This account will simply try to convey, from the point of view of one of its protagonists, some of what a group of people experienced while sharing an unforgettable horseback ride through the Andes.
When Celeste and I decided to take this trip, it was really just an alternative to our original plan, climbing Lanín Volcano. Convinced it would be a nice experience but less demanding than Lanín, we pictured a ride through beautiful mountain scenery. Expectations? Have a good time, get in touch with nature like we'd done before…
As the day to leave for Mendoza got closer, the anxiety turned into uncertainty about how everything would turn out, how we'd manage to go a whole week with no way to reach our little daughters, and 2000 km away!!!…Would it be really expensive to rent a satellite phone? Cele asks…I'll bring my cellphone and who knows, maybe up in the mountains we'll catch a signal and can call them, I'd say. But deep down we both knew that wasn't going to happen.
With the packing list neatly printed out so we could check it off and leave nothing to chance, we started packing our bags…Uh, hang on, I don't have any dry-fit shirts… 2 long-sleeve shirts? nah, I'll just bring long-sleeve tees…Wait, how does this work? who carries the backpacks?...personal stuff goes in the saddlebags…but there's no way in hell all this fits in saddlebags!!! Gaucho pants? I've got a pair…I need to go buy a pair of long pants, cargo pants should be fine.
We head to Retiro bus terminal, arriving almost an hour early….must be nerves? better safe than sorry. Nice bus, comfortable, mate, bingo, dinner (with a hot dish and wine!!!) ….we arrive in San Rafael, and while we wait for the bus that will take us to Malargüe, the group starts to come together, we meet Fer, the guide from Buenos Aires, a German lady who seems nice (Sabine), a big guy with an honest face (Diego), an attractive girl with high hopes (Andrea), and a few other girls who make up the multi-adventure group led by Esteban.
We reach Malargüe, get off in front of the plaza, the group is scattered, we walk up to a bar where two girls are sitting comfortably enjoying an ice-cold Stella. Are you guys going on the ride too?... Yes…so are we!!! But it doesn't leave for a while yet, right? …the meeting time was one o'clock and it's already one…Oh, how embarrassing! and here we are drinking beer, come on, bring some glasses (I don't think I need to say who those girls were…but fine, for the slow ones: Fabi and Inés). Three more join us who came with their own car (the Córdoba crew, Cecilia, Fernando and Marcela). Are they going to the ride?, to the multi-adventure trip??? there are a lot of people milling around, and now what? where do we go? A brand-new van pulls up and we start loading the packs, and… a suitcase??? yeah, Inés's…
We stop at the gas station, one of the passengers gets a call on Marcelo's phone (the AEX horseback guide, who lives in Malargue and seems like a nice, easygoing guy), Andrea's dad asks him to look out for her “especially”. Are we starting with the phone calls already? come on…I hope my mom doesn't get any ideas and call! I don't want to look like a mama's boy! I told her only for emergencies… We say goodbye to the multi-adventure group, hit the road, and now what? where the hell are we going?...this is dragging on, I want to get on the horse already!!! Nope, still a ways to go…
We're at Marcelo's house, we eat some delicious empanadas, they hand us our saddlebags….and what goes in here?... everything you need to bring…everything??? but there's no way anything fits in here!!!...guess the creams and makeup are staying behind…Everyone's got long pants, right? no jeans, no pants with a zip fly, jackets, fleece??? I've only got jeans (says Gaby)…didn't they tell you what to bring?..no, nobody told me anything…they told us, we got a list but it didn't say anything about the pants not having a zip fly. (I look at Gaby and think “where did this girl think she was going? the mall?...this isn't looking good for her”). We finally load up the van again (now with the saddlebags) and they make us leave our backpacks behind, along with our phones (I'm not even going to get a chance to try calling the girls!!!) and our watches too (talk about overkill!!!). Marcelo introduces us to other members of the expedition but these aren't randoms like us, they're his relatives (Deby, his wife, Marcelo P., Silvana and her 3 kids? aren't they a bit young for a ride like this?)
Now we're really off….no wait, what's that noise coming closer? and look how the trees are whipping around!!! Hail!!! everyone back inside, now!!! ohhh, what a lovely way to start…if this hail catches us up in the mountains, what do we do???
