|
morning!
01mar06
e-j made some excellent porridge with a dash of homemade honey we’d picked up on our mountain bike ride in pucon and i packed a bag of dry clothes for the landing. nerves acted as an unexpectedly welcome catalyst to restart bowel movements and three visits later i was ready to raft. e-j had firmly decided her most recent whitewater rafting experience five years back with her family in the zambezi was her first and last, and she would not be joining me.
as the name suggests, a cataraft is half catamaran, half raft, but whereas a raft is steered by 4 – 6 people a cataraft has only one at the helm, and is infinitely more stable. so santiago took the oars on the hard rapids, and having done them 100s of times, reduced the excitement of a grade 5 rapid to a cold shower. towards the end i took over on a couple of grade 3’s and despite the craft’s stability nearly managed to flip it in a ‘hole’, (i nearly flew off too) but at least it was me in control and not a disney ride. to his credit, santiago tried to sensationalise the ride when we came out of big rapids by shouting american client influenced phrases like “awesome!” and “right on!” and “gimme 5!” but i had done nothing but grab a bar and didn’t really share his euphoria. nonetheless, the sun was out, the scenery was amazing and the water so clear and fresh and inviting i almost wished i had got chucked in for a thrill and a drink. we were accompanied by two safety kayaks (like we needed even one!). one was scott and the other a peruvian ex-olympic kayaker called juan. it was a treat to see him pull off incredible tricks and i spent most of the ride looking out for him. if ever you are needing an adrenalin fix and are offered catarafting, just say no.
returned to e-j who was relaxing in the shade of a tree by the car. she was generally pleased i was still alive but when i forgot to thank her for keeping the fire going for hot water for my shower, and i forgot to thank her for re-re-organising the car which i of course considered essential, i think she was less pleased that i had made it back in one piece. i had an admittedly very warm shower and we made some soup for lunch. i said thank you very much and e-j grumbled something about where would i be without her. we started packing and an hour later we said goodbye to scott who innovatively recorded our email addresses and website using the voice recorder of his digital camera.
|
|
morning!
we were eager to find a campsite by the reputedly stunning lake yelcho which we had missed the first time round due to bad weather. at gps S 43,25’07.6 W 072.14’08.9 we discovered probably the most beautiful camping spot in the world – a tiny deserted beach on a huge with five snow capped mountains as a backdrop. an hour later we had set up camp, and were sitting by a roaring fire, eating hot dogs and cheese and crackers and boiled eggs and lots of mustard and other things that only taste great when you’re hungry and happy. the icing on the cake came in the form of that not very cheap bottle of 2001 catena zapata red we had picked up in mendoza and had been told it would last 20 years and had planned to take it back to england. it was not a waste and although the plastic mugs probably didn’t bring out the best it had to offer, it was a moment to celebrate for finally we were camping wild and in a place of indescribable natural beauty and for that moment, that was what our trip was all about and more than we could have ever hoped for. the night sky was free of clouds and the stars of the southern hemisphere were brilliantly clear, an exceptionally rare treat in a land that rains 330 days a year… we slept with the tent flap open and saw shooting stars. i stared at them until my heavy eye lids finally took charge and determined i should quit while ahead - things couldn’t be any better.
|
