Off the Map Chile Adventure: Argentina

If you look at a map, Chile looks like a long string bean. It is fascinating because it encompases so many different climate zones. Imagine taking the west coast of North America and flipping it upside down. The north of Chile is like Baja California or northern Mexico, hot dry desert; then you head south and you get a mediterranean climate similar to southern California, this is where Santiago, the capital is, as well as the central valley where they grow so much of their produce. Continue south and you get the wine region, similar to Napa Valley in northern California Further on it gets wetter and greener and it reminds you a lot of Oregon and Washington, super green, lots of forests, rivers, and lakes (this is where we live, called the lake region). If you go far enough south you end up with the extreme cold and glaciers resembling Canada or Alaska. Going from the very north of Chile to the southern tip of Chile is a very long trip and would take days and days of travel. Crossing the country horizontally however, west to east, takes only a few hours. The Andes form the border to the east and from our place it's just a hop, skip and a jump to cross the border into Argentina. You can drive straight over from Pucon or even cooler you can cross over by traveling on a lake! Lago Pirihueico is a stunning, long narrow lake that runs east/west through the foothills of the Andes, and has a ferry service that takes you to the border with Argentina. We chose this route and ended up visiting a very picturesque mountain town called San Martin de Los Andes. Here are a few photos from that incredible journey.