28th – Visiting El Salto

With the same morning schedule as yesterday we left at 0830 with some low hanging clouds and mist. We had two guides with us and one of them was planned to stay at El Salto for tomorrow to keep an eye on the stuff we chose to bring with us. This is the camp from where we will be climbing Cerro Vallecitos in a couple of days. Bringing equipment to the camp before we actually move camps will make the move easier as we won’t be carrying the entire load at once – but coming down we will still have everything at once. Everyone seems to have brought their big boots and crampons with them, and some have brought some extra things like their down jackets and the like.

The walk up went fine; a gentle ascent until the last part which steepened quite horrifically. Arriving at the camp we managed to get a clear view of the summit for a couple of minutes before the clouds obscured the view for the remaining of our stay at the camp.

On the way back to camp the clouds got denser and dropped though they never gave us any rain. This meant that when returning to camp we had a visibility of less than 50 meters and we almost ended up standing in the camp before realizing we had arrived.

The rest of the day was spent like the rest with relaxation. The mist never really disappeared so the remainder of the day we had visibility of around 50m – sometimes less, sometimes more. The “more” part was limited, though, and when it happened it didn’t last long.

Tomorrow we will move camp to El Salto where we will be spending the next two nights. We will arrive there noon/early afternoon, and the following night at around 0500-0600 we will start our summit attempt of Cerro Vallecitos of 5461m.

On the way up to El Salto, looking back down you could see a thick layer of clouds.

El Salto - a slightly different kind of camp. The flat part straight ahead is the ridge we have to reach on the way to Calle Vallecitos.

Coming back down to the camp... It was a bit misty.

Spot the horse.

27th – Acclimatization

Breakfast at 0730 and departure at 0830 we started our ascent of Cerro Adolfo Calle, a small summit of 4270m with the purpose of preparing us for the altitude of the next camp and as a bonus bagging ourselves a summit.

Most of the ascent consisted of walking on scree, gravel and often loose rocks. There was a part where we arrive at a high valley when the walking was comfortable, but that was only for a limited time. The last part of the climb we abandoned our poles and scrambled to the summit. The ascent took app. 3 hours, something our guides seemed satisfied with.

As things had been going so well on the way down we took a small extra summit of app. 4100m. It was a lot of rocks and scrambling and on the way down gravel and scree. Coming back to the camp it was easy to feel the day’s exercise.

The rest of the day was spent on relaxing.

Tomorrow we will be going to the next camp, El Salto, bringing equipment we will be needing there but not necessarily here (i.e. large boots, crampons) and returning to this camp. Not all are feeling 100% so this walk is voluntary; you will be allowed to stay at the camp if you don’t feel up to the walk. I don’t expect to have any issues – a slight headache in the afternoon after returning from the walk but nothing that can’t be handled by drinking a bit of extra water.

The weather was amazing in the morning.

And looking down towards the camp on the way to Cerro Adolfo Calle the air was still clear.

Standing on the summit, though... Clouds with holes here and there where you could get a glimpse of the surrounding terrain.

26th – First camp

The day started the same as yesterday; breakfast at 0830 and departure at 1000. The similarities ended there, though. This is the first day of a 6 day camping trip so we had to bring everything we would need these days, including our double boots as recommended by our guides. A bag with sleeping bag, down jacket and boots get large and heavy fast, and you still need some extra clothes and various other equipment.

We were soon off and the plan was to ascend to the camp Vega Superior at 3448m. When staring the walk we had an almost clear sky and despite clouds occasionally rolling by it stayed dry until arrival, app. 3 hours after departure. On the way up we got a brief glimpse of a guanaco, a cousin to the better known llama, an animal commonly seen in these areas.

Upon arrival we set up tents and generally just relaxed. We had a pretty massive shower at one point with both rain and hail; I was worried that this would be an indication of what we would be getting the next couple of days, but after a couple of hours it passed. After this the weather switched between calm warm weather or cloudy and cool or misty and even cooler (and slightly clammy). But at least we had very limited precipitation after this.

The tents are very small; two people can just fit inside, but getting room for two large bags with equipment is a struggle. We spent quite a lot of time figuring out how to store them in the most effective way in the equally small vestibule.

Dinner yesterday was great; the grilled meat, apart from beef, included sausages and a bit of chicken (after our semi-vegetarian had had her share) with wine. That was not expected as alcohol is usually impractical when you have to perform on these trips, but we’re in Argentina and when in Rome do as the Romans. Today, at camp, we had burgers with grilled cheese and potato mash (or rather “”potato” mash”). No wine, though.

