A Day in the Mountains

Sunday was by far my favorite day that I’ve spent in Argentina thus far. We had all signed up to go trekking and canopying in the mountains, and after a quick breakfast in the hostel our bus came and picked us up. The trip out to the mountain base was about an hour and a half long, and it was probably one of the most gorgeous drives that I’ve ever been on. As I already mentioned, I’ve kind of fallen in love with the Andes. We saw an area coming up in the distance that was, with its huge sapphire blue lake surrounded by mountains, beyond beautiful, and were all excited to find out that the mountain base was located right on the lake. We got out of the vans and took pictures and played with the dogs that were there until our guides came and introduced themselves. After stowing any of our unnecessary items in lockers, we all piled back on the bus for about an eight-minute drive to the trailhead. Once there they passed out water bottles, and then we officially set off for what they told us was a waterfall. The trekking was so much fun! We had to jump over streams, balance on rocks, and climb up boulders, and much of the time we were following trails that were located in brush that towered over even the tallest people. Although most of us kept concentrating on where we were putting our feet, we continually helped to remind each other to look up; the views that surrounded us the entire time were gorgeous! We hiked for about forty-five minutes to an hour and then we finally saw the waterfall. After admiring it for a few minutes, we had fun jumping from rock to rock to cross the stream and go behind the waterfall to take pictures. I then glanced over at one of the guides and saw him pulling out harnesses, ropes, and helmets. None, or at least most, of us hadn’t realized that rappelling was part of the trekking package and we were all super excited to find out that we got to go down next to the waterfall! After fitting the harnesses and distributing the other supplies, all but one guide climbed with us up to the top of the cliff. They set everything up and gave us a safety talk and then we started descending the side of the rock. It was so much fun! In the middle of my turn it finally hit me that I was rappelling next to a waterfall in the Andes, and the feeling was absolutely surreal! I was in the second group to go and after that we stood at the bottom to take pictures of the rest of the group and cheer them on. After everyone was back down we packed everything up and took another trail back. Whereas the first trail was nearly all in a valley, the return path went up and followed along a ridge that provided an even better view than before. We enjoyed just looking at the landscape and taking pictures, and we even saw a wild alpaca! We finally made it back to the trailhead and took the bus back to the base in time for lunch. The restaurant there offered one meal of the day for thirty-five pesos (which is about $9USD), so we all told the waiter that we would have whatever it was. Not really knowing what to expect, we weren’t aware that we were in for a treat! While sitting on a deck overlooking the gorgeous lake and mountains, I felt as if I was served a five-star meal; it was three courses, and I’m pretty sure we were each served an entire half of a chicken. For nine dollars. I know, crazy. After our mid-day feast our guides came back and took us over to the shed to give us the supplies for canopying. For those of you who, like me when I first heard the term, have no idea what canopying is, it’s basically another word for zip lining. Furnished with all of our safety equipment, our group hiked up to the first platform to receive the safety instructions. After that we set off to fly across the Andes, with yours truly being the first to go. I had never officially been zip lining before and it definitely met my expectations; with lack of a better explanation, it was soo much fun! We got to go on seven lines, and the final two both were about 400 meters long and went over the lake. With only a few crash landings and one ripped sweatshirt, the group held the unanimous belief that the whole experience was awesome. We walked back to the base and put up the equipment and all boarded the bus and headed back to the hostel. We arrived around 6:00pm and grabbed a quick dinner before we took taxis over to the bus terminal to head back to Córdoba. We left right at 8:00pm, none of us wanting to leave behind Mendoza and the wonderful experiences we had had there.