Woke with sore legs and decided to have a rest day. Mr. Guemes had a chat with us at breakfast and recommended a trip to Cerro Otto which could be reached on foot from the B&B. The weather was still sunny and calm so we set off and enjoyed a ridge type walk through mature woodland, past boulders and cliffs (where the army were training) and a small ski station. The sun was warming the air, rising up the face of the ridge and providing a group of 8 condors with a poweful thermal which they were enjoying directly above us. They circled the ridge and, once high enough, effortlessly glided east towards the flat pampas. When we eventually reached the rotating restaurant we were stopped by a man in uniform demanding an entrance fee whilst music blared from speakers above his head. We thought there was a mistake and asked how we got into the restaurant as we only wanted a coffee. He pushed his shades down and said, ‘This is the restaurant!’. We saw other people turning away and wondered how many customers they lost every day. We walked 100m past the cable car entrance next to the restaurant and discovered a quiet area away from the music where we could just enjoy the amazing view and paraponters gliding with condors directly above them. Later whilst having a coffee in town we decided that tomorrow we needed a proper rest that didn’t involve using our legs and we would try and avoid listening to Mr.Guemes attractive days out suggestions…they were too tempting to ignore!
