La Cheminee San Martin de los Andes

The nicest part of Neuquen is the big, shiny new characterless bus terminal, so why are we here? 3 nearby towns, 1 reason - Neuquen is one of the richest areas for dinosaur fossils in the world.<br>Our first destination is 1.5 hours away by car for which we have to hire a driver as no busses run the route. Projecto Dino is the only paleontological site still being excavated that allows tourists in to visit. Already it has provided fossils ...

We took an overnight bus from Mendoza to Neuquen. This turned out<br>to be a bit more eventful than we were expecting. <br><br>We had been on the road for less than an hour and were settling in to go to sleep, when<br>suddenly there was the sound of smashing glass. People started yelling<br>'don´t stop, don't stop' but we didn't know what was going on. Then I<br>(Nat) turned around and realised that the window next to me had<br>shattered into lots of little pieces ...

Al llegar nos esperaban para ir hacia su hogar que estaba en plena obra, asi que les caimos en maaaallll momento. Luego de tomar un cafecito y ponernos al dia nos fuimos a almorzar a un lugar que se comia asado y comida arabe en el Valle, mas precisamente en General Roca del lado de<br>la Provincia de Rio Negro. Comimos de todo hasta cordero y un cabrito ...

... the town of Porvenir. To keep things interesting we choose the remote one, and after the tracked km progress of the highways it's a nice change to be making our way to our destination on 150 km of unsigned gravel roads. The country around this Bahia Inatil is the kind of scenery that sends farmers into palpitations and hot flushes. Silvery spears of straight grass poking out of rolling moss-like pasture, wire fences disappearing into infinity with sheep patrolling the interior. These ...

... gaze and enjoy the beauty! The staff of Rio Hermoso know how to be of service, but not intrusive. They are friendly, warm and helpful. Whether it was accommodating a special dietary requirement, preparing a lunch or dinner that was not on the menu, keeping the fire going in the fireplace, bringing snacks and drinks, they were there for us. When we went to dinner in San Martin de los Andes one night and returned ...

... Jackie asks us if we want coffee and I order café con leche caliente and Harvey orders café negro. Along with our coffee, she brings fresh orange juice and plates of jams and breads. They are beautifully displayed (see our photos!). I ask Harvey again if he would like eggs and he says patience, patience, let's see what they bring out. After some time, Jackie asks if we would like eggs! We smile at each other and place our order. Today ...

I did enjoy the visits to the museums but it would of been a lot easier if I had a car. You could visit both sites in one day that way, and avoid the expensive nights in town and frustrating bus services. When I inquired at the tourist office about visiting the sites I was told that one could spend a whole day that the first place Villa El Chocon, but I was only there about 2 hours in the end and with an hour and 30 mins bus each ...

... we looked the OTHER way from the viewpoint, away from the town, we were greeted by an absolutely magnificent view, which literally took our breath away. <br><br>It was STUNNING.<br><br><br><br>The sun was about an hour away from going down, without a cloud in the sky, so with the sun low in the sky the colours of the lake and mountains were amazing, with the sun dancing on ...

... to the sheds for cleaning. The site being dug contained eggs, herbivores, carnivores, plants, turtles, crocodiles, frogs, snakes, protobirds - basically a whole ecosystem preserved in the cretaceous period, when the area was semitropical. Nick was in heaven. Neuquen also contains Argentina´s national art museum (which is a little like putting Te Papa in Oamaru). We enjoyed a feature exhibition of sculpture by Jorge Gamarra. There was a bunch of ...