Amanda Barnes picks her best places to picnic in Mendoza
At the foot of the Andes, Mendoza’s mountainside location and (usually) agreeable climate lends it perfectly to pretty picnics. Here are some of our top suggestions:
Picnic in the Park
One of Mendoza´s most popular picnic spots sits right in the city: the collosal Parque San Martin. Even larger than the city centre, this endless park is the perfect place for romancing couples or young families. Weekends are always packed with locals holstering their mate tea while reclining on a fold-up chair. A lake, a fountain, sculptures, limitless green lawns and even a zoo make Parque San Martin a picnic shoe-in. Essential ingredient – a sun umbrella as the shady spots are taken early.
Portrerillos
If a sparkling blue lake (or rather a cleverly disguised dam) reflecting the boundless
skies and magnificient mountains sounds like your ideal picnic scene then head to Portrerillos with your wicker basket.
This is a popular spot where you can find spaces for an asado (barbecue) or just sit by the water to watch the world and maybe a few windsurfers go by.
There is a bus service to Portrerillos leaving from the main bus terminal operated by Uspallata bus company. Essential ingredient – sunscreen as there are no trees.
Cachueta
Cachueta`s hot springs have been drawing people in for hundreds of years and the warm pools offer a perfect post-picnic dip. Many Mendocinos make their way to Cachueta for an asado (barbecue) during the weekend and park up at the top of the mountain road before scrambling down to the free springs and large rocks at the bottom.
If you feel a little less adventurous or do not have access to a car, take a tour up to the springs and bring your own lunch. If you like been spoiled go into the upscale hotel next door and enjoy lunch on the lawn. Essential ingredient - flip flops.
The High Road to Chile
We don’t suggest climbing Aconcagua for your picnic but the provincial park is quite a picturesque spot to sit with your thermos and tea. And that is about all you can take sadly because the park ranger will not let you in with food unless you have a permit.
However, do not dismay - there are lots of attractive stops along the way to the park (a 3-hour drive from Mendoza) which are suitable for unpacking that basket while looking on at the great spectrum of colour in the mountains. One of the most intriguing is Parque Punta de Vacas, a small gathering of picnic tables in a valley made famous by the pacifist writer Sisco. It is just a shame the view is a busy truck stop. Uspallata town has a simple, wooded campsite where you can stop for lunch or keep going straight until you find Darwins Petrified Forest where the famous evolutionist first realised the world is a lot older than the bible says. Opposite you’ll find an old silver mine first operated by the Jesuits. Essential ingredient – binoculars to spy the condor.
Cipolletti Dam
Cipoletti dam is where it all began. The lush avenues, vineyards and plazas of Mendoza would not have been possible but for an Italian engineer called Cesar Cipolletti harnessing the melted snow of the Andes into one pool at the end of the 19th century. The dam now has an adjacent camp site that allows day trippers to sit in its pretty grounds for a couple of pesos each. This grassy area provides an idyllic spot to crack open that Malbec whilst watching the kamikaze locals take full advantage of the fast flowing canals to cool off in the summer. The dam is located 30 minutes south in Lujan de Cuyo. Essential ingredient – a life jacket if you want to brave the powerful whirlpools.
T-bone Junction
Central highway reservations, busy motorway laybys, concrete bridges, dusty roadside culverts; take a spin on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Mendoza and you’ll notice the locals will stop for a picnic virtually anywhere, usually the next patch of grass on the highway. Argentines love the great outdoors and don’t need to go too far before they stop and unpack the deck chairs, picnic tables and portable barbecues. Meat is the main item on the menu, all cooked over burning twigs with a local desert shrub called jarrilla added for an extra smouldering flavor. Essential ingredient – a football, but try not to kick it into the fast lane.
Uco Valley
This long narrow valley is tucked up against the mountains with some of of Mendoza’s most stunning views. Vineyards compete with pear orchards and the occasional field of garlic as the towering ice-capped Andes adds drama in the background. Some of Mendoza’s most architecturally stunning wineries are located here, as well as its most historical apple tree (known as Manzano Historico) where San Martin whipped up the troops before invading Chile. Here you’ll find a leafy park with a lavish monument celebrating the great man and the area is popular with day visitors on Sundays. For something a little wilder, go further into the mountains to the little visited Valle de Carreras, a furze covered highland and the only place in Mendoza where you can pick potatoes. Essential ingredient - a potato peeler.
Whistle in the Wind
With an unbelievable 350 sunny days a year, Mendoza has to have its share of some meotorological misfortune somewhere. The one thing that might put a bit of a damper on your picnic is one Mendoza’s weird weather phenomenons, be it either the hot zonda wind or hail stones the size of your head:
El Zonda
It sounds like one of the biblical plagues but Mendoza’s Zonda wind is very common. A change of pressure in the Andes causes a hot wind (of sometimes up to 120 km/hr and 48 degrees) to tear its way down the mountainside and through the city, bringing a bright orange dust with it and leaving sore throats and throbbing headaches amongst the inhabitants behind. A proper zonda could well spoil your cucumber sandwiches and picnic rug but the more common zondas (which bring only a little breeze and create a balmy warmth) could actually be favourable. Zondas occur mostly during periods of unstable temperatures (spring and autumn) so keep your eye on weather warnings beforehand. Essential ingredient – aspirin.
Hardball
If you think rain is a picnic’s worst enemy, think again. Mendoza’s infamous hailstones are a threat not just to an outdoor lunch but people´s lives and livelihoods. Vicious icey stones the size of golfballs sweep through the region around Christmas time, leaving a path of destruction – the province loses 10% of its grapes to hail every year and people often die in flooding and the chaotic aftermath. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast can usually help you avert hailstones raining on your parade though the sight of a violent downpour shredding everything in its path is something to behold and not easily forgotten. Essential ingredient – special anti-hale blankets to pull over you car and save it from getting dented.
