Lake Nahuel Huapi and horse riding in Patagonia

I spent many of my childhood holidays in the English Lake District, one of the most beautiful parts of the United Kingdom. Whilst there, I was—near enough—forced on long hikes up numerous hills and mountains by my parents. Slow walks around lakes. And many different trips to picturesque villages. If only I knew how lucky I was at the time. It’s an area of Britain that I hold very close to my heart and I have countless happy memories there. So, when I discovered that there was another Lake District in Argentina, I had to go and visit. 

Much like its English counterpart, the Argentinian Lake District is unfathomably beautiful. Deep blue lakes, jagged snow capped mountains, and beautiful quasi-alpine towns dotted in and around lush green forest, the landscape looks almost Jurassic with so much untouched pristine land. 

When my travel buddy and I went to visit this beautiful area, it was the height of Argentine summer. Back in Buenos Aires the average temperature was around 35°C everyday, however we were shocked when landing into Bariloche airport and being met with temperatures just above freezing. Not a great start to say the least. But once stepping outside the tiny, chalet looking airport, you’re hit in the face by a magnificent panoramic view of the Andes. It’s in that moment you feel you’ve arrived. We stayed in the touristic town of Villa La Angostura, famous for its Alpine style, local beer, and Rainbow Trout (like many other towns in the area). And after an hour-long bus journey from the airport to the town, you’re left almost exhausted trying to concentrate on looking at the constant passing beauty from the window of the mini-bus. Getting just a snapshot view of the mountains and lakes makes you feel unbelievably fortunate to be there. 

The town itself is pretty, very busy, but pretty. However, you don’t go to Patagonia to spend your time in a town, you go to get into nature and explore. With that in mind, we decided to take a rather long walk down to the banks of Lake Nahuel Huapi, and—believe me—just getting there was an adventure in its own right. After battling our way through thick, dark green forest and over surprisingly steep hills made from small stone and dust, we finally made it. The pain and fatigue of the walk were worth it though, we were once again slapped across the face by the beauty of the scene in front of us: the Andes, the lake, the deserted pebble beaches. It was beyond the beauty I could even try to describe. It was close to perfection. 

I thought Lake Windermere was beautiful, but Nahuel Haupi was on a whole other level.

Whilst in Villa La Angostura, we took on various activities, like cycling on the famous Route 40, kayaking—in rather precarious weather conditions—on Lake Nahuel Haupi, taking a day trip to Villa Traful (another beautiful town), and, most memorably, we went horse riding along the side of a mountain. 

The latter mentioned activity is something I’ll never forget, it was a chance for me to fulfil my dream of being a Gaucho—even though the experience was very far from their actual everyday lives. Things started off well as we met with the Gaucho guides and the other members of our group at a small wooden stables, tucked away on the edge of a forest. It sounds dodgy, but I assure you, it wasn’t. I honestly wasn’t too sure where we were going, I just knew we would ride up to a waterfall, take some pictures and ride back to the stables. Easy. What ensued was not in fact easy, especially with it being only my second time on a horse. We rode upwards, through lush forest and rather questionable dirt paths, and I’ll be honest, the horse and I didn’t exactly see eye to eye at times. I knew that he knew I was extremely inexperienced and therefore we were both on edge to say the least. 

After an hour of ascending (which felt like it could have been four), we finally reached the cascading waterfalls. This gave us a chance to admire the amazing natural beauty on offer in a tranquil spot which overlooked Nahuel Haupi’s smaller sibling, Lake Correntoso. However, this peace was fleeting and unfortunately for me—and more importantly my horse—our short stay at the waterfalls was over and a long descent back to the stables was to follow… or so I thought. 

To the surprise of pretty much everyone in our group, the Gaucho guides took us a completely different way back. Right around the side of the mountain, where the path was even more narrow, and even more dangerous than before. As if my horse and I hadn’t been through enough already. We had to work together to try and not take notice of the almost certain deadly drop that was on the right of us, I made the mistake of checking how far the drop was once—a mistake I wouldn’t make twice. Why were we even going this way down? What’s the point of this whole expedition? My questions were very quickly answered. This narrow track of doom eventually led us out to what I can only describe as the best view I’ve ever witnessed with my own eyes. There we were, me and the horse, looking out onto Lake Correntoso in all its divine glory. This is why they took us this way. This is what I came for.