company, with a different owner. They are a great management company to assist you in finding luxury homes.
• Trato Directo: this company deals with the Bariloche area. It has many different styles of houses, from the not so nice to incredible properties. They are not the easiest company to arrange payment but the reservations seem to work out in the end.
• InterPatagonia: this is actually a website that advertises for the owners. When reserving the house you will deal directly with the owners.

So, the next time you are traveling to South America consider this option for a place to stay. It might make your trip that much more enjoyable.

The hotel was originally built by Alejandro Bustillo in 1938. The original building was made entirely of local, hand-carved wood. It, unfortunately, burnt to the ground within a year of completion. Bustillo built a new building made of stone and metal the second time around, insuring that the tragedy would not occur twice.

The hotel was a wealthy tourist destination for many years. But the cold and grey days of military rule in the late Seventies caused the large doors to be shut. It wasn’t until 1993 that the hotel was completely refurbished and opened again for tourists’ enjoyment.

With the reintroduction of the grand hotel there were many amenities that were added. An 18 hole, world-class golf course was created, circumnavigating the hotel. The greens are framed by towering mountains, thick forests and the shimmering waters of Lago Nahuel Huapi. For a portion of the course, the lake’s beaches create the dreaded sand pit.

Two delicious restaurants, that rival the best restaurants of Buenos Aires, were also created .

1. The elegant dining experience goes by the name of Los Césares. Here you will find delicately- made dishes, ranging from miniature lobster quiche to crepes drizzled with a rum liqueur and Dulce de Leche sauce, that is made for you at the table. The wait staff greets you with royal elegance: crisp white gloves, perfect posture, a hand behind the back. The feeling of true decadence is experienced in Los Césares.
2. For a more casual, cozy and informal experience the Café Restaurant Patagonia is the perfect choice. The same chef of Los Césares creates the delicious dishes of this restaurant as well.

There are 147 rooms in the hotel ranging from a standard room that has views of the hotel park and access via stairs only to the lake view rooms that have world-class views of the lake and Andean mountains.

The hotel also offers a concert series in the spring and summer. This is a special bonus for any traveler wanting to experience live music in a grand setting.

It is important to note that you do not have to be a guest of the hotel to enjoy some of its splendor. With reservations, a person is allowed to enjoy the bar, both restaurants and the concert series.

If you want to splurge a little on your vacation ,the Hotel Llao Llao should not be missed.

• Boca Feria, Buenos Aires: This fair is on Saturdays and Sundays. The brightly colored buildings, scanning the colors of the rainbow, are the back drop to the market place of beautiful paintings and art. Jewelry and other Argentine relics can be found, as well as street entertainers. Talented tango dancers mesmerize the guests of the various cafés and restaurants. Music fills the streets and is sometimes the stage for music wars between various musicians.
• San Telmo Feria, Buenos Aires: This is a Sunday fair. Many of the booths here are filled with antiques of various styles, quality and price. The fair extends into the interior of the city blocks. The large warehouses are filled with different shops with unique goods. This is a great place to watch old style Argentine life.
• Recoleta Feria, Buenos Aires: Feria operates Saturday and Sundays. Located in the beautiful park alongside the Recoleta Cemetery. There are hundreds of booths and the artists sometimes spill into the neighboring parks. Every type of artistic pleasure is available, from leather purses, belts and shoes, to glass and wood work. There are also entertainers, bands, dancers, clowns, and musicians wandering the park, entertaining the various bystanders.
• Tigre Feria, outside of Buenos Aires: This feria is on Saturday and Sundays. This is a definite must-do when the weather is warm. There are miles of booths with the best fruit markets and handmade furniture. There are many different activities to enjoy in this area as well. You can find an amusement park, boat tours and a casino to enjoy.
• Salta Feria, Salta, Argentina; just outside the city center: A feria filled with beautifully done textiles. Such handmade items as sweaters, rugs and wall coverings can be found among the different booths. The textiles are all handmade and are drenched with deep, warm colors that create scenes of the local people. A large rug that takes approximately four weeks to create costs around $200 -a definite deal considering the hard work that is required for such intricate beauty.

These are examples of some of the great ferias in the areas of Buenos Aires and Salta. Keep your eye out for additional lists of great ferias to visit when traveling through Argentina.

