Cabra Corral, Argentina

21st September – 22nd September 2017​

Despite the fact we were meant to be leaving at 10, Lars came knocking on our door at 9.50 to tell us that everyone else was already on the truck, so asked us to join them. It made me feel guilty, as though I was late, but I wasn’t – I just grabbed my day bag and off we went.

We only had 90km to drive from Salta, to Cabra Corral, where we would spend the next night; although it was a short drive, it still took a couple of hours because we were driving down long and windy roads.

When we arrived, we put up our tents and did back locker before going up to the top part of the campsite and sitting there. We had our lunch provided for us by the campsite owners; we were having a BBQ and were told it would be ready at 1.30, just after we had arrived, but we had to wait until about 2.15 in the end because we were waiting for a group to get back from white water rafting, because they were having the lunch too. Once lunch was finally served, we had sausage and cuts of steak from the barbecue and could help ourselves to salad from the table. It was a nice lunch but not ideal just before going out on the boats to white water raft.

We really didn’t have much time between lunch and getting kitted up, but it was fine. We had to pay up and sign a declaration form, before getting the required attire to put on. We were given a wetsuit, a fleece, a spray jacket, a life jacket, some wet shoes and a helmet – we could barely move, especially after just eating lunch!

Once everyone was all suited up, we had to go and collect our boats and take them down to the river. We were split into two groups and were responsible for carrying the boat we were going to be in – I lifted one corner but it was so heavy and we had quite a walk to the river. In our boat, there was me and Sabrina at the front, Katie and Jack in the middle and two Argentinean ladies at the back who worked at the campsite and then at the very back was our guide. We had a few instructions on how to paddle and what he would say when he wanted us to do certain things, but then we were in the boat and off down the river.

It felt like it took us a long time to get going; for at least half an hour we were just sat in the boat floating down the river. Every so often we would hit an exciting part going over the rocks and that was fun because I genuinely did lose control (hitting Sabrina on the nose at one point) but out of the two hours we were on the river, we must have spent around three quarters of that sitting on calm waters. It was a fun experience and it was the first time I had been white water rafting but I would have preferred it to be more intense and would like to try a higher grade if I was to go again because grade 3 wasn’t intense and scary enough for me.

Before we knew it, we were getting out of the boats. We had to take our paddles up to the road and the boys had to carry the boats above their heads – I think this was so they didn’t get dirty on the floors – to a bus that was coming to pick us up. We got a half an hour bus ride back to the campsite in our cold and wet wetsuits. It was a very well thought out bus, as the seats were metal benches, so it didn’t smell of damp from people sitting on in their wet things. On the bus, we were given a drink of juice and an alfajor biscuit – this was the second time I have tried one of these biscuits and I have come to the conclusion that I am not a fan, which is strange for me as it is like a chocolate sandwich but I just don’t like the taste and they leave me feeling a little sick.

When we got back to the campsite, we had time to have a shower, which was lovely and hot but not very powerful, before Jack’s group cooked dinner. While they prepared and cooked the dinner, I chilled out for a bit at the top part of the campsite, under the shelter, but it was very cold. Dinner for the evening was a pesto pasta, which was very tasty. We all decided to sit on the truck because we were protected from the wind and it was a little warmer.

After dinner and clean up, we stayed on the truck for a bit and played UNO. It was the first time for some people and Katie isn’t the best at learning cards games because she cannot remember any rules, so it was a bit slow getting going. After a few rounds of cards, we all headed to bed. I had a tent to myself which was nice, as I can spread out a little bit but I was worried I might be cold on my own.

As my group weren’t on breakfast duty, I managed to chill for a little bit in my tent when I woke up. I started to organise my things and pack up my bag ready for back locker, but breakfast was ready earlier than planned and Jack had to come and get me from my tent so I didn’t miss out. Breakfast for the day was huevos rancheros which is basically a fried egg on a tomato/ bean sauce – I’m not sure that’s exactly right but it tasted good anyway.

After breakfast and clean up, we packed up the back locker and took down our tents – which is a real workout when you’re on your own – before getting ready to leave at about 8.30 to head towards Cafayate.

Cabra Corral seems to be on the itinerary just so that we have the chance to go white water rafting. Although this was a fun experience with the whole group, as I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t quite what I expected when I thought of white water rafting as it wasn’t intense enough and there was too much just sitting on the raft, floating down the river. Despite this, it was a nice thing to try and the barbecue lunch was a good addition.

To travel is to live, Katie x