And that was evident in the morning since the party was still going on. When I went to bed the previous night I wore ear plugs. That was obviously the right decision, and as it was I was woken up by the hootinany around 12:30. But that is to be expected on New Years. I was surprised to still hear the commotion in the morning though.
Abi picked us up and we headed back to the Ocampo. Old Sis was a little under the weather and has some kind of allergic reaction to horses, so Young Sis, Nephew and I were going to ride horses. First they had to be caught, which means trying to fake out horses who have been caught many times in the past. But the horses were relatively agreeable and we got the four horses Abi wanted. Then we spent time brushing them and getting them saddled and bridled for riding.
I was riding Pansi who "is quite lazy and very fat." Sorry Pansi, I am too...
Once we were all ready to go we headed up into the same area where our hike was on Day 4. The horses made much shorter work of the elevation climb, but they were really huffing during the climb. At least Pansi was, plus he wanted to stop and eat a few times - so much lush green grass.
The horse ride continued on an abbreviated version of the Day 4 hike. Again, the views did not disappoint.
I really enjoyed the horses since it was much less prescriptive than other horse rides I've been on. But since Pansi was fat, the saddle kept feeling like it was rotating to the left. I could "stomp" it to the right which only helped temporarily.
Abi gave me chaps to use before we left which felt a little silly at first. I've learned to trust her though and I was glad I had them since the brush and thorns would have torn me up as I was wearing shorts. It was eye opening to see how much the horses had to work going up the steep hills and how much they had to brace going down. The horses did more work than I did, but it wasn't necessarily easy in the rugged terrain.
I'm also convinced that gauchos probably don't have testicles...
We got back to the pasture and took the saddles off. I had always heard that horses are one of the few animals that sweat and that was evident in the already heating day. The combination of sweat and dust on Abi's nearly white horse was telling.
Once let loose in the pasture, the horses did their best to get ride of the scourge of humans by taking refreshing dust baths.
Next up was some kayaking. We headed to a smaller lake and had another lunch of Chilean bread, tuna and whatever else we wanted. Then we aired up the inflatable kayaks and pushed out.
The females were on one kayak, while Nephew and I were in the other to do some fishing.
We fished Chilean style which means no rod or reel, just a roll of heavy line on a cylinder. In the lake proper, we didn't catch anything or see anything. But the water was once again amazingly clear - I'm sure I could see at least 15 feet down. As for future fishing, I'll still choose a pole any day over this method. But apparently it does work for them.
With the fishing unsuccessful, we headed to the stream and tried to fish there. We had a few bites (maybe), but didn't catch anything. Some other tourists came through and asked if we were fishing and catching anything; since they spoke Spanish, I'm really not sure what they said.
We paddled back and loaded everything up, dropping it off at the Ocampo before heading back into PRT.
The one thing PRT is known for, and what everyone does - often the only thing - is the boat tour of the Marble Caves, Marble Cathedral and Marble Chapel. This is the tour that is sold to any tourists on entering the town by just about any means. This ended up being the last thing we did in PRT.
We walked down to the booking area where a friend of Abi's is based. We paid for the tour and walked the short distance to be picked up by the boat. There was another family of four on the tour plus one other English-speaking lady. And we were off.
It is about 20 minutes to the caves from the dock. They can be seen as the boat approaches. They didn't appear as dramatic as I thought from any kind of distance.
Once up close, the dramatic formations are stunning.
The boat took us into a blind cave. I wanted a picture from the front, so I moved up to get that picture. I only meant to stay until that was done, but I ended up sitting there the rest of the tour. I felt a little bad about this.
There are several banks of caves. They are slightly different, but only slightly.
The caves were formed by erosion of the marble over time by wind and waves.
It was interesting to see how some minerals are eroded much more readily than others.
I especially liked the pillar formation of the caves.
Another set of pillars.
I had read that early morning has the best light - which is probably correct. But even in the afternoon it was pretty nice. Although we were blessed with blue bird skies and hot temperatures since the ever present wind and cold can make it less fun from what I've read.
The last stop on the tour was the Marble Chapel which was almost more dramatic far away than close up. Apparently some people do actually get married at the "chapel."
Then it was back to the dock. The Marble Caves were really pretty. The tour is a bit oversold, but it is still worth it. I wish there was a way to do a longer visit on my own time, but there isn't. There is a tour done from kayaks, but it only sees a small part of the caves.
Dinner was another scrumptious Chilean feast of lentils, pumpkin and pasta, followed by the obligatory dessert. Conversation turned quickly to plans for the next day.
After dinner Nephew and I decided to give Chilean fishing one more shot. We grabbed our PVC pipe and line and headed to the creek near the cabana. The worms smelled quite awful and had dissolved. I found a decent slug and decided to try it. The rest of the slugs were almost as bad as the worms. After a few false starts on a bridge, I "cast" beneath the bridge, using a rock as a weight. On the second attempt I had a bite and brought up a reasonably decent trout. Strike one for Patagonian fishing. I sadly didn't have the camera so the only picture is on Nephew's phone.
We found some more worms up the road and tried for a little longer without success. Several local people gave us a thumbs up or waved while we fished. Two guys from Santiago came by and one of them spoke good English. He asked if we had a license to fish (gulp), but told us of another place to try. It was just a short walk from the cabana and while the view was quite pretty with a raging waterfall, the fishing was not successful. As it got dark, we headed back to call it a day.
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