Cuesta del Viento

Four hours we drove by car through desert and valleys, through a landscape with impressive barrenness and mountains in various shades of red, brown, and black. The last meters you drive through narrow passages of rocks before you reach the 'Cuesta del Viento' - the slope of the wind. The sight of the turquoise sparkling lake surrounded by rugged mountains in the middle of the Andes - we were speechless.

When we arrived in Rodeo, the village by the lake, we were initially disappointed. Barely paved streets, many half-finished mud houses at an extremely low standard made us swallow hard. Additionally, there was a storm at 8 degrees for which we were not at all equipped. And we were going to stay here for four days?

Fortunately, the storm calmed down overnight, but the cold brought fresh snow to the mountains, making the wind extremely cold. As a result, we were the only ones brave enough to venture into the water at the kite spot for the first few days. Luki lasted a whole hour, Kathrin half an hour in the water before we came out with numb fingers. But the opportunity to kite in this scenery was worth it.

We seemed to be the only non-Argentinians in the whole town, which quickly earned us the name of the 'German-Couple' - we stood out.

Fortunately, the temperatures rose, so that on day three, Argentine vacationers came by for the weekend and we were no longer alone on the water in pleasant temperatures.

The spot is a kite dream in terms of landscape and with almost 100% wind reliability. The wind starts from the mountains punctually at noon and builds up to gusty 25-35 knots (up to 40 knots in the evening), so that we mostly needed our small kites.

Our initial skepticism towards Rodeo quickly disappeared. Once you have accepted the fact that you have to shop in the small local supermarket with a limited selection and that there is no other Western luxury, the place definitely has its charm. On top of that, there were 'our' dogs. Suri was practically our house dog. She greeted us in the morning or when we came back to the house after kiting, and she even accompanied us on our morning run, which earned us the anger of all the street and farm dogs that barked and chased us away. Besides Suri, there were two German Shepherd puppies. If we weren't at the beginning of our journey, we would have taken one with us.

For anyone looking for a unique kite spot far away from all the kite destinations, Rodeo is definitely recommended.