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By : Mary CurryWe arrived into Buenos Aires exhausted after our red-eye flight and thankful for the waiting transfer. Headed to the hotel for a nap and then took an evening walk around the town.
Took the train to the northern suburbs and hopped on lightweight bamboo bikes to explore the residential neighborhoods. Immaculately kept yards and well painted homes contrasted sharply with litter strewn sidewalks and poorly kept roads. The traffic and pollution was relatively constant until we reached Tigre. This lovely suburb boasts well maintained British colonial architecture from a time when the Brits helped to develop this port.
We boarded a double kayak and paddled the smaller canals of the delta through muddy brown water. The shores were lovely with litterfree yards, dense plant life, and well kept weekend homes. We parked on a sandy beach and walked to an outdoor cafe serving traditional grilled beef and chorizo sausage
This evening we transferred to the dinner tango show. I was worried about this being terribly touristy. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was excellent with a choice of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. I only had one glass of sumptuous Mendoza wine but left quite tipsy (the glass never seemed to get less than half full all night!). The show was incredible with a top notch orchestra nestled on the stage above the exquisite dances.
Spent most of today in the airport. Aerolineas was running delayed (a common occurrence we learned) so we waited ~ 4 hours for our flight. Arrived exhausted for a quick dinner of hamburgers and pasta at an English style pub. Later that evening, we headed back out to try the "best" ice cream in Argentina at a gelato shop before heading to bed.
We met the group and set off for the full day drive to camp. We stopped in Esquel for lunch and several travelers ordered the largest hamburgers I have ever seen. At the border, the Argentinians were jokesters, teasing us playfully before letting us pass relatively quickly. We walked 100 yards into Chile where they carefully checked our bags for vegetation and confiscated someone's almonds.
We arrived at camp at six for snacks, drinks and introductions. Had a quick dip in the hot tub and my first of many glasses of Chilean wine before a late dinner.
The camp is lovely with comfy beds and plentiful blankets. We each have a private heavy duty canvas tent with a cabin built around it for added privacy and weather resistance. Each has a gorgeous view of the river, screened zipper windows and even a bathrobe to wear to the hot tub. Bathrooms and showers are found in separate buildings scattered throughout the property and have hot water and electricity. Everything is well maintained and the entire staff goes out of their way to help.
Wow! Phenomenal day of hiking, whitewater rafting, and kayaking! Woke late because we missed our wake up call and slept for a heavenly 11 hours. Raced to grab a quick breakfast to go, passing the hikers enroute.
We joined them for a lovely walk to a viewpoint over the Terminator, Class V rapid that we would be taking on later in the week. Returned for coffee cake and a safety briefing. Tried on gear- wet suit, splash jacket, helmet, and life jacket and headed straight for the river.
Met the rapids of Entrada, Pillow, Mumbasa, Wildcat and Tiburon. Soft and fluffy "Pillow" was anything but as we all piled into the raft to avoid falling out. It was amazing!
We returned at 5 and loaded the kayaks in the van for our first of two kayaking clinics. We had a lesson from world-renowned Alex Nicks and played water polo in the kayaks to take our minds off the individual strokes. Only one person flipped on their own, but we all got a chance to practice. Ryan was really shaken by his attempt as he struggled to get out of the kayak skirt, but it was really great for all of us to have the chance to practice with so many people waiting to rescue us!
In the evening, we headed to the bar for a glass of wine and quesadillas in the hot tub before dinner. It doesn't get much better!
Today we rafted the same "Bridge to Bridge" segment of the Fu from yesterday with the addition of two class V rapids at the bottom, Mas or Menos and Casa de Piedras. Apparently we took the hard route through Casa de Piedras as we didn't back paddle efficiently enough to take the line our guide had planned.
I've learned that Class V rapids are not always more exciting than the Class IV. They are more technical, meaning that there is often only one good way to get through the Class V as you carefully pick your way around obstacles so you can't relax and enjoy the ride as you can on the easier rapids.
We did have an extra treat today as Fu Fest was hosting a kayak rodeo at Mundaca so we pulled our raft over for a front river view of the action. Our kayak teacher, Alex, is a European champion and showed his skill with the best time and most tricks.
After the whitewater, we stopped for a picnic lunch and an afternoon "booze cruise" or kayak clinic Part II down the calm stretch of the Fu. I opted for kayaking (when else could I say that I kayaked the Fu?) and enjoyed the lazy float down the river. Alex gave us tips about entering and exiting the current and helped us further improve our basic strokes.
