My second day in Chile and anxious to see the world famous Andes, I took a bus up a nearby canyon: El Cajon del Maipo. I spent the first night in San Jose, the largest town in the canyon. I hung out in the plaza for several hours that night with a group of people my age. Among other things, they entertained me with the "beatbox." Remember how white rappers in the eighties would spit into the palms of their hands to make a beat? They taught me a lot about their canyon and gave me insight into where I might find a kayak. By the end of the night, it felt like they were old buddies.
I skipped breakfast the next morning and tried to find my way out of town. I met two 20 year old girls who were volunteer firefighters headed to the same village as me. We were going to share a taxi until one of them suddenly threw her thumb up. So we rode in a dump truck instead.
I found my way to the house of the man who runs the rafting company, only to learn that every kayak in the canyon had been taken to the Rio Aconcagua for the International Slalom Kayak Championships. I decided I would spend the day wandering around in the canyon then go to the Rio Aconcagua that afternoon.
I walked a few kilometers up the canyon (that´s a couple miles to the lay-person) and stopped for lunch. I enjoyed a chicken sandwich in the comfort of somebody's living room and then continued up the canyon. I saw a cool peak and thought I might climb up a bit to get a better view of the taller peaks. I stopped and bought an orange and a liter of pineapple juice to be sure I would be well nourished and I started climbing.
Surprisingly, I made it to the top in just four hours and the the view was like nothing I had ever seen. On my way down the sun began to set, so rather than mess with buses and hotels late at night, I decided to stay on the mountain. By 9:00 pm I had found a great place to sleep. I put on all the clothing I had and lay down on the empty daypack. That was when I realized that the southern hemisphere shares the equatorial constellations, except Orion the Hunter was doing a hand-stand.
The stubborn sky finally lightened after nine miserable hours of counting stars and shivering.
