(22-04-10) Do you know that there is another perspective of the Patagonia? Of course, and it is even more fascinating, mystic, colder and bluer. Do you want to discover it? We invite you to go inside the Submerged Forest and the majestic cliffs in the base of the Mirador of Villa Traful.

    A fascinating diving one discovers in each visit. The Forest is a classic in Traful Lake. We are surprised in every trip we make. We are seduced by shapes, shadows, the eternal inhabitant: the trout. Autochthonous fishes of our lakes use to accompany us many times in our dive, since they are frightened by the noisy of our bubbles and run away from the cypress, which fall down very fast and agile.

    Sun is a huge mate that paints the most beautiful landscapes with the rays. An environment of calm and eternal beauty where both join to offer a great variety of activities in contact with nature. Traful Lake, 70 square km of surface, is located on a valley with glacial origin and extends East- West, where the wind is a common factor.

    It is an elongated lake whose coastline has great variations. We can enjoy areas with stones, cliffs and beautiful sandy beaches to enjoy or camp, surrounded by the imposing peaks that use to be snowy and covered in lush cypress forests, among other species.

    The icon of diving in the Villa is known as the Submerged Forest (El Bosque Sumergido). There are other good places to dive: the Gruta de la Virgen Stella Maris (Patron of Fishermen), Brazo Norte, Piedra Mala, the base of the Mirador, among others.

    Specifically going to dive, this time we are a group composed of Guillermo Ghiotto and Ariana Crego, friends of ENBAS BUCEO (from Buenos Aires), and Paúl González and me, Marcelo Pierini, from PATAGONIA DIVING TECH (Neuquén), who were the local host. We did a briefing in which we talk them about the route, weather conditions, water temperature, depth, and profile… everything to let them be mentally on the place. The motto is: impact the least possible on the environment.

FIRST DAY

    We left Muelle Nuevo at midday and went to the north coast (opposed to the Villa). With a bright sun and almost no wind, it was a very good omen.  While we approached we could see a big depression between the native forests, due to the natural movement of the earth's crust that made trees (cypress) sank almost entirely.

    After twenty minutes in the comfortable boats of EcoTraful, in charge of “El Ruso”, we get the equipment down and start to discover the secrets of the Forest.

    We reminded the planning about the dive, and with our dry suits and the equipments in the water, we went down through a gentle slope with a clean sandy bottom with remains of leaves that fall down from the close forest, in which there are many typical bushes of the area, such as elder, broom and cane coli hue.

    A group of trouts were with us, observing us from some distance, keeping an eye on these Big Invaders. We request divers control their buoyancy and not to swim near it, so we do not move the loam soil and we do not lose visibility when we begin the dive.

    We are planned to dive between 15 and 20 meters, approximately. Visibility in a sunny day can be 30 meters in horizontal and 15 in vertical, with water temperature at 15ºC on average in summer, and 5º to 7º C in winter, which is ideal for using dry suits. Here we are combining a diving with two different characteristics: in cold waters and altitude. It is a doubly fascinating experience.

    During the descent it must be avoided touching the trips so that we do not damage the impressive environment. Diving here is like flying in slow-motion. The feeling is so that we seem to be among clouds and not in the water. The forest attracts you and makes you go to another dimension, where everything is upside down. Water covers the trees and we fly among the branches as if we were birds and not divers.

    We really feel captivated, the shapes of the logs are unimaginable and the seascape is very different from sea waters. It leaves a phantasmagorical image in our retinas. If we are able to calm our excited heart, we will be able to get the most from our air, or else we will see our manometer bringing back to reality.

    It’s very good moment to take the first pictures and film the first videos of our dive. The formation of 50 cypresses can be clearly observed through the clarity of waters. They are grey and have no bark or leaves.

    Some of the specimens stand out of water like needles or guardians of the place and they can be seen from the coast. They must be seen slowly and so that we can enjoy these natural formations that make us, divers, be privileged.

    Our instruments indicate that it is time to go back to the surface, and accompanied by a solitary trout below us, we leave the Forest. We get the coast satisfied because we have not interrupted the millennial dream of it, and thankful because we have discovered some of its most hidden secrets.

    Our cameras and video cameras took some incredible pictures. Some of them are shared with you. They are few, but represent our experience. After taking some images for the programme MUNDO BUCEO, the boat that would lead us to the next destination docked.

    To the east and surrounding the sheer lakeside, we went to take some pictures of the natural caves in the areas near the Forest. In one of them, decorated with wild flowers, there is a small chapel with a beautiful sculpture of the Madonna Stella Maris, Patron of Fishermen. This little Madonna keeps the story of one of the first inhabitants in the Villa alive. He is Walter Overbeeke, and Austrian man who, in love with the place, decided to settle and open the first inn in Traful: El Rincón del Pescador, now renovated and renamed.

    There, Overbeeke put the sculpture brought from Italy to the Prefectura de Mar del Plata, but in the end it was designed to one of the caves in Traful Lake. From 1973 and thanks to Walter and his wife, Margot, the Madonna lives in the lake and is visited by locals and visitors who go there to honour it and seek protection.

    Alter a very exhausting day, we decided to come back to the Villa and finish the first day. We dined Patagonian trout and lamb to regain strength and went to sleep, as the following day the Acantilados below the Mirador (Cliffs below the Viewpoint) were waiting for us.

SeCOND DAY

    The day was going to be good for us. We crossed 2 km to the southeast to the Cliffs of the Mirador that is located under Cerro Carpa. “El Ruso”, nice like he is, led us to a small beach with fine white sand, very close to the place we were going to dive.

    We got ready. The profile of this dive is completely different from the previous one. We were going to go down a rocky wall filed by the effect of melting after centuries being frozen. We planned to dive 30 meters deep.  We prepared the cameras, got ready the last details before diving, and looked up to see the impressive 100 meters from the Mirador to the water.

    We decided the pairs and began the descent. Ten meters down we see the blue ridge that showed us an unachievable depth. We went down like gliding until the planned elevation. Time seems to stop. We feel going down in parachutes in slow-motion. The descent is very slow, soft and absolutely pleasant. We control our anxiety about the majestic environment. Such a huge rock and we look very small. Pictures that will show our dive are taken and videos are filmed. Nothing alive around us. Just only water and rock. Despite everything, it is beautiful!

    Our air finishes and computers indicate that we have to begin our return journey. Time is a tyrant, and even more under the water. Respecting the plan, we ascend knowing that this is not the last time we are going to be here. Before emerging, Willy, Paul and I, think of preparing a dive of Buceo Técnico with people from both schools. It is an ideal place to dive with TRIMIX.

    When we look back, we see again the Light of the sun and the close surface. Four atmospheres of pressure and a million indescribable feelings, and everything at the same price. It is really place for lovers of tech dive!

    Some mates and bills back us the breath and soul to the body. They are very gratifying experiences, and they are tiring also. While we are waiting to be picked, we talk about the dive. The same environment, the same group, and each of us have different feelings. Our retinas keep those images; we will come back soon and will accumulate more pleasant images each time.

    Guillermo Ghiotto, ENBAS Director, invite us to enjoy his video about this dive in this link. Enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK8GvWaCN7M

Texts: Marcelo Pierini
Photo: Paúl González