We left Bariloche in the brilliant sunshine and drove north on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (seven lakes). A very scenic road mostly paved (yipee) that skirts seven large crystal clear lakes between Valle La Angostura and San Martin del Andes. The weather was so great, yes it was a hot 33 degrees, sunny and no rain, that we camped for 4 consecutive nights !!

The Ruta runs along the Cordillera of the Neuquen province and is much favoured by the Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana). We first came across the tree in Nacional Parque Lanin but this was only a small area nothing compared with what we saw further north. It was at this point I found out Peter had a keen fascination with these trees, as you will realise when you see all our photos for this blog. All I can say is don't blame me.

Monkey Puzzle trees grow naturally in this area and at similar latitudes in Chile where they enjoy the impoverished volcanic soils. Apparently the species is a true conifer which has been around for over 100 million years. They can live for a 1000 years and reach 45 metres high. Young trees have a pyramid or conical shape but after 100 years they start to lose their lower branches and take on the characteristic umbrella shape. Their trunks are covered with panels of thick bark that provide resistance against fire. Strangely the female tree has balls or more technically large round head- sized cones full of pinenuts, which are very nutritious. We didn’t try any. The male tree has the standard cones.

After our visit to the Nacional Parque we continued our drive north and came across vast forests of the tree in Wild West sort of dry dusty landscape all around Villa Pehuenia. It was very weird seeing such large areas of a tree we normally only see by itself. The sizes of some of the trees puts my little specimen in the back garden to shame. It obviously needs a bit of volcanic ash to make it feel at home.