The morning was full of lots of hugs, exchanges of phone numbers and goodbyes. The gang was heading back to Bariloche and then off to return to real life. I had some free time on my hands, so I decided to stay in the valley and camp with my friends from the states. It's not very often that you fortuitously stumble upon good folks from your past in the middle of Patagonia.
I took the bus into town with the rest of the group, did some grocery shopping and waited for Edgar to scoop me up and take me back to Cara del Indio, a campsite where the kayaking world congregates. I was to be an eddy-flower for the next few days. Lorenzo kindly gave me an incredible camping hook-up. I hadn't planned on needing my own shelter, so I opted out of bringing a tent. Without Lorenzo, camping for 2 nights would've been very interesting.
I set up my Eureka-I'm used to traveling light and using a one or two man tent, so when I unrolled the body and realized there was room to comfortably sleep a small family, I was more than excited. I'm certainly not accustomed to being able to stand up in my tent. As I pounded the tent stakes into the ground, I looked up at the clouds rolling in and realized that for the first time in a week, the sky was about to dump buckets of rain. Just my luck-my first night out of the swanky Bio Bio "tents" and I encounter an infamous Futa Valley rainstorm.
After I triple-checked my rain fly, my buds and I loaded into Claudio's truck and headed down the road to yet another asado. Although my stomach could not fathom the thought of accepting any more lamb or beef, my olfactory senses were on a different page. The smell of roasting meat is something that this vegetarian still hasn't gotten over.
The asado was hosted on the grounds of another rafting company in the valley. It was nice to see all of the familiar faces of the Bio Bio crew. Spirits were high and there was a constant stream of giant plates of meat shoved in front of my face. About 3 hours into the festivities, the sky opened up. Everyone embraced the rain and put their rain jackets to the test. It was a really beautiful scene-people celebrating their love of an incredible river.
Finally, after all of our clothes were sufficiently soaked, we headed back to our camp to get into our dry shelter. Now, more than ever, I was thankful for my loaner tent. A rainy, dreary day would be all the worse without a shelter or a sleeping bag.
The pitter-patter of giant raindrops drowned out the sound of the raging river as I drifted into dreams.
Adventure Life has been an extraordinary travel resource for us over the years and today was no exception. Our River Cruise booking was handled by Jess (who has been our personal trip planner for several years) the same day as our inquiry. Suggestions were given for cabin choice and pre-trip options (that were not shown on the cruise line's website) like airport transfers and prepaid gratuities. Trip insurance recommendations followed and we were assigned a travel co-ordinator till the end of the tour. All we have to do is show up! Great service from friendly folks.
APtravelwell
1 day ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
1 day ago
Although there was a lot of paper work, I received help and guidance when I needed it.
Donna Kirby
2 days ago
Our travel was flawless! The rider pickup (airport, hotel, ship) was seamless. Jane's recommendation for Emerald Cruise Sakara was everything I wanted but the experience was soooo much more. Adventure Life took care of each and every detail and this was the easiest of all my travels.
Anne Petty
3 days ago
Follow up was effective any questions were answered in a timely manner