Our day in the Andes

Hello family, friends and fetuses (Gordon & Hedgeland shout out right there!),

Lance and I are currently staying at an estancia, or farm/ranch, near Cordoba. We thought we would update you all on how we spent our last day in Mendoza. We were lucky enough to take a tour with Juan Cruz and his Land Rover Defender through the Andes on a 10 hour tour. He took us through the foothills of the Andes followed by the second and third ranges of the Andes. We ended up at a lookout point of the highest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres - Aconcagua at 6961 meters. After viewing Aconcagua, we ate a delicious lunch. We had an assortment of meat cooked on a grill with red wine and coca cola classic - classic. I had blood sausage for the first time ever. While I didn't really like it, I was glad I had tried it. On the way back to Mendoza we followed the Camino del Ano which is a path originally constructed by the Inca with 365 turns - one turn for each day of the calendar year. Juan was an excellent guide as he and his family have lived in the area for several generations. He pointed out lots of points of interest, local flaura and fauna and also treated us to the national beverage of Argentina - Mate (a tea like drink served hot). The Mate made my bladder very angry and I peed about 365 times during the trip. After a while, I stopped bothering trying to find a bush to hide behind and just squatted behind the Defender. It was quite intimate really.

This is a shot from the beginning of our tour as we entered the Andean foothills

 A pit stop to have some Mate, coffee and orange juice.

Juan taught us the rules of drinking Mate. For example, the Mate always gets passed to the right BUT ONLY AFTER the Mate maker has drank first. If the Mate maker gives you the drink first, he is basically saying "I think your an asshole". Hah! Also, you only say "thank you" once you are finished. The Mate typically gets passed in a circle at least two times. Sip sip pass. Hmmmmmm....

 

 Oh yes! Lance's bladder was also caught off guard by the Mate. Can you spot him below?

Behind us is a herd of  vicuna. According to Juan, it is not too common for the vicuna to be so close to the road. We were lucky and saw several herds that day.

We made it to the lookout point for Aconcagua!

 

On our way to lunch, Juan pointed out this memorial to Charles Darwin and the work he had done in the area.

Our lunch spot. 

Mmmmm meat.....

 We ran into some local gauchos having a fabulous time sharing beers and bottles of wine. This was also one of the locations where Seven Years in Tibet was filmed with Brad Pitt. Lance swoons as that is his man crush. Juan had actually worked on the movie supplying horses and other animals for the set.

The below shot was the last leg of our tour - the road of 365 turns. It was stunning.

 Me about to do a bad thing to the back end of the Defender. I didn't even buy her dinner.

We also came across two foxes on the last bit our our journey. This was the adult fox.

Baby fox!

This was our favourite day in Mendoza. I dont think the pictures do it justice, but I think you all get the idea.

We are off to Iguazu falls tomorrow. Cant wait :)

Lots of love,
Lamy