Cliff and I took a 2 hour horseback ride yesterday. The idea of a horse carrying us across the beautiful landscape — and us NOT hiking through it — sounded like a great idea. But what did we know? Trotting is not for the faint-hearted or butted. I believe I ended the ride about an inch shorter than I started. Having access to areas that you would otherwise not see was a treat. Our horses sauntered through herds of guanaco. Along the trails we saw evidence of “the circle of life” — bony remains of a puma’s dinner. Mostly guanaco, but one fox still identifiable by its pointed nose an ears. Perhaps I should have paid more attention when our guide Danielle asked if we were afraid of heights. No, we replied — not imagining the very narrow path along a steep bluff leading to a river bed. The horses were thirsty and we were relieved to be on flat ground.
After dismounting (thankfully), we hiked through an area called, appropriately, Guanaco Hill. We were able to nearly walk right up to one of these sweet looking camel-cousins. They merely scooted out of touching distance as we approached and are quite obviously used to people — unlike guanaco we saw (later in the week) in Sierra Baguales that did their sentry calls to let their herd know that danger (us?!) was in the area.
Guanacos slowly edging away.
Lunch was staged at a postcard ready site overlooking appropriately named Lago Azul with the park’s main peak and the Cleopatra’s needles formation in the background. Yellow jackets joined us and I managed to get stung on my wrist. Ouch. (Fully recovered in no time.)
Woke this morning to rain. Our immediate thought: Do you think they’ll cancel today’s trek!? We were both hoping the answer would be yes:-) It stopped raining as we departed our villa for the main lodge and breakfast, so the trek is ON!