Despite the constantly changing weather there has been almost no wind in camp at all which has been a nice surprise. While it did starting cooling down when the sun disappeared behind the surrounding mountains at around 2000 not many layers were necessary.

Tomorrow we will be climbing Cerro Adolfo Calle at 4270m for another acclimatization trek. We can see the top and parts of the climb from camp, and it looks as if it will be a quite steep trek. Estimated 6 hours in total up and down.

The weather at arrival at the camp site.

As soon as the tents had been pitched the clouds came in...

... and soon after you couldn't see much at all. (notice the horribly small opening in the tent).

Snacks like this was a daily treat in the afternoon when arriving/coming back in camp.

25th – Loma Blanca

Today was an acclimatization day where we would spend 5 hours climbing the nearby 3664m high summit Loma Blanca. This would be a walk that brought us 900m above the hut, a decent acclimatization.

We left the hut at 1000 and with a gentle and steady pace we quickly ate us up through the altitude meters. We had a great view – or rather; we would have had a great view if we hadn't been walking through clouds giving us a visibility of 50-100m. When reaching the top we had our lunch, and after that break we soon packed up again and started descending to get back to the hut.

Coming back we had a short briefing concerning the next 5 nights/6 days. We will be establishing 2 different camps (3 and 2 nights, respectively), ultimately acclimatizing to 5461m on Cerro Vallecitos. After this we will be descending all the way down to a Mendoza-like altitude where we will spend a night at a hotel before continuing and going to Aconcagua. As we will be coming back to the hut first where we are being picked up we will be able to leave anything behind that we won’t need the coming days. We have been asked to bring our double boots due to a potentially cold climb of Cerro Vallecitos so despite being able to leave equipment we will still have plenty to carry. Sleeping bag, boots, down jacket, a set of clean clothes (“a set” as in “1 set” – we are only gone for 6 days) and various equipment. But the days where we will be carrying our full pack – from camp to camp – will be relatively short so it ought to be manageable. And the first camp is already at 3448m so with today’s acclimatization that shouldn't be too hard.

A beautiful view from the summit of Loma Blanca

It was almost eerie coming down and seeing abandoned ski lifts appear in the mist.

Last night we had a slightly gooey version of pasta carbonara, extremely rich so after the meat pizza for lunch only half a portion was consumed. But despite the small amount there was still plenty of energy going in, no doubt about that. This afternoon Pablo has been putting chicken and large pieces of meat on a fire. Interesting!

50 meters from the hut there is a hostel-like place with wireless internet (our hut has it too, but as they didn't pay the bills the connection was cut) and of course that had to be used during some down time. I hadn't been sitting more than 20 seconds before being made into a chair by a very attention-seeking, hug-needy, cat. When done with what I wanted I put the cat down to get up, but I had barely had time to move before it had jumped up again. So I ended up staying online a bit longer. For the cat’s sake, obviously.

The cat is the boss. Can't move if not given permission to do so.

24th – Arrival at Vallecitos

We were to be picked up at the hotel at 1300 to be brought to the hut at Vallecitos where we are to spend the next two nights. This meant that we had the morning in Mendoza for ourselves which was spent on nothing but having a leisurely walk around town, relaxing.

The pickup was on time and after an hour’s drive we stopped for lunch where our guides had a recommendation for order. It’s what I’d call an Argentinian meat pizza, but with no meat on it. No dough either. Instead, it was a slab of tender meat taken from the stomach region as base, covered in tomato sauce and plenty of melted cheese. Side order today was actually potatoes as opposed to yesterday’s (more) meat. It was a glorious dish albeit a bit heavy. After an hour’s drive further after lunch we arrived at the hut at 2700m.

Lunch. 

After settling in we went on a small trek to app. 3000-3100m, a gentle 2-hour walk to start acclimatization. Coming back at 1900 we got some great sightings of lightning strikes in the distance.

We were informally subjected to a small medical check to check pulse, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. Informally, as the guides wanted a baseline for the group before we are checked at base camp. Or be prepared if the results are less than optimal – if the doctors at base camp consider one’s results as not good enough you will be denied permission to climb the mountain. My saturation was 85 which was a bit surprising as I am usually higher at “only” 2700m. On the other hand, we had almost just arrived from 700m so that could probably have something to do with it. I had no idea what to expect from the blood pressure as I had never gotten a test before. I have been told, though, that 110/60 isn’t too bad.

Tomorrow we will take the small summit Cerro Loma Blanca of 3600m, readying us for our first camp which is at almost same altitude. Taking this summit first, the day before going to the camp, will make it easier for us to reach and stay at the camp without any – or at least fewer – altitude-related issues.