We get in the van. We're headed to Las Loicas, Route 40….will we ever get there!!! Finally we get out, drink some mate, looks like we're about to set off but…
Fer clarifies that what we're about to do is “a high-mountain expedition on horseback…. a high-mountain expedition on horseback… a high-mountain expedition on horseback” and that there could be wind, rain, snow, cold, etc…basically, a nightmare! I hope he's wrong. Marcelo A. realizes that barely 30% of the supposed
riders actually know how to ride, though he seems pretty confident anyway. Everyone's being given a horse, when's it my turn??? Finally, Eugenio asks me “does this one look good to you?” and what am I supposed to say…it was the last one left!
The expedition kicks off, all calm, each little horse trotting down its little trail…we climb the first little hill, everything seems under control, but…”my horse is doing weird things, tossing its head, grunting, is that normal? I think I got screwed, and yeah, they probably weren't expecting so many people and scrounged up this horse as a last resort….”
We're up on the hill but, what's happening??? my horse is lying down …with me still on it!!!
I was promised a horse, not a camel… Everyone laughs (and here I was hoping to stay under the radar…). Turns out the problem was that the saddle had been cinched too tight...
We unsaddle, and they show us how to use each horse's saddle and blankets to make a comfortable bed…out in the open, under the stars…but, aren't we sleeping in tents??? I thought sleeping out in the open was for people with proper “bivouac” gear.
We have a delicious, unexpected asado, and wine!!! Beautiful stars…and Fabi telling us about her stay with Inés in Malargüe, visits to the wine shop, some fuzzy stories, etc, etc.
I'm not sure if it was that same day, the next one, or the one after that when I notice how much alike Marcelo P. and Silvana look, are they siblings? Ahhhh, now I get it, Tommy is Marcelo's son, and Antonella and Sofía are Silvana's…(actually, that's a lie, I think it took me a few more days to figure out how they were all related).
We survive the “bivouac”, have breakfast, and one worry hits me: how do I get on the horse?
problem 1: I'm short, problem 2: the horse is huge, problem 1+2: the stirrups are way up there. I look at my fellow riders and realize my problems aren't exactly original. Solution: a big rock that makes mounting up a lot easier.
A beautiful ride toward the lost city, incredible, unimaginable landscapes, and my little horse, whom I named “Pehuenche”, who responds wonderfully. The first trails run along a drop-off. We stop for lunch and get a new surprise, “choripán”.
Somehow we reach a spot with wide-open scenery where Marcelo challenges us: who's up for going down the 45° sand slope? and even though I already trusted Marcelo by then I think to myself: we're doing fine, this is only my second time on a horse, why tempt fate, I have two daughters, Cele asks: shall we go?... no, better safe than sorry…. Come on…alright, let the horse decide…and luckily, it stuck to the supposedly safe path…Meanwhile, Silvana was begging her horse to keep walking…but it was dead set on making her suffer…
Nobody got hurt and we ride on to camp…a corral ringed with stones and covered in dung. We arrive that day a bit worn out after seven hours in the saddle and a little cold…Tent?... no, honey, it's beautiful out, perfect for enjoying the stars…Milanesas for dinner, all huddled together close to the fire, wine
(again!!!) and a spirit strong enough to keep anyone from wanting to sleep…Andrea revealing her intentions, Fabi, Inés and Marcelo P. trying to pass on their “life experience” to her, Cele, Gaby and I just watching. Héctor and Eugenio (the local guides) putting up with other people's foolishness…but man, that hot drink made with gin and something else was so good…
Another starry night of open-air survival…Tomorrow I'm asking for a tent (we're at 2000 m, if we keep climbing we're going to freeze to death!!!).
We get ready for day 3, “bring water but don't fill up from the stream, there's livestock contaminating it, drink from the spring instead”…for f...'s sake! wish someone had mentioned that earlier, I already drank a liter of stream water. Another rock helps us up onto the horse, but this time without asking anyone for a hand.
It's a special day, today we're reaching the Argentina-Chile border marker, at roughly 3000 m. We get there without any trouble and, miraculously, manage to line up horse by horse for the Argentina Extrema photo, 24 riders neatly lined up with their hands raised, and one or two daredevils standing up on their horses (Jorge, “the loner”).