Mate is a member of the Holly family and is sometimes referred to as Paraguayan Tea. The tea is dried, crumbled up and packaged in many different sizes of bags, sometimes flavored. The dried plant is then enjoyed from a cup-like container that is made of various materials such as hollowed squash, wood, metal and ceramic. A metal straw, sometimes intricately carved, is used for drinking the clear tea broth.

Here are some of the rules that are important to know when asked to join the Mate circle:

1. It is never to be drunk alone. Mate is a social tea, enjoyed any time of the day. The bigger the circle of friends, the better the story telling.
2. Never touch the bombilla. The bombilla is the silver metal straw that the hot tea is sipped from.
3. Always finish your serving of Mate. The Cebador (Spanish for server) is in charge of offering the Mate to the people of the circle. The people in the circle have the only the tasks of enjoying being served and finishing the entire amount of tea.
4. Hand the gourd (the tea cup that Mate is served in) back to the Cebador with the bombilla facing away from you. This is to help reduce the risk of accidentally bumping the bombilla, which would then mess up the filtering of the tea.
5. Only say thank you when you want to be removed from the circle of Mate drinkers. If you say thank you prior to your fill, the Cebador will think that you are finished and will remove you from his rotations.
6. The youngest in the group is the traditional Cebador. This is in response to the Latin cultures belief in the respect of their elders.
7. The water for the tea should never be served near boiling point. This is important to avoid the unpleasant feeling of a burnt tongue.

Mate is a great tradition in many different cultures, especially Latin cultures such as Argentina and Uruguay. Now that you know some of the rules associated with the social pastime don’t be afraid to join in. The more the merrier.

Argentina is known more for its wines than for its cold, bubbly draft. In fact, throughout most of Argentina there are only a few types of beer and they all taste the same; like Budweiser. The flavorful micro brew of southern Argentina is yet to be sold outside of the Patagonia area.

The craft of hand-made beer is new to the area. Developed within the last decade, the art has grown from a small local pastime to many breweries throughout the region.

Though not a complete reference, here is a list of some of the great breweries of the Bariloche area:

• Valais: This brewery is located is the small Swiss colony, Colonia Suiza. They are a true local flavor that is present at the local music shows and summertime village get-togethers. They describe themselves as the true flavor of homemade beer.
• Antares: A restaurant/ brewery tourist favorite located in the center of town that sometimes offers live music, with easy access to nightclubbing later in the night. They have a great tasting Barley beer.
• Berlina: Another restaurant/brewery that has great items throughout the menu. The establishment is located in a great place for evening sunsets.
• La Cruz: This is a local favorite that is a small, intimate setting where conversation and tasting the various flavors are common pastimes.
• Cerverceria Blest: This restaurant/brewery is a tradition among the people of Bariloche and the tourists. Guests throughout the years have scribbled thoughts on napkins that are now tacked to the restaurant’s wall. The dishes are hearty and of European flair. Be sure to make a reservation if visiting in high season. The line can sometimes be hours long.
• Cerveza Artesanal Gilbert: This is my personal favorite. This is a campground, restaurant and brewery that is owned and operated by two brothers. The feeling of the establishment is warm and inviting, with friendly staff happy to serve you even if it is not the normal Argentine dining hours of 1pm to 4pm and 8pm to12am.

This is a list of some of the great micro breweries in the Bariloche area. Enjoying the local’s ability to create tasty beer is just another bonus when visiting Patagonia.

Cerro Bayo, located in the Patagonian village of Villa La Angostura, has created a fusion between the regular ski experience and the boutique flair. What does that mean exactly? Well, let me explain.

Cerro Bayo erupts from the water’s edge of Lago Nahuel Huapi to a summit elevation of almost 5900 feet (1782 meters). Because of the mountain’s close proximity to water, the views from anywhere on the mountain are stupendous. The 360 degree lookout includes the Andes range extending into Chile, which involves hundreds of mountains and volcanoes, the Argentine Steppe extending to the east and the glistening expanse of blue water. It is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world, in my opinion.

With the boutique idea in mind, the ski area was built with European ideals. Top executives of such Europeans ski areas as Chamonix were brought in to develop the ski center. Their ski school was also created with the traditional European teaching techniques in mind.

The ski corporation of Cerro Bayo created the ski area with the views held in high importance. When the corporation built the three mile (6 km) dirt road up to the ski area, they built multiple viewing decks. These rest areas allow for people of all physical abilities to enjoy a lofty view of the lakes and mountains.

