Horses
Trip Start
Sep 28, 2005
1
48
103
Trip End
Jun 24, 2006
El Chalten,
Argentina
Monday, January 23, 2006
Miles travelled: 43703
Today we wanted to see a viewpoint of Fitzroy Peak, but the trail is 5 hours each way, so we booked with a group to ride horses up the trail. The pace was quite fast, with frequent trotting, and both of us were finding it quite uncomfortable. But all was going ok until the guide led the group down a steep embankment to cross a river. Unfortunately, Nathan's saddle hadn't been properly tightened and so it slid forward, the horse stopped short, which flipped Nathan over into the river in an unexpected and definitely ungraceful dismount. Fortunately, the water was only about a foot deep. Unfortunately, the riverbed was filled with rocks. Fortunately, the rocks were smooth and so thankfully, no injury; but the camera got soaked and we're still not sure if it's going to continue to work properly. The most disturbing thing about the incident was the response of the guide. After returning to see what had happened, he never asked "Are you all right?" The only two questions were "What do you want to do now?" and "Did you give us your payment voucher?" Needless to say, we were done with the horses and guides at that point -- we walked back to scenic viewpoints (by that time the camera was sort-of working) and in town went immediately to complain to the tour company. Wow, we had quite a day today.
Comments
Horses!
Well that was definitely a day I will remember! That was my first experience of horse-riding in South America, and very nearly my last, too - you guys weere definitely not the only ones finding our guide...somewhat less than interested in his tour group! Great to hear how things are going, enjoy the rest of your travels!
Gx