The lunch break let the girls take their first bath (in a waterfall), under the watchful eye, and camera, of Jorge, who, from up above, according to him, was only filming the scenery…
Cele, Mariela, Gaby and I think Fabi became the clean ones of the group (there were probably more but my limited memory won't let me recall them all; what I am sure of is that up to that point I hadn't seen the “need” to bathe).
The day ended in a beautiful spot with a waterfall in the background and some delicious cappelletini, which we devoured. That night we shared camp with 3 border police officers who, the next day, had to go check the marker and make sure our Chilean friends hadn't nudged the border to grow their “trans-Andean homeland” a bit.
Tent? nope, another beautiful night under the same stars as the previous days…
A new day begins. That day, oddly enough, we got the whole morning off to recharge, go to the waterfall, take a bath (was that really necessary???).
We head out with Fer for a mini-trek that ended up turning into a micro- trek since we barely made it to the waterfall. The double waterfall turned out to be not only very beautiful scenery but also doubled as a shower and hydromassage…cold, very cold..
Let me run through who actually washed with soap and shampoo: both Pablos, Diego, Fer, Tommy, Inés, Fabi, Cele and Gaby. Yes, yes, Silvana and Andrea joined in later, and separately Marcelo P, Anto and Sofi and according to the Córdoba crew, they also bathed but in the stream next to camp (did anyone actually see them?). Just as we
were about to head back, Fabi got worried because she didn't have a dry pair of pants to get back to camp in…I'm not walking past the border police and the guides in a thong, that would be way out of line…so she put on wet leggings instead…To our surprise (or maybe not so much), little Andrea showed up at lunch in a thong bikini, strutting around in front of
everyone like it was nothing (border police included, who knows how long it had been since they'd seen anything like it).
Rice with tuna, sorry, mackerel, which I thought was great, though apparently someone didn't care for it (Fabi).
We get ready for a short ride in the afternoon. I get on the horse with no help at all (yep, straight from the ground), I'm a seasoned rider now, nothing's stopping me…But that's when Marcelo tells us where we're headed, a hill with an extremely steep face, but don't worry, it's a very safe path…Well, if he says so, must be true.
We climb, and climb, and climb, and the waterfall gets smaller and smaller, breathtaking scenery, for those of us actually looking at it. Not so much for Silvana for example, who was just praying for that vertigo-inducing torture to end…And we keep climbing, more and more loose rocks with every step, it keeps getting steeper…I get goosebumps when it hits me where we actually are, the scenery is overwhelming, the waterfall is a tiny dot way down below, the mountains open up before us….the little trail gets trickier, we zigzag our way up, I think about how crazy Marcelo must be to bring such a big group of inexperienced riders through such complicated terrain, but I'm grateful for his craziness and we keep going… we're leaning hard into the slope, but man, how beautiful is this!!! good thing the horses know where to put their feet…but why are we stopping in such a steep spot?..oh no, Inés's horse has no better idea than to start taking a dump mid-climb, and won't move…
Despite it all we make it to the top of….what was it called again?
After that climb I tell myself “this is incredible, I never imagined it could be like this, nothing's going to surprise me anymore”
After riding for a while over flatter ground, we reach a sandy spot, apparently very “cozy”, where we make camp. In the late afternoon while we're gathered waiting for dinner, I get the game stone from my “friend” Fabi that Fer had started, from what I'd heard, whoever was holding the stone on the last day of the ride would have to buy a round of beer for everyone at the refuge. I quickly ask Gaby if she wanted a plate…Yes, thanks….here, take the stone (phew, dodged that one). That night I ate three plates of lentils that were delicious….but which came back to bite me before dawn. Once again, we sleep under a blanket of stars…too bad that in the middle of the night I had to give up the “comfort” of the sleeping bag to go to the bathroom…what do I do? go out? but it's so cold, better hold it…Ohhh, no, no, I won't make it till morning, better go now….so cold…I can't see a thing, my flashlight fell apart…I hurry…what an idiot, almost fell into the stream…this spot should do…and what's that noise? footsteps, is that the horses?...And in the morning, frost on the
sleeping bags, it wasn't dew, this time there'd been a proper frost, and I hadn't slept a wink all night…and on top of that, my legs are all chapped…
Oh, I almost forgot, during the night a puma had paid us a visit and turned the things in the kitchen upside down…
I'm tired, slept badly and Marcelo announces a long day in the saddle with a big descent in the afternoon…but I get on the horse by myself again!!! (yes, okay, okay, I'll stop mentioning it)
A beautiful day, like all the ones before, we climb, we descend, we cross streams, it's practically routine by now…We stop for lunch next to a stream with mild-temperature water, dunk our feet in, cool off, and eat some tasty tacos made by Deby and Marce, plus canned peaches!. Tommy's horse lies down again like it's done so many times before…but without him on it (mine's the only one that pulled that stunt).
