San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina

Two weekends ago I traveled to San Rafael, Mendoza with my program CEA.  There were about 45 of us on the trip to Mendoza, which is considered the wine country of Argentina.  There are vineyards everywhere and is located near the Andes. In fact where we stayed, Cabañas del Cerro, was located right in between the mountains and next to a river. So gorgeous. 


Friday, April 1st (HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! :))

View outside our cabañas

Success!

We got to San Rafael at about 8:00AM after a 13-hour bus ride.  I was able to sleep most of the time and woke up to an amazing view of the sunrise over the mountains.  As we kept going the view changed, but was still just as beautiful.  We drove between mountains then got to our cabañas.  We had a small breakfast of medialunas, coffee, and Tang, and then had a few hours to explore before lunch.  Some of us went for a walk in the hopes of climbing a mountain.  We all kind of split up, but a group of us ended up crossing the river in our bare feet, then walking through this really dense brush to get the base of the mountain.  On our second try, we found a way up the mountain and climbed to the top. It wasn't the tallest mountain around, but it was a great view from the top and a work out getting there!  We found a better place to walk down the back of the mountain and then walked in a dried up riverbed to get back to the big river.  Apparently they had a very dry winter with little rain and snow so all of the rivers are very low at the moment.  We all crossed the river and made it back to the cabañas with lots of scrapes on our legs and hands, but feeling accomplished, definitely worth it.  

View from the mountain we climbed

Beach at the reservoir

We got back and had a lunch of noodles with a choice of both meat and red sauce or white and red sauce mixed.  They offered a great salad bar with lots of different veggies and fresh bread with every meal.  So after we ate dinner and an ice cream dessert, we all put on swimsuits and headed off for our program planned "adventure."  No one really knew exactly what we were doing, but we loaded into two small Extremo buses and started to wind our way up the mountain.  Literally winding.  We got to the top and were at a giant blue reservoir held by the dam.  It is such an amazing sight and the water is such a vivid color.  We all got loaded up with lifejackets and paddles and walked down some winding stairs to the lake.  We were split into small rafting boats and paddled across to a nice sandy beach.  Since the lake is so deep, to swim we had to wear lifejackets.  It was fine though because the water was so cold we didn't stay in long.  I went to walk around with a couple people.  There was a big blue house on the top of a dune so we walked to it and ended up climbing onto the porch.  There were some broken windows and the rooms looked really messy with old sheets and mattresses so it was obviously abandoned.  I asked a guide later and he said people stay there during the summer season.  After that though we ran back across the burning sand and laid out for a little while until Gabby, our program coordinator said it was time to go.  Back at the cabañas we went to the local supermarket to get some drinks for later and then headed to dinner.  We were served chicken and mashed potatoes and of course, fresh salad bar.  After dinner we went to another cabaña and hung out on the balcony talking with kids from the program. We ended up moving to the pavement down on the ground.  The sky view there, like in Cabo Polonio, is amazing.  Also like in Cabo, we spent the night just sitting outside looking at the stars and talking.  Such a great way to end a day. 


Saturday, April 2nd

About to go rappelling- I was a little nervous..

Rubio Winery

I woke up around 9:00AM for breakfast- medialunas, cereal, fruit and milk!! Such a nice surprise to have milk to drink with breakfast. I hadn't realized how little milk I drink here or how much I missed it.  It tasted pretty much like normal milk too, which most of the time, it doesn’t. After breakfast we had the option to go zip lining and rappelling or hanging out at the hotel.  I opted for the zip lining since I had never been before.  I was expecting like a long zip line, but was a little disappointed when it lasted maybe five seconds and was over a small area.  It was still cool to go though, and the rappelling made up for it!  I was very nervous before going down, hands shaking and everything, but I made it down safely.  It wasn't a hug mountainside, but walking backwards down it was such a rush!  We got back with enough time to jump in the pool (freezing) and sit out for a while before lunch.  After lunch we left for a couple winery tours.  Unfortunately we didn't get to do real wine tasting at the wineries, but it was still cool to see the rows and rows of grapes and then the process they go through to be made into that delicious Argentine wine.  The first winery we went to, Suter was bigger and more commercial.  They have a very deep basement with wine dating back to 1924.  Before we left we had the chance to buy some of their wine.  You could buy indivdual bottles for as little as 8 pesos (2 USD) or six bottles for about 65 pesos (17 USD!). I may have picked up a couple souvenirs for family back home. :)

Rubio Malbec grapes

Next we stopped at the Rubio family winery.  This one was smaller and family owned.  They had a bunch of animals, like pigs, chickens, geese, peacocks, and even a llama. They also had little baby pigs running around, very cute.  We had a small tour and tasted some of the grapes.  They all have seeds, but are so sweet and delicious. No wonder they make great wine!  We had time again to buy some things at the store- dried fruit, jam, wine, chocolate, and vegetables.  We left the wineries pretty tired and ready for teatime.  That was another thing we got each day.  In between lunch and dinner we had "tea time" with coffee, tea, and different kinds of pie.  After tea time that day some of us went on a walk until it started getting dark then headed back to the cabañas to hang out before dinner.  Dinner that night was pizza with ham, olives, and cheese and then ice cream for dessert.  That night was a girl in the program's 21st birthday so we had a little party with a small bonfire.  


Sunday, April 3rd

View of the reservoir

Our last day in Mendoza we got up for breakfast around 9:00 then went out to the same reservoir for a boat ride around it and more beach time.  This was an optional adventure so not every one came along.  The boat we were on, called a catamaran, had a roof you could sit on during the tour.  So of course, people in my program turned it into a dance party when the guide was done talking and turned on some music.  It was a beautiful day and just an overall fun morning.  We got back to the hotel for lunch then had a long time to just hag out since our bus returning to Buenos Aires didn't leave until 7:00PM.  We all hung out by the pool and some people got professional massages by the river.  I didn't get one, but how relaxing!? After a while everyone packed up their stuff and we had one last teatime, complete with a round of "Feliz Cumpleaños" for the two birthday girls in the group.  Then it was time to load up the bus and say goodbye to the fresh air and mountains of San Rafael, Mendoza. 

All of CEA group 2!