Junin

After four weeks of studying Spanish, we left by overnight bus for Neuquén. It was a 14-hour bus ride--complete with seats that turned into beds. In Neuquén, we rented a car and drove to Junin, passing through Aliminaé. In Junin de los Andes, we stayed at the same apartments where we stayed three years earlier. Both the town and apartment complex had grown larger. It was January and the town was full of Argentine tourists; they were  taking advantage of their children's summer vacations and escaping the heat of BsAs. The once-sleepy town had new hotels and restaurants.

The rivers and fishing holes were still there, but with the summer heat and influx of fishermen, the fishing was not as good as I remembered. See my later fishing reports. We settled into quiet days of fishing, hiking, driving through the countryside, taking siestas, and eating at restaurants.

One night, there was kind of a Mardi Gras in the city center where high school classes competed with bands, dancing and marching. One day, the gauchos gave a demonstration at the fairgrounds. They broke the bucking broncos from neighboring ranches. One gaucho went to the hospital; I'm not sure what happened to his horse. Latitude, -39.9333, Longitude, -71.0833, Altitude (feet), 2962 .