Lake Nahuel Huapi

Nahuel Huapi Lake ( es, Lago Nahuel Huapí) is a lake in the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, in Argentina. The tourist center of Bariloche is on the southern shore of the lake.

The June 2011 eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, in neighboring Chile, caused parts of the lake's surface to be blanketed in volcanic ash.

During the Last Glacial Maximum of the Llanquihue glaciation the lake basin was wholly occupied by a glacier.

Etymology

The name of the lake derives from the toponym of its major island in Mapudungun (Mapuche language): "Island of Puma", from ''nahuel'', 'puma', and ''huapí'', 'island'. There is, however, more to the word "Nahuel"—it can also signify 'a man who by sorcery has been transformed to a puma'.

Geography

Nahuel Huapi lake, located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park, has a surface of , rests above the sea level, and has a maximum measured depth (as of 2007) of .

The lake depression consists of several glacial valleys carved out along faults and Miocene valleys that were later dammed by moraines.

Its seven branches are named ''Blest'' (), ''Huemul'' (), ''de la Tristeza'' (), ''Campanario'' (), ''Machete'', ''del Rincón'' and ''Última Esperanza''. It is connected to other smaller lakes such as ''Gutiérrez'', ''Moreno'', '' Espejo'' and ''Correntoso''. The deep-blue waters hold a number of islands, most notably with an area of , and ''Isla Huemul'' on the south end of the lake.

A curious fact about the lake is that, despite being nowhere near any ocean and being at high altitude, it is also home for kelp gull and the blue eyed cormorant (Phalacrocorax atriceps), otherwise strictly marine birds.

The lake's crystal clear waters are very susceptible to climate changes and have an average surface temperature of ; this makes it both beautiful and treacherous. Hypothermia is one of the risks bathers must undertake. Kayaking is a popular sport on this and adjacent lakes.
The lake is also the starting point of the Limay River.

Fauna

This lake harbors several introduced, non-native species of trout, including rainbow trout, brown trout and brook trout which attract anglers from the world over.

''Nahuelito''

At the beginning of the 20th century, and following an old aboriginal legend, the rumor of a giant creature living in the deep waters of the lake took up. The ''creature'' is known locally as ''Nahuelito''. Reported sightings of it predate Nessie and Arthur Conan Doyle's ''The Lost World'' (1912).

Local Mapuche called another creature ''el Cuero'' (leather) for its smooth skin. The neighboring lake Lago Lácar, has also been the site for accounts of another creature, more consistent with a plesiosaur, with aborigines describing it as a ''sea-cow'' with ''teeth'' all around it.

Members of the Buenos Aires Zoo visited the lake in 1922 trying to corroborate the reports of sightings of the prehistoric animal, but found no evidence to support the theory of such a creature.

Hitler conspiracy theory

Some works, such as the ''National Police Gazette'' (circa 1950–1970), an American tabloid-style magazine, as well as a 2004 book by Abel Basti and the 2011 book ''Grey Wolf'' claim that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun did not commit suicide but escaped to Argentina along with other Nazis and lived in the surroundings of Bariloche for many years after World War II, choosing the lake's Inalco House as their hideout.

According to the fringe theory, a number of U-boats took certain high ranking Nazis and Nazi loot to Argentina, where the fugitives were protected by Argentine Army general and future president Juan Perón, who, with his wife Evita, had been receiving money from the Nazis for some time. Hitler allegedly arrived in Argentina around July 1945 first staying at the German owned Hacienda San Ramón, east of San Carlos de Bariloche. Hitler then allegedly moved to a Bavarian-style mansion at Inalco, a remote and barely accessible spot at the northwest end of the lake near the Chilean border where he remained until at least 1955 when Perón was deposed in a military coup and the new government in Buenos Aires began investigating the long-held rumors that fugitive Nazi war criminals were hiding in Argentina.

The home, originally accessible only by boat or seaplane, was built in 1943 for Enrique García Merou, a Buenos Aires lawyer tied to several German-owned businesses that are alleged to have aided in the escape of high ranking Nazis and former SS officers to Argentina at the end World War II. Merou later sold the property to Jorge Antonio, a close advisor to President Perón who was the representative of German automobile manufacturer Daimler Benz in Argentina. The home shares some unusual architectural features with the Berghof, Hitler's alpine retreat in the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, including a tea house, and bedrooms connected by bathrooms and walk-in closets.

Purportedly, Eva Braun left Hitler around 1954 and moved to Neuquén with their daughter, Ursula ('Uschi'), and Hitler died in February 1962.

Citing a former Nazi presence in Bariloche, the investigative series ''Hunting Hitler'' (2015–2018) reveals a guard tower—reportedly built by the same architect as the Inalco House—looking over the lake (situated closer to Bariloche than the house), as well as a now destroyed bunker on the other side of the lake; together the two sites (in addition to other possible lookouts such as a wooden building resembling a guard shack) may have provided a panoramic view used to safeguard the mansion, accessible from only the lake due to heavy forestation and long rumoured to have housed Hitler. Additionally, the ''Hunting Hitler'' team cited the proximity of German scientist Ronald Richter's Perón-backed nuclear fusion project on Huemul Island. The architect who designed the house and the guard-tower, Alejandro Bustillo, is known to have designed homes for other Nazi fugitives who lived in the area.

In a 2018 episode of ''Expedition Unknown'', Abel Basti secured a rare excursion into the Inalco House, revealing little except for some old kitchen utensils in the basement. Using a metal detector on the grounds, host Josh Gates located a German coin, from the Third Reich period leading him to conclude that Nazi fugitives (but not necessarily Hitler) could have used the house.

Gallery

File:Nahuel Huapi 51.jpg, Nahuel Huapi Lake
File:Nahuel Huapi 52.jpg, Sun over the Nahuel Huapi lake at 12:00 pm
File:Nahuel Huapi 53.jpg, Windy Nahuel Huapi

See also

* Limay River, a major river of the region that runs from the lake

References

External links

World Lake's Database
from NASA's STS-88 space shuttle mission
Nahuel Huapi FaunaReevaluation of Cheek Patterns of Juvenal-Plumaged Blue-Eyed and King Shags

Satellite image of the Nahuel Huapi lake(2369x2328 pixels)

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Nahuel Huapi
Lakes of Río Negro Province
Lakes of Neuquén Province
Glacial lakes of Argentina
Nahuel Huapi National Park