We took Spanish lessons in Mendoza for two weeks – yes, some people may in fact suggest that this is a little late in our stay in Argentina, however, for those that know us well, this was probably fully expected. As we explained to Lidia – our wonderful hostess in our home stay – we opted to spend our time in Argentina exploring the country rather than studying, and besides that, getting these old brain cells working again has not been easy!
Mendoza is a “hot-bed” of tourist activity without seeming too touristy or too crowded. It is situated very close to the Andes Mountains which provides a lot of opportunities for a wide variety of outdoor activities.
Since the weather had been so hot, we decided to cool off a bit by going white-water rafting on the weekend between classes. The rafting was a full-day trip, and while it was no “Hells Gate”, it did provide us with a good four hours of steady “white-water” and some spectacular scenery. We celebrated completion of our classes by heading into the mountains for 3 days. After all, Mendoza is only two hours away from Cerro Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas at 6959 metres. Since we were lacking the necessary equipment, and the even more necessary conditioning, we settled for three days of hiking in the Cordon del Plata – the mountain range in front of Aconcagua.
We stayed at a small refugio in the mountains which was at 2600 metres elevation and did day hikes from there. The first two were to 3500 metres and the last day took us all the way up to 4300 metres. While the weather wasn’t great (rain and snow the first day), it did gradually improve, and we actually received some sunshine (and great views) on the third day – not to mention aching knees and calf muscles.Once the hiking was finished, we grabbed our gear from Mendoza and drove north to the Valle del Luna, and the desert country.
No comments:
Post a Comment