Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
.
no, it´s Superwoman!! :)
Yesterday I flew across a lake at a great speed while flapping my arms.. it was very silly but an experience I just couldn´t pass up. The lake is part of a long river called Rio Mendoza, near the city of Mendoza in Argentina. I flew from the side of one mountain to another, enjoying the beautiful scenery and lake down below... and the tranquility ( i could only hear the wind).. while my body and arms were attached with a harness to a thing cable, and a guide holding onto my legs ;) A distant photographer captured the action on his camera with a big zoom.. ready for publication on the Daily Planet.
Ok, so maybe I´ll have to photoshop out the cables and the guide.. but you should have seen me! A true flying chicken I was. I was so nervous at every single part of the canopy course.. and I wondered why I ever signed up, again, to any of the adventure stuff. I guess the idea of canopy sounded great until I saw the thin cable extending as far as my eye could see. my fear of heights didn´t help. We started with easier and shorter ones, learning the signals and learning how to stop and how to continue if you stop in the middle of the rope. There were two guides, with one sort of explaining things to me in English.. (his English is only slightly better than my Spanish). Nervously we went from one rope to another, and sometimes stopping unexpectedly because we were going too slow and had pull ourselves along for the rest of the way. It was quite a Tazan experience, until the two last ropes where we were given the opportunity to be Superman. I reluctantly agreed to try my arms at flying for the last rope, and it was an incredible..ly.. silly experience and great fun!!!
On the afternoon I went white water rafting down the Rio Mendoza with a different group of people.. but the same guide and photographer. The scenery was again beautiful, and the water was freezing. This time I was not the only English speaker, but the guide only explained things in Spanish, with a few helpful translations from the fellow rafters. There were 7 of us, plus one guide, squashed into one boat. Amazingly we all understood the instructions and survived the river, enjoying the bumps and splashes along the way, and posing for the camera at various moments. It was reminincent of rafting in NZ, but only much much colder! Thank goodness for the warm shower and tea afterwards :)
So here´s my story of the week. And as you can see I´m in Argentina now, a country I heard so much about from friends and other travellers.. a place of amazing steak.. beautiful people.. european influences and delicious icecream and chocolates. And tango. And wine (Mendoza is famous for its wineries). All the travellers rave so much about Argentina that I was almost afraid of being dissappointed. Though I´ve yet to experience the to-die-for steaks, I´ve enjoyed some wonderful dinner buffets (huge variety of salads and deserts plus a main course of your choice) for less than $7.. The shopping is also fantastic here, so I can´t complain.
well, except for the fact that most hostels here don´t have single rooms so I´m staying in hotels and not meeting as many travellers.. but having emails from friends would help to cure the homesickness.. i think.. :) hint.. hint..
posted by Susan @ 8:57 PM
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