Waterfall of the Spirits
Kayaking the Maipo
Cascada de las Animas on the Maipo river, so close to Santiago yet so far from the urban lifestyle, is a tiny slice of paradise on the western slopes of the Andes. Home to the extended Astorga family for many generations it encompasses an animal santuary with 'Willow' the resident Puma, an extensive avery, a modest farm where horses still do most of the labour, endless trails and splendid waterfalls with hidden pools for cooling off in the heat of the midday sun. It feels as though we are in midsummer already with temperatures in the 30's already(high 80´'s) and with a healthy covering of snow amidst the glaciers upstream the Maipo is flowing close to it's high level cut off. Luckily it appears to have stabalised so the rafting is continuing with some added precautions. The extra maneuverability and stability of the oar boat make it the prefered mode of transport which has, unfortunately, excluded all guides with little or no experience on these craft and regretably that includes Beth. The ice cold, silt laden waters make for near impossible learning opportunities. Menacing holes and hydraulics lie hidden threatening to severely punish even the smallest mistake with the opaque aspect of the water making it difficult to read. The safety kayak to raft ratio is one of the highest we have seen and a cataraft accompanies every trip as an extra rescue platform. The Chilean holidays do not officialy begin until January so we are still in the quiet season but there is enough work to get by on.
KC on the Oars, El Rio Maipo
With all the extra time off there are endless opportunities to explore and Chile has plenty to offer. The latest adventure was to the Nuble rivertaking us deep into the spectacular Nuble National Reserve. Crystal clear azure water cascades through endless class III and IV rapids, all of it easliy readable from the boat making for non-stop fun followed by a tranquil evening's campiny alongside the river. Sitting by the campfire under a full moon we feasted on a local speciality, the 'disco bbq', a mixture of meats and tasty vegetables cooked with white wine and seasoning on an agricultural steel disc taken from an old plow. The Kiwis demonstrating the 'Haka', the Chileans demonstrating their ability to mix Coca-Cola with just about any type of alcohol and Sebatian Astorga demonstrating his remarkable ability of hunting worms, unfortunately the fish on the Nuble don´t have a liking for worms so fishermen take note. We swapped tales of mountains climbed and rivers run and as the buzz of the booze took hold the mountains got steeper, the waterfalls taller, the waves bigger and many a glass was raised to all of you who couldn´t be with us. Tired and content but excited at the prospect of another day of whitewater ahead we slept under the stars of the southern hemisphere. At some point during the night a Jackal crept into camp and made of with our wooden spoon while back at Cascada de las Animas another type of Jackal was doing the same.
Where to now? The Ñuble
Over the past week someone has been snooping around our campsite and on four seperate occasions they have made off with some of our possessions. At first it was Beth's waterproof camera and my head torch, next it was all the cash from her wallet and her swiss army knife, after that my shoes went missing along with an old cell phone but the straw that broke the camel's back was finding, on our return from the Nuble river, they had taken Beth's shampoo and tipped out all of our curry powder. Sadly we have had to pack up camp and leave but we are close by in a small granny flat under a large old house near the river. It´s sad how one person´s greed can cause feelings of anger and frustration, tainting the image of an area and stealing some of it's magic but we realise it is only one individual while everyone else has been more than helpful. Our efforts to sell the bike have so far been fruitless and what was promised to be a simple procedure has turned out to be near impossible in both Chile and Argentina. We have had many chance encounters along the way the latest of which led us the Ricky Godoy, Mr BMW South America, with many useful contacts so we expect it is just a matter of time before another opportunity presents itself. If not , there is a fine motorcycle here in Chile for any of you feeling intrepid enough to take it on it's next adventure.
Put in, day two on the Ñuble
posted by irishandbethbigadventure @ 6:09 AM
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