20-11-2010 El Garganta del Diablo, well actually the bit beside it.
He was just around the corner. At the stone seats where the couple had stopped. He looked like he didn't want to go any further and was panting heavily. A dry heavy pant. The sun was directly overhead and there was no shade. He crawled under my pannier when I arrived as that provided the only protection from the sun's rays. He was young, bigger than a puppy, maybe a year old.
20-11-2010 The hound in the shade of my pannier
It was 30 degrees and there was no natural water around except for the river which was a significant drop below. I had a litre of water on me, and plenty inside me, so the hound got hand fed my half litre of cold mineral water from the bottle. We got a fair amount in and another fair amount dribbled down his chin. We started from the front, but found a bit less dribble happened when I poured from his left hand side. He licked the bottle dry once it was empty and looked down at the watery patch below his chin and decided that there was nothing to drink there and came back for another lick of the bottle. That being all done, I gave him a kiwi fruit, which he sooked at rather comically before deciding to eat the whole thing, skin and all. I set off, dog following, guiding the little fella back to where he left that morning, another 35km back.
20-11-2010 The river, a little too far below
A couple of km down the road there was a little pottery shop which sold water. I got one for the two of us. I filled my bike bottle and the hound took the rest. He was panting a little less heavily then and drooling a bit which looked more healthy.
I stopped for a chat with a guy selling empanadas at the side of the road. Once he heard of the little dog's big road trip, he kindly provided a free lunch for him. We carried on at 10-15km/hr, so as not to exhaust him, and then struck gold: a path down to the river. I had to lead him down, he wouldn't go on his own, but when he got there his tail was wagging like the wind was blowing it. A good cooling dip, a very long drink, half a packet of my biscuits, and he was looking very healthy for the first time since I'd found him.
20-11-2010 The hound finally gets to the river
The hills were gently rolling, but the bike was moving faster than I wanted to push the hound. I got up to 68km/hr going down one hill and rolled to the summit at the following one and stopped there. He came racing to the top of the hill just a minute behind. I stopped to let him get his breath back then on our way again. He would give out a bark and a whine if I got more than a couple of hundred metres ahead and so we continued to Cafayate, me rolling ahead and stopping for him to catch up.
20-11-2010 The hound in the shade at the top of the hill
I stopped at a farmhouse to buy some cheese and the little fella went inside a barn for some shade. Getting on my way, the lady at the farm said that I couldn't leave him there as she already had five dogs. I assured her that my amigo knew when he had it good and would follow me shortly. He was back on all fours by the time that I got to the gate.
It was mid afternoon and a little later than planned for lunch when we got to Cafayate. There was a pizza joint open with tables outside. I sat down and my hound sat under the table. Within 10 minutes he was breathing deep and heavy. The breathing of a sleeping dog. A shaggy sheep dog like hound that was walking by stopped and gave him a prod with his nose. The result was a grumpy growl of one just awoken. The sheep dog took a step back and looked at the little fella and then at me. I followed up with a second growl and the sheep dog scarperred off. The deep breathing was back within five minutes.
My salami, olive and mushroom pizza eaten, except for one slice reserved for my amigo, I left the restaurant, turned the corner and he was up and following me with a look that said he didn't want to go too far. Not another 35km. I stopped there and fed him his slice which he wolfed down, including the olive which fell off, which I thought was an acquired taste. Then sat down next to the bench there and got a final scratch behind the ear before I parted from my responsibility for the day. Safely delivered back to where he came from, after 70km of brisk walkies.
20-11-2010 The fertile green land on the approach into the wine gowning region around Cafayte.
20-11-2010 A big stoney thing
20-11-2010 A dry tributary
20-11-2010 The river widens in the open plain
No comments:
Post a Comment