Huilo Huilo is an ecological park in Northern Patagonia and was founded in the ’90s in an area heavily impacted by the lumber industry. The hotels built in the middle of the park were intended to be woven into the landscape, with real, living trees going in and through them. We decided to spend two nights in the park, using a rest day to explore the forest and local volcano (which is the same double-peaked one we’d seen from the other side on the ride in).
We spent the morning with an easy hike to a local waterfall. The summer drought left it a bit smaller than usual, but that also left the riverbed of volcanic rock exposed and was equally cool. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon on enjoying the relaxed vibes of the resort, drinking coffee in the cafes while uploading our photos, and having a long, leisurely lunch.
In the evening we took a cable car ride up the side of a mountain for sunset wine & cheese, getting to see the volcano from the next mountain over. Dani, a kitchen assistant doing work experience for her cooking degree, was taking advantage of the free activity as an employment perk and offered to help with translation (after bonding with Tori when she told her she “looked like someone who listens to Taylor Swift”).
The view of the top of the mountain was staggering and we spent the evening chatting over local wine, beer, and cheeses. Once the sun had set behind the peaks we were driven back down the mountain on tight, switchbacking double track in what I can only describe as an off-road school bus, nearly running over a wild bull in the forest on the 10km roller coaster ride down. Once our stomachs were resettled we had one last dinner in the hotel’s fantastic restaurant and got ready to hit the road again in the morning.
