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We have arrived at Puerto Anchorena on Victoria Island. Here we will walk through an amazing coniferous nursery. The beautiful natural scenery spreads across 3,710 hectares. Victoria Island is divided into three areas and access to the public in general is not allowed in two of them. In a remote past the island was populated by Indian communities that left their marks in the form of cave paintings in some areas of the island. We did not see these cave paintings. Apparently they were in the areas that are inaccessible to the public. Nahuel Huapi National Park is the oldest and most important park in Argentina. Nahuel Huapi Lake, covering 557 square kilometers (215 sq. miles), is the most outstanding feature of the park.

The dock where we landed looks rather weather worn, and I think it may be due for some major restoration.

There were a few building near the dock, but I don't now what their purpose was. Perhaps residents for rangers?
The wooden walking path appears to have been recently renewed, like the one at the Parque Nacional Arrayanes.

As I said, this is a nursery of conifers. Species were brought from many places throughout the world, to test their
ability to survive and even thrive is this unique climate. There are pole pines, redwoods, eucalyptus and many more.
Our guide went behind a tree along the path and came out with this huge pinecone and he used it as a prop to teach
us about the way that confers propagate. I must have led a sheltered life, because I never knew pine trees had gender.

No, I'm not kidding. There is both a male pine tree and a female pine tree. The large cones are the female part of the equation, and the much smaller male pinecones (which are technically not actually pinecones, but a Microsporangiate Strobili, or pollen cones). These actually exist on different trees, the male tree and the female tree, and the pollen is carried by the wind to pollenate the female cones and produce seed.

Upper right is the female pinecone, and the next two photos are of the male Microsporangiate Strobili. The last photo
shows the range of the Great Basin, where the Pinion Pine was most prevalent, and a staple for the native tribes there.

You may wonder why I’ve jumped to the western United States. It is because I want to tell you a story. In fact, the Great Basin Indians of North America were as dependent upon the nuts (or seeds) from the piñon trees as the Plains Indians were dependent upon the buffalo. These nuts are very nutritious. They are protein packed with all 20 amino acids and very high in concentration in 8 of the 9 amino acids necessary for growth. The process of harvesting the nuts was probably as difficult as a buffalo hunt.

Well, there I go digressing again. Back to Bariloche. The eucalyptus tree is probably universally known, as it makes an excellent wind break, it grows fast, and the seeds are easily transported from place to place. In fact, the El Camino Real, or King Highway, is populated with eucalyptus trees all along the route. The Spanish missionaries carried with them the seeds of the eucalyptus tree, and planted them all along the route as they established missions from Mexico to San Francisco, claiming the territories of the West for the Spanish Crown.

There are several stands of eucalyptus on the island. And, in the third frame, wouldn't that make the most fabulous Christmas tree?

There's no doubt about it, the walk through the forests of this amazing nursery is a wonder, and shouldn't be missed.

Here, we are back on the boat and heading for home port. Our guide was passing out little
boxes of chocolates from Rapanui Chocolates, and each one was a 15% off coupon. I never
got around to using our coupons. ;o( Perhaps on our next visit.

On the trip home the ship's photographer gave passengers crackers to feed the seagulls. This one really surprised
me because I was looking at the camera, thinking it will take a while for a seagull to come and get my cracker.
It snatched it from my hand so fast I couldn't believe it. I suppose when the see that you are not looking at the
cracker it is safe to move in for the take. The photo cost me 40 pesos, but I thought it was worth it. ;o)

The next day was Saturday when we had to check-out of our resort and move in with Russell for the next four days. Pete called the girl who rented us the car on Friday, as instructed, and got her cell phone message queue. He left a message, but we never received a call back. When we were checked out and waiting for the car rental folks to show up, Russell came around 10:00 to pick us up. Since we had not heard from the girl, Russell called her cell and she said we should just leave the car at the resort and she would come get it later in the day. Russell said NO WAY, and said she could pick it up at his place out near the airport. Funny thing, there was a different girl waiting at Russell's gate when we arrived. I couldn't tell you what Russell said to the girl, because I don't speak Spanish like he does, but he must have bent her ear for 20 minutes, reading her the riot act on how inefficient their company was, and how the car we received was a piece of junk, with bald tires and the odor of gasoline inside the car.

Russell giving the girl a long list of complaints regarding their lack of service. Remember,
the office address they gave us (and which is still on their website) was vacant. If it wasn't
for Russell, we probably never would have been able to rent the car. And good luck with
getting a refund of the $307 they charged to my credit card back in July when I made the
reservation. If you have the opportunity to avoid "Europcar" I strongly recommend that.

Not knowing what we could expect from these people in the future, I took a few photos

If you must use Europcar in Bariloche, avoid this car for sure. We considered it so unsafe that we did not go on any
long trips, but stuck to the populated areas where we were pretty sure we could get help if the thing broke down.

Once we finished with the car problems, we had a relaxing day with Russell, getting better acquainted with his huge property, including the guest house, and I forget the Argentine word for it, the quaint little building where you could have an asado any time of the year, snow or shine. The next day Russell took us on a drive around the lake to the beautiful little town of Villa la Angostura. It was a beautiful drive getting there.

I admit that this map is a little bit of a strain on the eyes, but the blue print at the right is the starting point from
Russell's house, and the blue star at the far end of the lake is where Villa la Angostura is located.
You can see what a beautiful drive it was, on the edge of the lake for much of it.

Russell first gave us a quick tour of the town, looking to see how the residents did in their clean up after the volcano dumped massive amounts of ash on the town. Apparently they did rather well, as the residential areas appeared normal. Next we stopped on main street to get the flavor of the shops, etc. Russell took us to a really nice resort on the lake to have lunch.

Our table was covered by a red plastic umbrella, hence the reddish glow we had from the sun being filtered through it.
We looked like we were on the planet Mars. For lunch Pete ordered the mushroom sorentinos and I ordered a salad and
a couple of empanadas. I wasn't very hungry.

Well, this is getting a little long, so I will save the last photos of Villa la Angostura for the next installment.