To Chance Encounters...

Entonces, yesterday Natalie left back for Buenos Aires and then back home to Chicago. It was really hard to say goodbye, as we has such an amazing 6 weeks together. She is a really fun and easy person to travel with and made my experiences in BsAs, Iguazu, and Mendoza wayyyyyy better and more memorable. Have a safe trip home Natalie, I will miss you!

Our time in Mendoza was amazing, starting about two hours after we arrived. We decided to rent bikes and explore different bodegas (wineries), where we sampled amazing wines and ate delicious wine grapes straight off of the vine. The next day was Sunday and EVERYTHING in the town was closed, it seriously looked deserted. We manageged to round up enough people from the hostel to have a soccer game so that was a lot of fun. Throughout the week we decided to stay in and cook dinner rather than go out and we made a lot of good meals while drinking many top bottles of Mendozan Malbec. On Tuesday we went on a 25km white-water rafting trip through the Andes. I was the first one to fall out of the boat, ja ja (how haha is written in Argentina). It was beautiful and both of us had a blast. On Thursday we went trekking and rapelled near a waterfall in the morning and went canopying in the afternoon. Canoyping is similar to ziplining, but with 6 stations instead of one. The scenery was breathtaking as the last two lines ran across a lake and then back over. Both Natalie and I went upside down over the lake with the help of an instuructor. Describing it doesn't really do it justice, so I will post some pictures of it when I can. It was an amazing rush to be zooming over a beautiful lake in the mountains upside down. Yesterday we had a perfect last day together walking around Mendoza and checking out all of the sites we wanted to do before we left. We got a final helado that was exclusive to Mendoza, vanilla infused with Malbec, it was delicious. We made a last dinner of spinach ravioli, bruschetta, and a blood sausage sandwhich (ha!) with a final bottle of Mendozan wine. Perfection.

I hopped on a bus an hour after Talie left and now I am 17 hours north of Mendoza in the ciudad of Salta. It looks beautiful so far and like Mendoza, there are a lot of outdoor activities to explore. I am about to leave to explore the city. Next week my sisters and mom are going to Mexico for spring break with my aunt, so I want to tell them to have a great time and to enjoy some mojitos and attention from all of the guys. Two weeks from today, my dad, brother, and his roommate will be down here to hike with to Machu Piccu with me. I am really excited for that. I hope everyone is doing well, but I am not going to lie, I am in no rush to head back, Argentina is an amazing country.
Love you all,
Kyle