Last Saturday, I think I found the second most beautiful place in Argentina.

Megan, Cristina, Ines and I joined other students from our facultad on a trekking trip in the Quebradas de los Condoritos. It was around a 1.5 hour drive away in the Sierras of the Córdoba province.

When we arrived, it was freezing cold. We were lucky the sun was out, but that still didn’t help much. We were also lucky we were told to bundle up, but that also didn’t help out very much. What I’m trying to say here is that it was cold.

We spent about 20 minutes on the first part of our hike. We ended up getting warm from walking, so we shed a few layers. Soon we ended up on a cliff face overlooking nothing but clouds. It was almost as though we were flying. All we could see were clouds covering up the views below. It was incredible and we hadn’t even arrived at our destination.

After more hiking (and a few close calls slipping on rocks), we finally reached our destination at the beginning of the park. After that, our group of around 35 split into two. My group hiked down to the river, set in a valley between two of the mountains. Getting there involved several close calls of falling off the mountain and crossing an unstable bridge that could only hold up to 8 people at a time.

The hike back up to the beginning of the park was a few rocks and steps short of hell (ok, so definitely not that bad but I’ve always wanted to say something like that. Humor me.). I had to stop several times in order to catch my breath. It’s not that I’m out of shape, it’s just that I have basically lived at or below sea level my entire life.

We then headed to the Balcón del Norte (North Balcony) for some good views of the condors that live in the park. We were not disappointed. There was a whole group of them just chilling out on an overhang in the mountain across from us, and there were several regularly taking flight in the sky.

The hike back up from here was not as bad as that from the river.

The whole time I was awestruck by the beauty of the place. I am so incredibly lucky to be living where I am. We have amazing places like this only a bus ride away. I am also incredibly lucky to have made the friends I have made while I am here. They are the ones that make these adventures worthwhile.