We took a break from rafting today to go horseback riding. The trail wound through the woods under low hanging branches, through mud, up rocky hillsides and along a steep drop off beside the river 100 ft below. It was definitely the most challenging riding that I've done! Fortunately, the horses were sure-footed, though they still stumbled on the steepest bits.
My horse, Blackjack, fit my personality well. He loved to be near the front, but not in the lead. He was happy to follow the most experience horse to find the best route.
After a couple of hours of riding and a short hike, we arrived at our lunch spot, directly across the river from our camp. We felt like we had traveled into the middle of nowhere so we were stunned to see our welcome camp just across the way. After lunch, we rode the horses across a hanging bridge and all the way back to the camp (we had driven to pick them up at the stables so this was a pleasant surprise) so that they would be ready for the other half of our group to take them tomorrow.
Today was great fun! We took a short ride to the Rio Azul, a small, crystal clear, calm river that feeds into the Fu. We boarded 1 or 2 person inflatable kayaks that were MUCH more comfortable than the hard shells (no need to squeeze your knees under and rotate your hips out). They were also easier to get out of quickly without a heavy skirt to pull off so they felt more secure.
Joe, the other lead paddler on our raft (who could easily double for Steve Martin by the way), was the first to fall out only 20 feet from the put in. We all joked that it was going to be a tough day for him!
I was next as I played pinball between the shallow rocks, bouncing from one to the next (thanks Joe for giving me that initial bump! :) and ultimately getting hung up on a large boulder where I slid out in slow motion. By this time, we were on the Fu itself, but it was not terribly deep or fast so I was able to stand up (big no no) and hold my raft as I waited for help.
The duckies were great and we all enjoyed the bouncy class II-III rapids of the upper Fu. Safety kayakers were always nearby if anyone fell out and we rode the Fu all the way down to the top of the Terminator V where we pulled out (before going through!!).
After returning to the camp, several of us decided to head out on mountain bikes. The staff is amazing and accommodating to just about anything we want to do. They loaded up the bikes and transported us up to a country trail that was a mix of dirt road and muddy mountain trail with lots of hills. My first bike kept slipping out of gear so Stan, our guide, offered me his bike.
Back in camp, we had a traditional Argentinian BBQ called parilla and some more great wine.
Today is the day that we have been preparing for, a series of Class V rapids known as Inferno Canyon. We started out on the Rio Esplanon near at the headwaters of the Fu to get warmed up and practice our commands before starting the more treacherous section.
The Class Vs were not hugely exciting as they were again quite technical so the best water actually came later on the bouncy Class IV waves. After we made it through Inferno Canyon without a single person falling out of any raft (though they had lots of safety catamarans and kayakers waiting just in case), we had a floating lunch on a calm segment between rapids.
We stopped to portage two rapids that are not commercially raftable, Zeta and Throne Room (both Class V+). Alex showed off his skill by kayaking Zeta when no one else dared. We sent the rafts through Zeta unmanned as we watched from the boulders above and had the chance (if we wanted) to jump off the 25 foot high boulders into the deep water after the rapids to reboard our rafts. At Throne Room, the guides were able to take the rafts through and a few other kayakers opted to try it as well.
After Throne Room, we came to the most fun section of the river, the White Mile. This Class III-IV section offers nearly nonstop bouncy rapids with huge wave trains that kept us soaked. It was the best part of the river!
Back at camp, we had a much-needed soak in the hot tub and snacks. Cookie, our chef, outdid himself with a collection of appetizers including tasty cheeses/ crackers, pizza, and barley rice soup. I started into my daily dose of red wine and snacked heavily since dinner is standardly at 9pm in Chile (a delicious buffet of different curries!).
Started the day with a birthday present for my husband in a plastic bag as I forgot to bring wrapping paper. Breakfast was custom made omelets. They were delicious, but I lost my appetite midway through when they carried in a whole pig that was going to be roasted that evening. They are also preparing a lamb, a Chilean tradition for celebrations, but a bit too close to the source for me, a former vegetarian.
Today was Summit Day, the chance to raft the Class V+ Terminator, the toughest rapid on the river that is commercially raftable. It turned out to be no problem!
Today was also our first semi- rainy day. The guides were right, however, when they said that the river is the best place to be in the rain. With all our gear, the rain just blended in with the tremendous waves so we hardly noticed.
We stopped for a BBQ lunch at the camp. Ryan had decided, very hesitantly, that he might consider joining us for the afternoon segment that covered the Bridge to Bridge segment of the first two days and the two Class V rapids at the end. He was terrified as his only other whitewater experience had been scary and painful with his tendinitis, but he wanted to give it a try.
