Quebrada Condorito

Sunday:

Danny and I went to Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito. It is a national park, about two hours away from where we are living, with the most oriental distribution of Andean Condors ( a beautiful black and white bird). We only got to hike half way because we got there really late. We had a little trouble at the bus station. The bus station we went to was similar to a small airport. There were all these windows saying where the bus was going and everyone told us a different place then the next guy. We were so confused and lost. We wandered all around, and finally when they told us bus terminal #31 we thought we found it. We got on the bus and asked if they went to Los Pamipillos and they said 'no' (and some other stuff we didn't understand.) We almost gave up, but we had some food to eat, so we decided to wait to see if the next bus in terminal #31 went to Los Pamipillos. We got on the bus, and to our amazement they went to the place we needed to go!

We watched a movie and looked out at the scenery, which at first was not much to look at. We started to get worried because the closer we got to the park, the worse the weather looked, and we weren't exactly sure how the bus system worked for getting back home (Danny, failed to mention that part to me until we were ON the bus.) We arrived to our stop, and just imagine the middle of nowhere in your head right now...that's where they dropped us off. There was a sign on a gate that said “La Propiedad Privada,” (Private Property) so we weren't sure if that was the place to go to the park or not. We found a little entrance for walking off to the side and went in. We followed a long crushed rock road that was surrounded by rocks sprinkled with lichen and hundreds of blond sprouts of thick lengthy grass.

Things started to look more and more beautiful. We saw a sign that assured us we were in the right place, and we felt relieved. We found a ranger station, and the ranger luckily spoke a little English. She told us we could only go halfway because it was getting to be too late, she also said he buses won't stop for you at night, and especially when there is fog (which there was plenty of that.) The weather was overcast and on the brink of raining, then suddenly it shifted. The clouds moved aside and the sun came out all around us. The sun remained for about 25 minutes. This was different terrain then I've ever been in before. The fog helped create a mystical feel. We saw a jack rabbit race by us, several wild bulls, and wild horses. I LOVE seeing wild animals, especially when there is a fence between us.

When we reached the lookout point. It was a wall of white fog. We sat on the rocks for a couple minutes. I touched my shirt and it was damp. The mist of the clouds covered us. Even our eyelashes got those little sparkles of dew on them. We turned back to insure enough time to catch the bus, plus it was getting increasingly colder. On the way back to the bus we ran into a group of 7 people. I felt SO much relief. They spoke Spanish, so I figured they knew how the bus system worked around there. We sort of just followed their lead.

I should remind you that there are no bus stops out in the middle of nowhere, so there are no guarantees that a bus will stop where you are at. By this time it was intensely cold, and no cars were coming. After about 5 minutes a pack of cars came around the corner. Several of them had their emergency lights on because of the thick fog. Among them was a bus. We waved for them to stop, but they continued to drive. The other group of people held up there thumbs to every passing car to hitch hike. I asked Danny why the bus didn't stop, and he wasn't sure. There was about a 5 minute span of silence with no cars. Then a fleet came around the corner, with no bus. This pattern continued for about a half hour.

Meanwhile I was running laps all around the area to stay warm. I had lost the feeling in my hands, and I was anxious because it was getting late. The other group started yelling out, “Colectivos!” Which is there word for buses. Another group of cars came, and this time there was a bus! I waved my arms like a madwoman, but it did not stop. Okay, now I was really worried. Why weren't they stopping? I was praying like crazy that a bus would come. We were so cold. I started sprinting and swinging my arms back and forth to stay warm. After another 5 minutes there was a bus, and it stopped. Oh my goodness, we were SO excited. That was the happiest I've ever felt to ride a bus in my life. We climbed on, and realized there were no seats available. We had to stand most of the bus ride back, we honestly didn't mind though. We were so thankful to be safe on a warm bus. People started getting off the bus toward the end of our journey, so we got a seat for the last 15 minutes of our trip back home. The whole experience was adventurous and much better then we were both expecting. To see more pics you can go to Danny's Flickr page: flickr.com/photos/dvarner/