Bivouac in the middle of the cordillera - Termas Cajon Grande - Nov 2006
We continue the trip on a wonderful road, in the middle of the mountains and in a virgin nature… We really feel alone… Here, without 4X4, it would have been impossible to continue
The landscapes become more and more beautiful … Rios, water falls, green valleys, snow-covered mountains…
When we arrive at the thermal baths, we are happy… We have the choice between temperated, hot or extremely hot water...depending on the quantities of water which are deviated (you have to place stones on the way of the water) to the “thermal pools”… very hot water leaves the ground and runs in small paths … The bottom of the pools is muddy. After a few minutes to stir up mud at the bottom, water takes an ochre color (certainly due to sulfur and iron contained in the mud). While leaving the thermal baths, everyone is super relaxed
We are in the middle of nowhere at 2060 m of altitude, in a splendid cordillera, surrounded by mountains… We decide to sleep in the valley which is just before the thermal baths… Surrounded by animals which are living there. At the evening, around a fire, we hear only the Rio running, sometimes wild horses far away and noises of several kinds of birds… the children are cooking pots that they moulded in clay… They completely changed compared to the beginning of the trip… Sacha even declared: “Dad, you know, I love the planet Earth…”. The night is great...
A little bit later on the road we discover a dead animal. The children take the opportunity to check if their arrangement of the bones was correct… Sacha shouts: “We missed the horns…” Daniel cuts the horns with the axe, the children want to keep them… The horns will join the collection of shells, stones and other things which must be returned to Belgium.
These 2 days were really incredible. We realized the dream we had before arriving in South America... We were really alone in the world in the cordillera…
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