Ashes in Bariloche and Vila Angostura
 

Has someone been to Bariloche or Vila Angostura lately to tell how is the situation there after the volcano? Is it good to go to do the lake route? I appreciate any in formation about that. Thanks.

The lakes route never had a problem from ash and is working normally. In Bariloche and VLA you see ash piles in places but they have been very efficient about cleaning up what they can and it really doesn't bother. On windy days the ash gets lifted into the air and the sky looks hazy. The lakes are clear of ash. The only problem is the closed airport in Bariloche, so getting there is not as easy at the moment.

The airport in Bariloche is closed for repairs until Dec 24. Since they were having so many closures due to the volcano, they decided to just do some needed repair. We are scheduled on LAN Nov 29 and they have not even advised us about the flight cancellation. I see on their website that in August, they were flying people to Esquel and then bussing to Bariloche and have written to ask if they will do that for us; but no response. Aerolingus Argentina flies to Esquel on a regular basis. If LAN won't accommodate us, I will get a refund and either book with Aerolingus or take the 21 bus from Buenos Aires. Bad Volcano!

Bad volcano is still acting up and adding some fresh ash to the scene. Some of it blew into Chile this time and closed Puerto Montt airport temporarily. It did not affect other airports. So, flexibility is the key.

thank you guys, i postponed my trip to this year and wondered if it got better. Any news? "stilltravelingat62", how was it in november?

Tours have changed their itineraries. No Bariloche, hotels closed, airport not open until maybe March 2012. With Torres de Paine Fire, one has to think about a better time to go to Chile.

The first Aerolineas flight used Bariloche airport today. So far it is one flight a day, but both Aerolineas and LAN are hoping to get back to a regular schedule very soon. This is summer holiday time in Argentina and most local tourists arrive by car or bus so no need for hotels to close.

By Monday more areas of the Torres del Paine park will be opened for trekking. All entrance points are open, including Rio Serrano. The boat trip to Grey glacier is operating twice a day.

Gloria M: I'm probably too late responding; haven't been online since my return. The ash was a huge problem. Villa La Angostura is bured in it. Lots of restaurants, shops, etc. closed. Bariloche is good except that because of the ash there are no tourists. We stayed at the Llao Llao and they had all but one restaurant closed, many activities were not available to us because the place was just deserted. (and yet no price break!) The ash is in the air everywhere; I coughed a lot and my eyes stung. We ended up on the bus but really it wasn't bad at all. We all were comfortable enough to sleep.

This message is for "stilltravelingat62." I infer that you have been in Bariloche recently. The information is disconcerting since, after great deliberation, I have made plans to take the Three Lakes voyage from Puerto Varas (I'll be coming from Santiago) to Bariloche on March 15 and spend two nights in Bariloche, with flight to Buenos Aires on March 17. It is unclear to me whether you had to take the bus to BA or whether you did it by choice. Could you clarify and give advice to someone in my circumstances? Thank you. ZZ

The "Bariloche is good" is not quite clear, stilltravelingat62.

Was the ash "in the air everywhere" there too? Was it worse on windy days or was it bad all the time?

Please tell us as much as you can.

LAN Chile bussed us from Neuquen to Bariloche. The only other choice was the bus from BA. We did the Lake Crossing from Bariloche to Puerto Varas and it was beautiful. No ash issues in Puerto Varas at all. They were plowing the roads (like snow plows) in Angostura and there were huge piles of ash along the roads, which stirred up in the wind. People wore surgical masks. Bariloche had little ash effect, but our options at the Llao Llao hotel were limited just because of so few customers. Ash was worse on windy days and yes, it was everywhere in the Bariloche area. My eyes were stinging and on windy days, I coughed. But, I was there in Dec so I would look for more recent information if possible. Personally, if we had known the ash would be such a problem, we would have chosen a different itinerary.

what is the situation now? We are thinking about going to Villa La Angostura in June.

I am scheduled to be in the Puerto Varas - Bariloche area March 13 - 17, so have been trying to get information about the ash situation. The best I have been able to do is to ascertain from the flight status of LAN that planes are going into and out of Bariloche. Ditto for Puerto Montt (access point for Pt. Varas). Also, the weather report and forecast for Bariloche show clear weather. ZZ

Hello Zambezi! Could you please report the conditions when you get back?

I'll be glad to. If I can do it when I'm in Argentina (March 13 -25), I'll do it then. Meantime, you can check LAN's flight status page to see if LAN planes are going in and out of Bariloche (from BA). I'm presuming that when LAN says that a flight took off at such-and-such a time and arrived at ___ at such-and-such a time, it is reporting an event that actually happened. Keeping in mind that your visit is scheduled for June, though, it is impossible to predict the situation then based on the situation now. ZZ