Marce tells us that in a bit we'll be doing a very steep descent, about 45 minutes long, but not to worry, the path is safe (there he goes again, do I still believe him??? at this point, after everything we've been through…). We keep riding through beautiful places, strange landscapes that look like something out of another planet. The horses (and their riders) are trotting more often now, some are even galloping. Trotting's fun, but wait, wait, my legs are all chapped…alright, fine…let's gallop instead, hurts less that way…uh oh, did my saddle come loose? my sleeping bag's slid all the way to one side…I'm going to have to ask someone to fix it…Marce!
The landscape opens up again and we reach the spot where we'll descend, what a lovely place!!! look, look, there's a road way down there (like a thousand meters below)…look, a car!!! Just like at the border marker, we line up horse next to horse for another photo (they should really pay us for this one, they're bound to use it to promote the ride…24 riders….
The famous “45 marcelo minutes” of descent begin…steep, huh?.. don't worry that the horse knows where to step….goddammit! mine stumbled…if one falls I feel like they'll all go down…Silvana suffering again, I can't make out what she's saying…This is like one very long roller coaster…And Cele? didn't she have vertigo? What a champ, she handled it so well, didn't say a word. But that stress, that adrenaline, it's worth it, we're part of the incredible mountain landscape, I go back to thinking how crazy Marcelo is, bringing us out here….what a legend, thanks Marce!!! But how long have we been going down now? two hours? wasn't it supposed to be 45 minutes?
We're reaching the flats, and pass by a lagoon. What a great photo this is going to be…click…look Cele, it came out amazing…., everyone starts galloping…mine too…I almost go flying and lose the reins…and the camera. Here I was wanting to show off how good the photos came out, well, screw it...no more photos from me…
We gallop alongside the lagoon with Cerro Campanario in the background…what a way to enjoy this…but I was tired that morning, hadn't slept well. Not this time though, today I'm sleeping in a tent, no arguments.
We reach a beautiful valley, perfect for camping (with a tent, mind you!). Same story again…honey, it's so nice out for sleeping outdoors…I want a tent, I'm exhausted, didn't sleep at all last night. Finally, for the first time, they set up my tent…awesome!!!...though, honestly, it's not even cold, was it really necessary?
Héctor and Eugenio start getting a young goat ready, a goat? where did they even get a goat?...they went and got one today and butchered it…I'm dead tired, I'd love to head to “my tent” …but no, let's enjoy the Córdoba crew's stories, while we wait for dinner. Excellent dinner, wine again!!! Pablo reveals what he's passionate about (see chapter IV) and leaves us stunned, speechless and a little embarrassed on his behalf when he tells us about his “wild antics” working at Garbarino (the Pompeya branch, just so you know, better steer clear). And Mariela who just wishes the ground would swallow her whole…
I sleep really well but miss out on the stars, though they're the same ones from yesterday, the day before, etc, etc, I know them all by now anyway…
We do a photo session before the last few hours of the ride, in a few hours we'll be saying goodbye to our horses and also to Eugenio and Héctor who helped us so much (and put up with us) throughout the ride. Fabi says to me “you're the photographer, take a picture of us?” and, ever the honest one, I tell her “no, the photographer is Cele” and I'd later find out that thanks to that answer I'd dodged the stone
(it was the last day of the ride).
And off we go, already feeling a bit melancholic about parting ways with our little horses soon, headed for the foot of Cerro Campanario where the refuge and the hot springs awaited.
