We took a direct bus from Mendoza back to Chile and were again treated to the amazing mountain ranges of the Andes.
First stop in Chile was Valparaiso, a scenic UNESCO heritage town on the Chilean coast. We stayed there for two nights, walked around the town and took the century old 'funiculars' to the top of the hills, enabling us to gaze over the occasionally smog-covered bay and adjoining town of Vina del Mar, a popular beach side resort. The food on offer was again delicious and we took some great shots of the colourful neighbourhoods.
From there we headed back to Santiago to spend a few days before heading to Rio. We took the opportunity to go white water rafting in the Maipo river that runs down from the Andes and enjoyed a grade III/IV ride. It was Christel's first time rafting and the extensive safety briefing and professionalism of the river guides put her mind at ease. However, the first rapid of the day, and a sudden turn onto a submerged rock catapulted her out of the raft and into the icy cold water. Luckily she wasn't hurt and managed to climb on board again within seconds so that we could continue to ride. We spent the next hour and a half coasting through the rapids and past the rocky river banks. At one point I jumped in myself as well to cool off and floated along with the raft for a little while.
After that exhilarating day of fun we celebrated with another nice selection of Chilean Carmeneres and Sauvignon Blancs.
Other than that, we got our bags ready for the Rio Carnival and jumped on a plane to meet up with our friends Pablo, Julia, Danny and Sophie!
No comments:
Post a Comment