"Crash course" in Spanish
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2008
1
27
50
Trip End
Dec 16, 2008
San Carlos de Bariloche,
Argentina
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Our Crew
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.
Unloading the raft
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.
A horse hauled our raft back to the van
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).
Baby lambs were hanging out by our exit point
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!
My hero - Victoria Secret designer
The river was turquoise with waterfalls
Going into a hole
The girl on the left is my hero - she's a designer for Victoria Secret. God bless her!
The safety kayak
Coming out of a wave
Kayaking looks like so much fun!
coming out of a hole
This boat lost a couple
Pulling them back into the boat
We got completely drenched
We actually crossed into Chile for a bit
Paddle!
