Isla Victoria and Bosque de Arrayanes: A Different Touch
Text: Mónica Pons · Photos: Gentileza Cau-Cau
These traditional tours are enjoyed by more and more people who take all the time they need to relish them.
A lake tour setting off at Puerto Pañuelo in San Carlos de Bariloche joins two of the most popular destinations among tourists: Isla Victoria and Bosque de Arrayanes. They are visited as the crow flies but there are also other ways to access them.
Victoria Island is the largest in Lake Nahuel Huapi. It is part of the national park bearing the same name. It is accessed from Bariloche on board catamarans or private motorboats or by hiring a tour at some travel agency. Visitors choose the length of their stay to go deep into its woods and nooks on a guided tour.
During one of our outings without haste, we discovered that only one third of the island is open to visitors. Te rest is a reserve for native species. We were told stories about the native peoples and their rock paintings and also about the first tourists in the early twentieth century.
The waters of Lake Nahuel HuapiPuerto AnchorenaBird’s eye viewWe went on very easy hikes in which we visited the forest nursery, Mount Bella Vista, its viewpoints and various non-traditional beaches and berths. Vertical rocky coasts and nooks where visitors may sunbathe next to the deep waters make a wonderful contrast with the blueish hues of the sky and the green foliage.
An inn nestled on top of one of the cliffs is a good option to spend the night in this southern paradise and wake up in the morning with the wish of going on a horseback ride, a bike tour or hike along the island trails.
On the other hand, Bosque de Arrayanes, located on Quetrihué Peninsula, near Villa La Angostura, may be visited both from this village and from Bariloche. Getting deep into its humid environment featuring intense cinnamon hues and perceiving the aroma of blossoms in the summer are unique sensations. There is no other forest like this on the planet.
What many people do not know is that in addition to lake tours, they can access this forest on foot or by bike from Villa La Angostura. Hikers and cyclists share the same 12-kilometer circuit along a trail that changes its width and features slopes. A creek or a lake appear amid woods and green meadows. The stretch lying close to the village is the steepest. In any case, cyclists carry their bikes on their shoulders for a few meters.
Both Isla Victoria and Bosque de Arrayanes, each in their own jurisdiction, made us feel the pungent aromas, the sound of the rocking branches and the chirping of birds. And all this just because we got deep into their hearts with enough time to spare.
