Bariloche, Argentina
Friday, March 24, 2006
We got up early to catch our ride to the river where we were going to go white water rafting. They said it was supposed to be a class 3-4, but it is fall here so I didnīt think it was going to be that big. When we arrived, we were given another breakfast before we received our wet suits, life jackets, and helmets. We had an English raft; the 2 of us, and American and an Aussie. Our guide was great and was able to explain everything very well in English and some of our very broken Spanish. Off we went... we got a few instructions along the way but not that much. Of course on the first rapid, we played in the standing wave and filled the raft with water, I guess that was so we would not be afraid of getting wet?!? It started to pour rain while we were out but that was OK since we were already soaked anyway. It was at the end of the river that I wished it would have stopped just for a little bit, but it didnīt. It was quite an event just trying to get out of my wet suit in this little change room (aka a stall for a horse) while trying to keep my dry clothes dry. Did I mention that the air temperature was only about 12C? I was freezing!!! I am glad that I brought my fleece socks and mitts with me. We got back to the area where we started the day and there was a fantastic meal of grilled meat waiting for us. (By the way, there is usually fresh bread, salad and vegetables that accompany this.) Red wine as well. Once we were full, we loaded into the van and Andrew, the Aussie and I got dropped off at the nearby ranch to do the horseback riding part of the package. The rafting guide told us to wait at the cafe-style house for the horses to get to where we were staying for the night. Just to let you know, it was still pouring rain out, the guide had been joking around all day, the place we got dropped off at looked like a large farm house that we could all stay in, so we thought for sure the guide was just kidding around with us. The lady inside offered us coffee or tea, there was a fire going, we were still pretty cold, there was no way we were leaving this farmhouse. After about an hour, I was starting to warm up and we see out the window a guy on a horse ride up with 3 other horses in tow. Well...I guess we really are riding out to where we are going to be staying overnight. I am really glad that I invested in a good raincoat before this trip. About an hour and a half later by horse (still pouring rain and 12C) we arrived at this log cabin. A very opened concept log cabin. There were already some men there gathered around the fire. We basically all huddled around the fire to dry off and get warm. We figured out after a while that we were staying at a working ranch. The men that were there before us do lumber work for and with the owner of the land. Our "gaucho" stays at the ranch during the summer to take care of the place and host tourists on horseback riding trips. The log cabin was rustic but who cared. We were in the middle of Patagonia staying on a ranch! We had a pasta dinner (a nice change from grilled meat, if I do say so myself) with red wine and went to bed on the floor of the upstairs part of the cabin.
In the morning we had some breakfast and took the horses to see this nice waterfall on the land of the ranch. It was just nice to be riding around in this land, not any sound of machinery or cars or trucks. Just the sound of waterfalls, animals and the pounding of the horses hooves.
