No idea what I was in for

My luck in having a successful traveling day did not continue into Saturday. I had plans to visit the museums, all of which were closed. The hostal owner recommended I go to “Las Cabras de Cafayate.” I had no idea what “cabra” meant and had no idea what I was in for. I was told it was only 1 km away—it was 2 km—but I still walked it to find that it was a goat farm. Cabra means goat. So I took a tour of this goat farm for 10 pesos. The guide explained the different kinds of goats, the different groups they had set up, and how the farm runs. The most interesting part was entering the building where they milk the goats. They put the goat’s head through a grate, which then locks itself in place so the goat can’t move around. Like any living thing, the goats don’t seem to like this very much, and with such stress, they don’t give milk. To solve this problem, they play classical music to calm the goats, and believe that classical music in particular improves the milk, and in turn the cheese. It all sounded pretty entertaining to me, but if it works, why not?

After a nice trek back to the center of town, I ate lunch. Literally twenty minutes later I had taken a taxi outside of the pueblo to climb a path to see las cascadas (the waterfalls). Once again, I had no idea what I was in for. I thought I’d be able to walk it alone, and my taxi driver had told me it would take me no longer than an hour. Wrong on both accounts. I ended up with a guide without asking for one. Gustavo gives free tours in order to maintain the sanctity of nature that exists on these mountains and waterfalls. And when I say “sanctity” I mean it in its purest form. There are no set trails. You have to adjust to what nature gives you, and what it has to offer isn’t always the safest. We climbed up rocks, down rocks, through caves, across the river back and forth, jumping onto rocks and holding onto trees (not cacti, those we had to be careful not to grab for if we started to slip). I don’t think I can fully capture the intenseness of this trip, and I doubt my pictures will give you any idea. Thank goodness I had Gustavo with me. He told me that a few weeks ago a young girl from Germany hadn’t taken the advice to have a guide and fell down one of the mountains, busted her head, and just barely survived.

After two hours of climbing, I saw two of the waterfalls. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time (or energy) to go further, and the one-hour trek back was much easier. Shortly after, I was once again on the bus for four hours winding through the mountains. It was a jam-packed two days, and it was worth every peso (and every drop of sweat), but I am grateful to have Sunday to recover.