ARGENTINA Atuel Canyon

I thought this was going to be a wasted day tour, part way through our 500km round trip, mostly through semi-desert scrub land. We had been driven through the charming city of San Raphael but then we had 15 minutes to look at a very boring dam that had created an even more boring lake. But back in the minibus we started our descent into Atuel canyon - very narrow dirt road with too many bends to count but spectacular scenery. Down in the canyon we followed the river (flow controlled by the dam) on its winding path. If I had been driving I would have stopped to take at lest 100 photos on the nearly 2 hour drive. We just paused, several times, so that we could look at a rock eroded to look like a penguin, for example - so what! Let's look at the strata, the colours, the types of rock, the fragility of the canyon walls with so many fissures. It was a marvellous experience and something I was not expecting and goes to the No. 1 spot! The locals can quite rightly say that they have a mini Grand canyon and Bryce canyon rolled into one.

We climbed up out of the canyon, still enjoying great views, to the second dam which has flooded the latter part of the canyon, creating an interesting lake with a few power boats circling. The controlled release of water from this second dam has given the river constant and predictable rapids which were being enjoyed by hundreds of campers and visitors. Rafting was the key sport and as we started our long drive home, there were a few miles of the river which were providing pleasure.