The boutique experience extends from the views along the road to the dining options on the mountain. Throughout the area there are well-built refugios (lodges) to sit, eat and enjoy the experience. The refugios offer more than the traditional burger to their skiers. Delicious salads and Argentine steaks are offered as well as a wide array of homemade desserts. It also boasts the location of restaurant Balcón del Zorro (Balcony of the Fox), one of the top restaurants in the area.

The ski area contains six chair lifts and four Pomas, allowing transport of over 6000 people per hour. The lifts access you to twelve kilometers of in-bound skiing where you will find the best grooming job in the country. There are also unlimited amounts of backcountry skiing that are accessible from the top chair. It is possible to find fresh areas of snow days after a storm on the off piste because of the small crowds.

Cerro Bayo also offers specials for their guests. There is homemade chocolate sold on the mountain, clothing as well as gear rentals located at the base and special events. In winter months there are ski and snowboard competitions and ski demo days for guests to try out new gear, free of charge. They also offer their last weekend of skiing for free. In the summer there are Rugby and Polo competitions as well as Bossa and Jazz concerts.

Cerro Bayo is a classy, upscale mountain experience without the attitude. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys the finer things in life.

Since South America is so vast, the best time to travel there actually depends on your specific destination and what you want to do. Just remember some important climatic conditions such as in the Altiplano region where it rains between December and March when it is supposedly summer. Rio de Janeiro has its rainy season normally beginning from the end of February to March. At the area above the Tropic of Capricorn, the weather is hot while it’s humid in the coastal areas of Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and the Amazon jungle. In the southern part of Puerto Montt around the area of Tierra del Fuego, the best time to visit is from September to April.

Brazil can be visited all year round. However, not all parts of Brazil are best for travel because summer there can be very humid plus it’s pouring during that time. So the best time for traveling is usually July and August (remember that their seasons are reverse from the Northern Hemisphere).

Lima, Peru is best visited during summer when it is dry (December -February). If you’re eyeing the coastal areas, it’s recommended to go there between the late winter to late spring season.

Chile as well as Buenos Aires in Argentina are best visited during the spring season or autumn.

As for Mexico, the ideal time to visit is between the months of October and May. Temperatures at this time are very comfortable and humidity is less.

Health Information

There are no mandatory vaccinations for tourists as entry requirement to Chile.

Tourists are advised to drink bottled water though the tap water in Chile is generally potable.

Buy seafood only in established supermarkets since those sold by vendors might be infected by the “red tide” and can lead to food poisoning.

The Hanta virus, a mouse borne disease, is present in Chile. So take proper precautions when entering abandoned cabins or houses.

Hospitals and emergency services in the Chilean Health Service are required to give medical attention to people who require emergency services at once even without cash or medical insurance produced before hand.

For emergency ambulance services please call: 131.

General Information

Office Hours: 9am to 6pm with a lunch break from 1pm to 2pm.

It is customary to call for an appointment before dropping into anyone’s office during work hours.

Banking Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 2pm. Banks are especially busy from 12nn till closing time so you might want to visit earlier for shorter lines.

Exchange Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm with a lunch break from 2pm to 3pm.

Exchange offices in hotels tend to have longer hours though this varies for each hotel. If you can’t find an open exchange office just wait for the next day and never have your money changed on the streets.

Shop Hours: All week from 10am till 8pm. Some shops are open all day while some close for lunch from either 1pm till 3pm or 2pm till 4pm.

Electric current in Chile is supplied at 220Volts, 50 Hertz so you might need to request for transformers from your hotel if you’ve brought with you electronic equipment that has no internal adapter of its own.

You can also purchase two way adapters at any local electrical goods shop.

Public Holidays

Chilean shops, restaurants, and public transportation usually operate as usual even during public holidays except for changes in open and closing hours.

The only holiday when everything closes down is on May 1, which is Labour Day. So avoid going out during Labour Day.

You can expect more festivities during holidays and festivals. For a list of festivals that are usually celebrated in Chile please read the Top Festivals and Events in Chile article on this site.

List of Public Holidays in Chile:

- New Year’s Day - 1st January
- Good Friday - March or April (Variable)
- Labour Day - 1st May
- Navy Day - 21st May
- Corpus Christi - June (Variable)
- St Peter and St Paul - 29th June
- Assumption of the Virgin - 15th August
- Independence Day - 18th September
- Army Day -19th September
- Discovery Day - 12th October
- All Saints - 1st November
- Immaculate Conception - 8th December
- Christmas Day - 25th December