But along the way we got our chance to gallop across a wide meadow. Raise your hand if you're going to gallop!.... the fears were long gone by now….Me!!! there were a lot of us but not everyone…once we started galloping those still holding back couldn't resist and joined in…jackets, cameras and a few other things went flying, saddlebags flipped over or broke apart but...what a rush!!! I want to do it again…and Marce gives us another chance…
Now yes, we're almost there, the horses hurry along because they know it's the way to home…and for us it seems that way too…but I don't want to go back! We pass a car on the road, which feels incredibly strange by now. We approach the campground where the hot springs are and Pablo asks me “that's your neighborhood, right?” (as he points to a sign reading “something-or-other…Flores”) and I say “Yes” but think “what a dumb question” and little Pablito (just yards from the finish) hands me the stone…Luckily, Gaby was riding right beside me (I'd passed her the stone earlier) and, quick as can be, I ask her “Did you gallop, Gaby?” and Gaby with a beautiful smile
says “Yesss!!!” and, feeling terribly guilty, I hand her the stone… Just as we're about to arrive I see Gaby talking to Sabine…and passing her the stone. Once inside Sabine tries in vain to hand the stone to Fer…Sabine has lost…and we've secured ourselves a round of beers!!!. But, what happened? we did drink beer, yes, but the round Sabine was supposed to buy, where is it???
We ate noodles at the refuge, though we felt a little cooped up, we missed the open air…. We spent the day at the hot springs doing absolutely nothing. I didn't get in because they were suuuuper hot, but I did get into the river, which was suuuper cold, where, besides washing up, Fer and I did a bit of “floating” through the rapids (let's call it that). Up to that point I had the sense it was a bit of a wasted day but afterward, I have to admit, it turned out to be another day for new experiences and getting to know each other a little better…
We did a mini-trek to see fossils, and it was no small thing, we had an actual Geologist with us!!! Yes, Fer guided us and the other Fer (the one from Córdoba) fed us with his knowledge.
And that night…Lamb with french fries!!!...We ate so well! and not just that day, the whole ride through.
Up to that point Marcelo was “proud” of the group, saying it was “the best group he'd ever had, truly exceptional”, an opinion he could no longer hold a few hours later…
At dinner we “obviously” drank wine…and more wine…Late into the night the refuge keeper told us he had to turn off the lights but that we could stay anyway, and just in case, before he left we asked him for another pitcher of wine…and beer…
We're nearing the end; and yet, just like at the start, everything stretches out. And it's just as well, even though at that point, with the ride over, a lot of us already just wanted to get back to Buenos Aires. We still had to pass through Las Loicas, eat some delicious empanadas, and stop by Marcelo's place (after first having to push-start and tow Marce's truck
), empty the saddlebags, get our backpacks back….and my phone!!!...to be clear, my excitement was about finally being able to reach Ludmi and Sofi after a whole week. noooo, no signal…Wait, now there's one bar…and the relief, the girls are fine! now we can keep enjoying the rest of the trip.
I always figured the bit about ending up at a 5-star hotel in Malargüe was just Fer messing with us; to my surprise, when we got to the hotel it really was one. I'll admit I felt a bit embarrassed walking in with our backpacks and looking the way I did (at least I did). We get a nice room with a huge double bed perfect for enjoying some time with Cele but with one detail, there's another bed…Sabine's. I console myself thinking that the year before we'd all have been sharing a hostel anyway, besides the only thing I really want is a nice shower and some rest…
Since we were going through a period of readjusting to civilization, everyone after showering, headed out and we set up on the beautiful green of hole 1…obviously, a few mates later, they kindly asked us to clear out.
Afterward, now properly settled at tables and chairs (though still outside) we kept joining in until we'd become a group that, by that point, could already be called friends…Then came the emotional dinner where everyone, one way or another, expressed what this ride through the mountains had meant to them. Lots of emotion, lots of tears, nostalgia…I was struck by how Deby described each one of us, it felt like she'd known us forever.
But…someone said, shall we go out? and go where? to….., Cele asks me “what do we do?”… and off we go….
Whoa!!! it's six thirty, and we need to be up by nine. Off to bed…
The farewell. The group started to scatter that morning as we left the hotel, though a core group stuck together until the afternoon, finally splitting up after sharing lunch. In Malargüe's main plaza Fer, Diego, Pablo, Mariela, Sabine, Cele and I said goodbye to Fabi, Inés and Gaby, and caught the bus that took us to San Rafael. I can assure you that on the trip that finally brought us back to Buenos Aires, I never stopped thinking about every single person we'd shared this adventure with, and from that moment on, I started to miss them terribly…
