Quebrada de los Condoritos

I had been wondering why it had been so hard to find a place to stay in Córdoba. Usually, I just show up in a place, and call one of the hotels or hostels in my travel guide, and off I go. But Córdoba, I had to call 5 or 6 places, they were all full. Which was weird, because it's mid-week, and the off-season, and Córdoba's not exactly tourist destination #1. But I found out when the group with whom I was going hiking came to pick me up on Thursday morning; there is a pediatrician's conference in town, with 8000 doctors from all across the country attending seminars and the like. Two of the 3 other people in the group were pediatricians who had chosen to skip out on the day's proceedings in search of some fresh air. (I have to say, it's sort of reassuring to know you have two doctors along when you venture out into the wilderness...)

Martin, our tour guide ( complete with Argentinian mini-mullet) drove us in his little red truck the two hours on a twisting winding mountain road out to the Quebrada de los Condoritos national park. We were to hike 10km each way to this gorge with a combination of conditions that attracts Andean condors and their young, as well as all kinds of other birds of prey. The word condoritos in the title of the park refers to baby condors; the gorge being only a kilometre wide, it is the perfect place for condors to teach their young how to fly.

Now, I must admit that I'm not a huge animal buff. I mean, I think it's as cool as anyone to see a deer or moose or rabbit when I'm out hiking, but that's where it ends. And birds, well, they all look the same to me. So when I was inquiring about going out hiking and the only trip that was leaving this one, to see condors, I was like "Great, a bird-watching hike. Everyone will spend the whole trip polishing their binoculars and practicing their bird calls..."

But, condors are COOL! I was surprised. Their wing span is 3 meters, and they flap, like, once and glide for like 10 minutes. And when there's a bunch of them flying over you, it's quite impressive. And the hike was nice - through this exposed pampa grassland, and some small rocky hills. There were some nice views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The long yellow pampa grass has this neat iridescent quality when it blows in the wind.

And of course, it was inevitable. I was asked, once again, the question I think I've been asked the most from the people I've met, after all the typical, " Where are you from, etc.." Remember the scene in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, where, to show the cultural differences in attitudes towards guns and violence, Moore goes to Windsor, or something and, like, walks up and into someone's unlocked house? I've been asked SO MANY TIMES, "Do Canadians really leave their doors unlocked?" Bowling for Columbine must have been really popular here, either that or no one has seen any other Canadian movies. Oh wait, I did meet a couple of people who had seen Les Invasions Barbares, and wanted to know if that's what Canadian hospitals are really like, and if the labour unions really have that much influence...