Highlights from Katie and Molner’s trip to Patagonia.
Every year Molner plans an exciting trip to an exotic locale: We’ve been to India, Angkor Wat, Hong Kong, Thailand, Prague, Berlin, Warsaw, Tokyo, Shanghai, and more — we’ve seen a lot of the world together. Since Patagonia has always been on my bucket list — and at 67, I need to start checking things off — we decided it was time. I wanted to give you all a glimpse of some of the incredible sights, sounds, and tastes of this spectacular region in Argentina.
After two sweltering days in Buenos Aires (usually a great walking city, but it was so hot, it wasn’t much fun walking around), we headed south to Bariloche. It’s a beautiful place — when I posted the view from our hotel, many of my followers thought we were in Austria! (The Sound of Music overture I chose to accompany the video probably didn’t help…) Talk about an active vacation: We kayaked, hiked, rappelled, fished, went boating, and even swam in water that was 60 degrees — but not for long! The colors of Bariloche are spectacular; I’ve never seen bluer skies or bluer water. We were taken care of by a company called Blue Parallel (how appropriate!) and I must say, they know how to make sure you travel in style. When we first arrived, we tried a favorite Argentinian drink called Mate (rhymes with latte), a caffeine-rich infused herbal beverage. I think it’s one of those things you have to grow up with — let’s just say I didn’t bring any home. But it was fun to try it!
Kayaking was beautiful — it’s often very windy in the region, but we had a picture-perfect day. We scrambled up rocks on our hike (it was pretty strenuous) and after a beautiful lunch on top of a rock with one of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen, I tried rappelling for the first time.
I’m somewhat afraid of heights, but for some reason, this was a piece of cake. (Although more rappelling is probably not in my future.) Fishing was a little less productive, although we did snag a few itty bitty rainbow trout. (Don’t worry fish lovers, it was catch and release!)
Every night we enjoyed delicious Argentinian food, mostly meat. We went to several great restaurants in gorgeous settings (particularly when we had a view of Nahuel Huapi Lake as the sun set). Vegetarians beware! The beef and lamb in Argentina is unreal…perhaps you heard our arteries hardening from there? But the food was delicious, especially the dulce de leche (caramel) and the divine chocolates. We bought home a few boxes of Rapanui, considered one of the best chocolatiers in Argentina. Hey, after all that exercise, we deserved it!
Further south, and a plane ride away, was El Calafate. We stayed in a beautiful, zen hotel about a half hour from town called Eolo. It’s small, intimate, and again, has a spectacular view. The first day I went horseback riding (Molner was getting a cold, so he took a nap) and my guide and I headed down to a big pond full of Flamingos. I felt like an extra from a sweeping western like High Chaparral. We didn’t do much galloping — I haven’t ridden in a long time and the English saddle gave me nothing to hang on to!
What was spectacular about this part of Patagonia was the glaciers: We saw the third largest ice field (after Antarctica and Greenland) and the next day, took a boat ride to have an “up close and personal” view of many of the glaciers.
After that, we took four-by-four jerry-rigged vans for yet another beautiful view and then trekked for 4.5 hours through some of the most remarkable topography I’ve ever seen. There was one other couple from Brooklyn (Hi, Vincent and Anastasia!) who were half our age. Needless to say, I was bringing up the rear, but I was very proud when my phone showed that I had walked 25,280 steps — but who’s counting?
Molner generously gave me his cold, so after a half-day in Buenos Aires (where we went to the Latin American Art Museum and saw a small self-portrait of Frida Kahlo, bought for more than $30 million!) we grabbed a final lunch of (what else?) beef ribs! Then we headed home on an overnight flight to New York with lots of dirty laundry and wonderful memories.
If you want the full itinerary of our trip, write me at info@katiecouric.com!
