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Published: April 1st 2010
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After the boys recovered for a few days from our backpacking experience, we ventured out again for some wonderful day hikes and a great camping trip by a beautiful lake.
Shakked tells you here about our first outing, to Cerro Campenario:
"The day before yesterday, we saw, in my opinion, the most amazing view in my life. To make a long story short we went up the mountain Cerro Campenario. Actually, I misspoke when I said “mountain”. It was more of a large hill. Mountain or not, it was still pretty high. High enough to see the whole gargantuan lake in front of you. The lake glittered with beautiful little points of sparkling light - or they could have been silver fish. The lake was not empty - far from it. It resembled a polka-dotted shirt, speckled with islands of glittering green. Snow capped mountains hemmed the lake in, like dogs herding sheep into a pen. In this case, blue and green sheep. The islands were jewels of green on the vast blue expanse of the lake, set in there countless centuries ago. Rounded out by the ceaseless carving of wind and rain, they survived the ages, battered by storms and
torrential downpours. Trees invaded the islands’ soil, stealing their water and sunlight. Despite all this, the islands struggled on, stubbornly resisting the might of nature. It was astounding, how big lumps of rock could survive that long. Anyway, move on. We stayed on the “mountain” for a few hours and then descended. "
Our second outing that week was to Cerro Otto, another high mountain above the city, where the boys got to see their special bird in action! Amit: "Today we went to Cerro Otto on a cable car. When we arrived we decided to take a little walk. On the end of our walk, there was a beautiful view. It was like a little valley and in the end of the valley there were specks that resembled houses. Suddenly a bird stooped into action. Folding its wings, it dived claws first. That’s a peregrine falcon, said Shakked. You’re right, it is a peregrine falcon, I can recognize it. A peregrine falcon stooping in nature, what a sight!"
Shakked:"After hiking up a steep peak by the one we were on, we saw an amazing spectacle. There was a bird just standing in the air. Really! It was gliding
against the wind, so it was just hovering in the air, wings not moving. By its markings, I identified it as a peregrine falcon, my favorite bird. I watched with bated breath to see if it would perform its famous move, the ‘stoop,’ in which it can reach 200 miles an hour. My wish came true. Suddenly, the falcon folded its wings and hurtled towards the ground, claws outstretched. It reached the grass in under a second. A scuffle ensued, and the prey must have returned to its burrow in safety, for the falcon flew up, defeated. It did a wide circle around the lake and resumed its vigil. "
We rewarded the boys for their great hiking with a fun experience - "otto karting" and a treat at Argentina's only spinning restaurant. Amit tells you about it: "Otto Kart is super fun, it is an activity you can do at Cerro Otto. They made this little path and you slide down it in a floaty, you go at an unsuspecting speed. Otto Kart is super fun and super scary. It is fun because it is like a water slide. It is scary because when you turn it makes you
go back first. On Cerro Otto there was a restaurant, the restaurant spun all the time so you could see all the view. However, we soon discovered the food was not good".
Shakked: "Returning to the Cerro Otto peak, Amit and I decided to do “Otto Karts.” After getting our tickets, we were seated in two inflated beach rings. A long steep, winding track led down the slope in front of us. One by one, we were pushed onto it. We slid down, gradually getting faster and faster and faster, until all sound faded out but the roar of the wind in our ears. Sometimes, at bends, my Otto Kart would whiz up onto the wall until I was riding horizontally, then it was back to normal. I screamed with sheer terror and exhilaration. But the most frightening was saved for last. The final part was the steepest and I had somehow managed to get myself turned around. So I hurtled down a track I couldn’t see to who-knows-where, all at breakneck speed. Scary."
The boys also had a second week of Spanish classes here, and they are understanding more every day. At the end of the week we
rented a car for the first time and went out to camp. Shakked: "Yesterday, we went camping by a lake. It was a small lake, surrounded by large, heavily wooded hills. To our left a river flowed into the lake. Beyond the river, the pebbly beach turned into soil with small, scraggly bushes going in it. Amit and I tried to build a bridge across (the water was icy cold). Not succeeding, we froze our feet off wading across. Seeing nothing remarkable, we returned. Setting up our untried new tent, we found out that we’d make a mistake by not trying it out before we went camping. We practically had to lie on each other to fit us all in. At least it was cozy. When it grew dark, having gathered wood, we made a fire. We cooked pasta and chicken and potatoes over it. For dessert: roasted bananas with melted dark chocolate. Really good. After eating and brushing our teeth, we went to sleep in our squished-up bed. In the morning, we lit the fire, cooked oatmeal, packed and returned home. Camping here is cool!"
Now we are traveling with our rented car for a couple of weeks in
an area called "The 7 Lakes". Surrounded by forests, rivers and lakes, life is really good...
Happy Passover and/or Easter!!!
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Lilach
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Camping is Fun!
Well done all! I agree that Campaneiro is one of the most beautiful view points there is. To make better use of the tent space, and not be too crowded, try to put Meital in horisontal, just were the boys are sleeping, as they probably are not as long as the tent. This will free some space. That is how we slept, and it was very comfortable and cosy, though we were using a 3 people tent for the 5 of us. For many more tent nights with fire. The 7 lakes drive is an amasing place to do more of this camping!!!