The next
morning we got our transport for the day: one horse (James), three mules
(Anita, Christelle and Jared), one pack mule and one donkey (guess who!).
The next 4
hrs the mules jostled for position up almost impossible steep tracks (at times
stairs) with vertical cliffs on one side. It was hilarious to hear all the
shouts of encouragements to the not so energetic steeds; the donkey especially
was dragged up the Andes most of the time.
The scenery was
absolutely stunning and changed gradually from green pastures to fynbos to
sparsely vegetated rock. We passed close by Pico Bolivar
(highest at 5007m) and glacier.
We reached the
highest point Alto Cruz at 4500m above sea level and the mules returned to Los
Nevados. After a snack and rest we shouldered our packs for the 3 hr descend to
Pedro’s Place.
It was
bitterly cold now and we had layers of almost all our clothing on.
We reached
hermit Pedro’s cabin and was welcomed with a secret recipe herbal tea that we
promptly flooded with rum!
 |
| Jared enjoying "tea". |
 |
| Pedro and Anita |
 |
| Pedro's mud cabin |
We had a
cold but interesting evening with Pedro, playing dominoes and finishing off the
heavy rum we were carrying over the
Andes.
 |
| Ice cold dormitory |
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| Pedro's grandfather. (first man to reach Pico Bolivar) |
The next
morning after a hearty breakfast (cooked over fire), we started the last 3 hr
descend that delivered “awesome”(Anita) views and took two big toe nails(Jaco)!
 |
| Everlasting James and Anita near her end. |
We were met
by the same small SUV and driver Snot at the bottom.
