"Crash course" in Spanish

  San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Today's adventure was white water rafting in the Patagonian Andes along the Chilean-Argentine border.  If you have been following my blog, you may recall my last rafting adventure where I made fun of two French guys who, under pressure, couldn't translate left and right fast enough and kept banging everyone's paddles.

Well I got a dose of my own medicine.  Everyone in my raft was fluent Spanish, so the guide called commands in Spanish instead.

They put me in front since I had the most experience and everyone on my side was supposed to follow my lead - but I kept getting the commands wrong.

For example "adentro" (inside and brace for impact) and "delantero" (paddle forward) really sound the same to me when shouted in the middle of a Class 4 rapid so there were some rather awkward moments where everyone in the raft was inside and bracing while I was paddling forward and vice versa.

Either way, the rafting in Bariloche is hands-down the most spectacular I've ever done.  The water was vivid turquoise and the river went through a gray canyon followed by pine-covered mountains with snow capped Andean peaks on either side.  I really wish I had a waterproof camera so I could share it with everyone - it was breathtaking!

The water was freezing, but we had thick wet suits and water-tight coats, so it actually wasn't too bad.  And somehow I got peer pressured into going for a swim (for a few seconds).  

At the end of the trip, they deflated the rafts and hauled them up on horseback which was a first for me.  We dried off and went back to their camp for an Asado - a huge Argentinean BBQ with steak, chorizo sausage, and more steak.

Awesome day!



The girl on the left is my hero - she's a designer for Victoria Secret.  God bless her!