A massive University town and adventures galore
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2005
1
7
126
Trip End
May 26, 2008
Cordoba,
Argentina
Sunday, October 23, 2005
I am in Cordoba and have just returned from a 2 day camping trip. I was reading the guidebook and it said something about a national park to see huge Condors and spectacular scenery. So why not! or as the locals say ´¿Por que no?´
So I did some research and found out about it. Then I found a Canadian girl complete with tent and the works! We packed our stuff and set off on a very random expedition. It turned out to be a hardcore hike - a little more challenging than we expected and something that we weren´t all that prepared for, but hey, it was good fun!
Condor National Park
The park was called ´Condorito National Park´ about 2 hours out of Cordoba, right in the middle of the ´Sierras´ (the massive mountain range, which provide the foothills for the Andes). We caught a bus and after about 2 hours riding into the middle of nowhere, it stops. With nothing more than rolling hills and a freezing cold wind. The driver tells us to get out and points us towards a big hill and says walk a few ks in this direction and you will be OK. So we start walking, down valleys and over huge rolling hills, spotting Guinea pigs, Road runners and even LLAMAS!!!!! Which I chased and got a few photos, but for some reason they didn't like me very much.
After a few hours, we found the Ranger station. They checked our food and tent and asked a whole stack of nerve racking questions before saying ´right, you pass, here is a shit house map, walk 3 to 4 hours in that direction, over this monstrous hill and then follow the creek. Be on the lookout for hungry Pumas and Snakes, there´s nothing to it, see you later´. So we hiked for about 3 hours, finding a few dodgy signs along the way, and eventually coming across the lookout. It was an amazing view, overlooking a huge valley where there were 30 CONDORS circling around and chilling on rocks close by. They are amazing creatures. Absolutely huge! They have a 3 metre wingspan, and are a relative of the Vulture, but much kooler
Llamas in Condorito National Park
! We watched them gliding majestically in the valley for a few hours, and when the sun started getting low, we found a brilliant place to setup camp.The view was unreal, overlooking the valley with a creek at the bottom, and condors circling overhead.
We had bottle of wine and were prepared for a great night. We sat, drank, ate and admired the view, until the mist came!
The mist came in slow but eventually grew very very thick. We setup the tent and then the mist took over. Insanely thick, we wouldn´t have been able to walk out of the park if we wanted to. Visibility was less than a few metres - it was worse than the snowstorms I experienced in Canada... and then it started getting cold, real cold!
We retired to our ´bolsa de dormir´ - read ´SLEEPING BAGS´ to get warm but it didn´t help. We tried to sleep but in the cold it was hopeless! We gave up and occupied ourselves with a night of cards and silly talk. At about 2am we thought we would check outside and see what the mist was doing...amazingly it was the clearest night I have ever seen!
More fog
! not a molecule of mist in sight! Nothing, just a crystal clear sky! We saw shooting stars every few minutes, solar flares, pacing satellites, aliens even came to visit! sitting with us, drinking wine and teaching us a few things about the universe! It was an amazing night! I have never seen so many stars. We were high enough, a little over 2000 metres, it was damn cold but wow, what an amazing night!!We watched the stars and chatted with the aliens . Then our faces froze and we took shelter in the tent and struggled through the coldest most uncomfortable night of our lives. I wouldn't have got more than a few minutes sleep - max!
We emerged from the tent in the morning to find the aliens had returned to outer space and the mist had come back - thick with avengence! I went for a piss and lost the tent and had to call out to get back to it, very dangerous.
We packed up and left the Condors behind, walking for a few hours back to the Ranger station through the mist, checking out and telling our stories of a cold night with our outer space visitors to the ranger who was highly amused and showed no sympathy.
We headed to the road where the bus dropped us off, hoping to hitch a ride home but the mist was so thick the cars couldn´t see us
Our Campsite - What a view!
. We had to hike back to the Ranger station where they radioed for the next bus to stop for us.Now I'm back in Cordoba in the rain, but at least i have a warm bed to retire to! I might stay here for a few days then head to Tucuman then Salta, and finally south to Mendoza!! Hopefully learning a little more Spanish, but most likely drinking loads of wine and partying like a madman!
Thats all the news from Cordoba, i´ts a new adventure every day! Hope its all good for everyone back home, keep on reading for some more crazy adventures...
