We’ve now been in BA for six weeks, long enough to begin exploring the rest of country.  It’s a tall order and we’ll be lucky if we get to see a tenth of it while here, but we had to start somewhere. Catching the end of the ski season in San Martin de Los Andes sounded like perfect first stop.

Our inspiration to visit San Martin de Los Andes was aided by the fact that we have some friends of friends, Nick and Tam, who moved from LA to San Martin just recently for similar reasons to ours.  We’ve been exchanging stories over WhatsApp for some time now so naturally it was fun to meet face-to-face instead.  They graciously hosted us for a perfect Argentine asado dinner with delicious steak.  And while the kids slowly dozed off, we discussed our moves here including our luck in the recent dollar appreciation against the peso and the craziness of house hunting and school choice.   It was a great evening.  If you want to figure out how to relocate with your job to Aspen of South America on a third of the budget, check out their story here.

Several things made the trip memorable with an added adventure at the end.  First, we were surprised how super easy it is to fly from our local domestic airport in BA.  Not only is the airport an easy 15-min-ride from our house, but also the actual experience there is remarkably reminiscent of flying a decade ago.  No lines, quick and simple security, straight onto the plane. We thought that was sweet until we landed at the airport in San Martin after a short flight which proved to be equally simple, particularly since we did not check-in any luggage.  We rented a car from a local, no-name-car-agency for $30/day and we were on our way to our Airbnb within minutes.

The town itself is enchanting.  With a population of about 40K, it’s about a mile grid at the edge of Lake Lácar, a glacier lake which is part of the Lanín National Park.  Tourism overall is its main industry and while skiing is popular, hunting and fishing are the core.  It’s big business mostly supported by American tourists who come to this mecca to indulge in fly-fishing and hunting.  Together with second-homes, Jack-nicholson golf courses, and top-rated restaurants, sometimes we had a feeling of being in Aspen of Argentina.

The views themselves are stunning, a cross between the Alps and the Rockies.  Edged snow covered mountain tops surround the town and were clearly evident on our way to the ski resort.  The architecture of wooden store-fronts, ice-cream parlors, and most importantly chocolate shops were all very European with clear traces of German and Polish heritage throughout.  Mamusia chocolates, one of the premier chocolate boutiques in town, was rich in history and truffles alike.  Spring was clearly in the air. We enjoyed strolling through town underneath the beautifully blooming prunus trees and meandering to the shores of the lake to enjoy the view and throw in some rocks.

The skiing itself wasn’t amazing.  Chapelco ski resort was relaxed, beautiful, and warm.  With normal snowfall I can see how much fun the mountain could be with varied terrain, steep runs and great tree trails, but the season was poor overall and we were at the tail end of it, limiting our exposure to the best the mountain had to offer.  We still had a blast exploring a new mountain, trying out new runs, and learning how to understand the color system in South America.  Kids loved skiing above the fog line. Our friends joined us for a day and it was lovely to share a great apre-ski beer on a sunny afternoon after a full day on the mountain.

What was amazing, however, was the affordability of the whole trip.  Although expensive for Argentina, our lift tickets cost $30 per person per day. This is a fifth of the cost in Tahoe.  We had to rent all of our stuff and that costs only $10 per day per person.  The food on the mountain wasn’t outstanding but $30 for our family lunch seemed like a bargin.  And to top it off the Airbnb apartment in town was basic, but super clean and convienient and also cost only $100 night.

Not all things went as planned though. On the last day of skiing I managed to plow over Kuba while getting off the lift, of course not hurting myself but busting his lip and chin in the process instead (do I win the mom award of the year?!)  Thankfully nose is solid and no teeth were lost but lots of blood and tears put a damper in the afternoon.  Then, while clipping in my ski I twisted one of the ligaments in my knee and well – skiing (and walking, really) was done for the day.  It will take some time to recover for both of us – although I think that Kuba was back to normal within hours while I still can barely walk.  Still, the kids loved the skiing (somehow they don’t mind the less than ideal snow conditions) and the highlight was Ella turning to me unprompted to say, ‘Mom, thanks so much for brining us here – it’s great!”

We want to come back.  At the very least this summer we’ll be in the ‘lake district’, as this part of Patagonia is often called, to explore Villa la Angostura, kayak Parque Arrayanes and hike throughout.  If all goes well, we’ll also try to sneak in another ski trip next winter in June / July especially if skiing conditions are great.

 

Details on our trip:

Flights:  we flew with Aerolineas which was easy and not that expensive.  Carry-on luggage of up to 8kgs meant that we didn’t have to check anything in.  We did have to buy tickets by paying non-resident prices which are more expensive than if we were buying locally as we don’t have permanent residency or a DNI numbers and only foreign credit cards.

Car rental:  we checked before we left and online found offers that were rather expensive.  Because we were going to a snow destination we thought that we may need a big four-wheel-drive SUV but snow was evident only on the top of the mountains so we were fine with a normal sedan.  Hertz is the main agency at the airport, but there are several smaller, local players who have much lower prices.  We rented once we landed which was painless.  I imgaine at that height of the season you may have to plan ahead to reserve a car.  There are also multiple shuttles – and it costs about $8/pp to get into town from the airport and another $8/pp to get to the mountain but it’s not as convient as having a car (and of course when traveling as a pack of five, all economies of scale disappear).

Where we stayed: This was a very simple Airbnb – one of the most basic ones we’ve ever stayed at, but it was completely fine for what we needed.  We were not there often and with the exception of breakfast, we ate out for all our meals.

Restaurants and such: (there are a ton of pastry / chocolate shops that we only ducked into so I’m not listing them here – but it’s hard to go wrong by trying any of them!)

• Mamusia Chocolates has an excellent selection of chocolates and ice creams.  According to the sign at the store, it was started decades ago by a Polish woman, a mom, who emigrated to San Martin.  The chocolates were excellent.
• Cala Pizza served excellent, wood-oven pizzas with multiple topping options.  It gets busy after 9:00.  Casual and cozy, with super-helpful service, we enjoyed our dinner there
• We had fantastic steak at a typical parrilla – Ulises.  It wasn’t fancy, but the meat was cooked to perfection (which we found to be somewhat challenging here).  Kids enjoyed their pasta bolognese as well.