A Caballo

This past weekend was my first real excursion in the Andes...and it was increíble!! On Saturday morning I hopped in a van with three other girls from my teaching program (Allyson, Hillary, and Hannah) and headed to El Morado, a 'town' in the middle of the Andes about two hours from Santiago. Coincidentally, there was another group of gringo girls going on the same excursion, so we made three new friends and hung out with them all weekend! When we arrived to our Refugio, it was an unbelievable site. Despite it being the end of summer down here, there was a mountain in view still covered by snow and glaciers. Immediately, we unloaded our things and started a hike looking for a laguna (lagoon) we'd heard about in the area. Unfortunately when we arrived to the national park's ranger station, the park ranger told us it'd take about five hours at least to hike to it. We also knew that there were some hot springs in the area, so we decided to forgo the rest of the hike and save it for Sunday.

On Saturday evening we went to the hot springs (they're called termas down here), and it was unlike any other experience I've had! We were in the middle of nowhere getting into gray-colored muddy water on the side of an active volcano. There were four or five different termas you could sit in, the highest on the volcano being the hottest (and I mean hot...I could only sit in it for about five minutes before having to move). By the time the sun went down, it got rather chilly and we hopped from one terma to the next trying to find comfortable warmth. Some of the girls were saying they felt like we were in the movie 'The Land Before Time' because of the view of the dry, dessert-like mountains surrounding us and the 'mud pools' we were sitting in. I had to agree, it was funny!

When we got back to the Refugio that evening, our new friends said they were planning on going horseback riding the following day to the lagoon. Since I'd never been horseback riding (montando a caballo in Spanish) before, and I'm always looking for a new adventure, I decided to join them!

Sunday morning we were picked up in an old pick-up truck by the Chilean cowboys and taken to the horse stables. The only instructions we received before hopping on were, 'pull the rope to the right if you want him to go right, pull the rope left if you want him to go left, and pull it toward you if you want him to slow down or stop.' Within seconds I was on the horse and ready to go! We were joking because that would NEVER happen in the States. First, we would've received some kind of lesson, and then we would've had to sign eight million release forms hahah. As we set out on our adventure to the lagoon, I noticed right away that my horse (his name was Avellano) was competitive. Any time another horse tried to get in front, he'd gallop to catch up or bite the horse's behind...as you can imagine, I learned how to use those reigns very fast! After about 10 minutes into the ride, the Chilean cowboy told me 'arriba' and pointed up the mountain. I thought to myself, you've got to be kidding me. There was no path and the mountain was covered in rocks. I was terrified! But much to my dismay, we did just what he told us and went up...and kept going up. After an hour and a half of riding the horses up mountains, passing goats and cows, crossing a river, and trying not to look over the side of the cliffs, we arrived at the lagoon. It was gorgeous! Luckily we rested there for a while to give the horses and our tushes a break. I climbed a few rocks and took in the magnificent views. I was so thankful to have this time to reflect and experience God's amazing creation.

After a four-hour excursion on horseback, we finally made it safely down the mountain (my horse did trip one time, and I screamed like never before!) We had a couple of hours to relax before the van was ready to take us back to Santiago. It was an awesome weekend! Not only did I get to escape the busy city life, but I also made some awesome new friends.

I decided to post all of my photos from this trip on my picasa album as there were too many to share on my blog alone. Feel free to check them out! The address is http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.grabill. I didn't take any photos of the hot springs because I forgot my camera, but as soon as Hillary posts hers, I'll steal them to share with y'all :)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and I'll talk to you soon.

Love and grace,
LG