My Adventures and Travels

The last organized tour deal I did was for a half day of rafting and a half day of hiking. It was so much fun! It was very close to the area of my first hike. We got bused (vanned?) from Mendoza to the "base" area in the mountains. Then we got all outfitted down to the sexy moon boots for rafting. Just like rafting in CO, they use old school buses to get you to the start point. Then they give you the unnerving "what to do if you fall out" speech (I hate that part). Luckily there was a guide that spoke English so I was with him, along with 2 Aussies, a couple of Australians, and I think an American guy. Here we are "before:" There were enough rapids to make it a pretty exciting raft trip. Obviously, our guide (back) wasn't too worried, although we were paddling our little hearts out! And the "after" shot! Don't judge. I'd been rafting all morning and then wearing a hat. Of COURSE my hair is a disaster!  Af...

One cool thing about Mendoza is that even though it's in a valley, it has all these mountains around it. So, there are lots of tours and outdoor activities you can do.I looked around at the tourist agencies in town to find a hike in the nearby Andes mountains. Several had minimum people requirements or multiple activities. All I wanted was a ride to somewhere I could hike! But the closest "package" I could find included rappeling. So I figured, what the heck. Why not try it out.  Here is some of the hiking. It was easy, not too steep at all. Lots of times crossing back and forth over this little stream.  A little waterfall on the way up.  The guides went up ahead to set up the ropes and equipment for rappeling. We left all our stuff at the bottom, and scrambled up to the top (it was a bit more gradual on the left). Then...time to rappel! I was one of the last ones to go. It is kind of unnerving, backing off a cliff backwards! It was okay but I didn't lov...