We pushed off and Gretchen wanted to try out the front so I lost my lead position for the first time that week and sat across from Ryan in the back. It was actually a lot of fun seeing the river from a different perspective.
More importantly, Ryan had a blast! From the first wave train, he was loving it!! Thanks to the rain, the rapids were even bigger than before and he thrived on the adventure. We even had the chance to raft the huge hole at Mundaca (where they had done the kayak rodeo), thanks to our guide, Diego. He had promised us a chance at this raft eating monster wave on our first day and we were the only raft that got to run it as I reminded him of his promise. Though it is an easy (and safe) place to flip, our raft stayed intact. In fact, we didn't have anyone fall out of a raft all week.
We finished the rafting with the technical Casa de Piedras (our best run through this one yet) and Ryan (who doesn't drink), even took them up on their offer of a beer at take out. He was pumped from an amazing river experience, made all the sweeter on his birthday!
Diego, our raft guide, is also a winemaker in the off season and he gave us an incredible wine tasting this evening with over 15 different reds to try.
We awoke early for the 8am transfer out of camp. Cookie made us cinnamon rolls and other breakfast fixings as well as sandwiches for the road. We said our good-byes with plenty of hugs and hit the road.
The border crossing was quicker in this direction and we arrived in Bariloche 3 hours before our scheduled departure. Of course, this flight was also late (2 hours). As camp owner, Lorenzo, says, "Aerolineas Argentina puts the 'adventure' in adventure travel." We finally arrived into Buenos Aires at 11pm and went straight to bed.
Our airline luck changed this morning. After a rough flight last night on a plane that should have been retired, we had a fantastic, brand new plane this morning and the flight was ON TIME. As we approached Iguazu, our pilot announced that he had a request to fly over the falls so he turned off the seat belt sign and let us all crowd over to the ride side (is that safe?) to get a gorgeous, panoramic view of the falls... Absolutely stunning!!!
Jungle Lodge, our hotel, is a paradise. Rooms are spacious with air conditioning, a full kitchen, dining table, and private balcony. The setting is lovely as we are backed up against a creek running through the trees behind the lodge. We can hear the creek as we are lying in bed. The lodge has a bar with a pool table, ping pong, foosball and card table set just above a spacious pool. The staff is wonderful and offered to deliver breakfast to our room.
After a short nap, we were picked up for our Iguazu Forest adventure. We drove through Guarani villages to the jungle where we went zip lining and rappelling down a small waterfall. There were too many of us to see much wildlife so it was really more of an adventure tour. The zipline has 3 cables starting at 20 meters and working gradually down from there. The waterfall is 15 meters high and they took all the standard precautions. Both activities were fun, but not especially unique.
We returned hungry and asked the hotel for recommendations. They suggested Aqua where we had a fantastic meal (see pictures). Ryan had the Pacu, a local river fish that is really fatty and melts in your mouth. I had the salmon. For appetizer, I ordered an Aqua Caprese salad that was phenomenal- mozzarella cheese covered in a thin batter with almond slices and fried in balls that was served atop 4 large sundried tomatoes sititng in a base of pesto and olive oil. Perfecto!
Dessert was also exquisite. Again, I went with the special and tried the Aqua Chocolate - white chocolate mousse atop a thin chocolate cake that is drizzled with blackberry compote- YUM! Add some great Argentinian Malbec and dinner was a highlight of the day!
Wow! The park is well run and the falls are positively stunning! As an added plus, the sunshine creates dazzling rainbows across the park. I have a lovely photo of a rainbow spanning from the Brazil side to Argentina. If only all nations' borders could be connected with such beauty!
We took the train to Devil's Throat to see the impressive ring of falls on both sides of the border. Then we walked the Upper Circuit to San Martin, Bossetti, and Dos Hermanas. We had a plentiful buffet lunch (expensive but delicious) and then hopped on 4WD vehicles through the forest to waiting boats.
The motorboat traveled under both San Martin and Three Musketeers Falls, getting pummeled by the waves and drenched in spray. I was surprised by the force of the water as you can't see anything when you are that close to the falls.
After the boat ride, Maria, our private guide, met us to take us along the "Lower Circuit". We ventured along a little-used path and were able to take lovely photos without the mass of tourists that clogged many of the other walkways.
This evening we headed back to the hotel exhausted but thrilled by our adventures. We ordered pizza, empanadas, and ice cream (the heladeria delivers) for a peaceful end to a wonderful trip!
