After dominating what nature had to offer, it was time to take a little time off.We took a bus to Punta Arenas, the capital of the province, and started planning our next move.
Punta Arenas is a nice, bustling town located on the shores of the Straits of Magellan and the area where hundreds of prospectors sailed as they made there way to California during the gold rush, which Adrian points out every time we pass. This he says is his favorite historical period. Nerd.
It turns out the family of Christian Santelices, the head guide on Adrian's expedition up Aconcagua, has an estancia outside of Punta Arenas.
Christian and his wife and daughter have been living and working at the estancia and hosteria the past couple of months.
So we rented a pickup truck and drove about two hours to the lovely Posada Estancia Rio Verde. We had intended on only staying one night, but had so much fun and food we stayed another night.
We also went on a horseback ride and participated (sort of) in driving the sheep into a corral at the ranch.
To clarify, when I say participated I really mean we sat on our horses as hundreds of sheep came running towards us and at the last moment these awesome herding dogs did their job and pushed the sheep through the ranch entrance. Please don't freak out on the photo below. The dogs are trained not to actually bite the sheep.
The estancia also has awesome breakfast, lunch and dinner and plenty of freshly made Pisco Sours (the national drink).So those jeans I bought in Buenos Aires - that finally fit after my nine-day trek - are now tight again.
Oh, and did I mention the puppies? The one I'm holding in this photo is named canela or cinnamon.
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