View from the hut towards where we came.

View from the small trek towards the hut. The small green/blue roof seen in the left/mid-area of the photo is our hut.

21st – 23rd – Arrival

Flying from Mendoza was quite uneventful. Madrid is a huge airport where you can keep walking straight ahead without seemingly getting anywhere. And Iberia isn’t too happy with installing seats in their planes with decent legroom. I guess it would be easier to have one’s legs operated shorter… The layover in Santiago, despite the short time we had, went surprisingly well. The flight to Mendoza was basically nothing but a half-an-hour jump over the mountains before landing again just on the other side.

Arriving in Mendoza we were greeted by Juan Carlos, our guide/contact and Pablo, a second guide. We were brought to our hotel followed by a walk in the immediate area where we had lunch and an afternoon by ourselves. The hotel is only a few minutes’ walk from the center, so we are close to plenty of restaurants and shops.

For dinner we met and went out to a steak restaurant, where I, obviously, had a steak (first of many). Being in Argentina I felt that choosing anything else would be heresy. To be honest it didn’t quite live up to my, admittedly high, expectations; great size and taste, but it wasn’t very tender and it was filled with tendons.

The trip's first steak.

The next day we went out to get our climbing permits. It felt a little weird, or at least bureaucratic, having to go to pay for the permit at a Western Union and taking receipt with us to show at the tourist center. Apparently the tourist center doesn’t have the money and security to handle the large sums that goes through the system for the numerous permits during climbing season.

The rest of the day was free, so a bit of walking around, lunch, buying stuff we needed (not much though) but other than that staying back at the hotel relaxing. Dinner was at a new place, and after the semi-failed steak last night I decided I wanted to try another one in an attempt to straighten up my impression of Argentinian steaks. Size and taste was just as good, amazingly tender and no tendons. Success! Yesterday’s steak was luckily just a random fluke. On top of that, the side orders where skewers with small pieces of bell pepper and onion, in-between chunks of meat. No complaints from me.

Tomorrow we will leave the hotel at around 1300 to drive to Vallecitos where we will be staying at a hut for two nights to start our acclimatization. It’s at 2700m, app. 2000 meters above Mendoza, so it will likely be felt. Until we reach Aconcagua the days we carry our own bags with all equipment from camp to camp will be relatively short, likely less than 4 hours, so that’ll be nice.

When getting picked up at the airport Juan Carlos mentioned that the temps that day where up at 32°C, and the following day they reached 36°C. The second and last evening in Mendoza we were told that the following day it would reach even higher temps. I am quite glad that we are going towards higher ground, effectively avoiding the high temperatures.

Light thingie at Plaza Independencia

Surprise Easter trip!

Due to quite a bit of overtime at work last year I have been allowed to take a little bit extra off this year. This has resulted in me deciding to take some extra time off before Easter which gives me 2 weeks + change off in a row. I have decided that the two weeks is to be spent on staying home and doing nothing, not going anywhere for once.

Pfff. Yeah, right.

This turn I am going back to Kenya and Tanzania, an 11 day camping safari going through all the big fun parts containing wildlife. After the trip to Argentina it’ll be nice to just relax on the savannah, lazily looking at the wildlife.

23^rd – 24^th of March

Flight to Nairobi via Amsterdam.

25^th – 26^th of March

We will leave the hotel in the early morning to go to Masai Mara. According to plan we will arrive in the afternoon where we will set up camp which we will be using as base for when we are there. Despite the slightly late arrival we will still be able to have a late afternoon drive.

27^th of March

We have time for the regular morning drive before having to return to Nairobi in the late afternoon.

28^th of March

Today we will leave Kenya and cross the border to Tanzania and go to the town Arusha where we will arrive in the afternoon.

29^th of March

Visit Lake Manyara. Apart from looking at wildlife we will be visiting a local village and seeing the Rift Valley.

30^th – 31^st of March

Crossing through the Rift Valley we go towards the Serengeti NP. This area is pretty self-explanatory. Spending time on driving around and looking at animals. What’s not to like?

1^st of April

After the last morning drive in Serengeti NP we leave and drive to the Ngorongoro conversation area and driving around the rim of the crater to reach our next camp site.

2^nd of April

With an early departure from the camp we travel into the crater where we spend most of the day driving around taking in the sights (i.e. more wildlife!). In the afternoon we will take our leave and go back to Arusha.

3^rd of April

Flight out from Kilimanjaro Airport via Dar Es Salaam and Amsterdam.