The Southern Hemisphere...and beyond: December 2010

THURSDAY 12/30/10 – SATURDAY 01/01/11

I headed to Salta to meet up with some close friends from Minnesota, Hillary and Jason Plank. They flew straight from the U.S. to Buenos Aires then to Salta to spend New Year’s with me. Salta ended up being a very abrupt change for me after settling into the slow pace of the small towns I had previously visited. I was not ready to be in a city again (albeit, a small one of 1 million inhabitants).

starting the day off right

Legislatura de Salta

Plaza Güemes

Plaza 9 de Julio

We did spend New Year’s Eve day taking it pretty easy and began our celebrations with a lot of bubbly and cheese in Hillary and Jason’s vintage hotel room.

getting ready for the celebrations

Jason poppin' the cork

brindis!

the spread: apples, Pringles, Cadbury chocolate, bread, cheese, alfajores

We then wandered onto the main street, Balcarce, for a bit of a touristy peña. We had a blast watching the different costumes of the dancers…and eventually joined the dancing!!

la cena

feliz año nuevo!

Peña los Cardones

us with the dancers

TUESDAY 12/28/10 – WEDNESDAY 12/29/10

As I stated before, the landscape in the northwest region changes constantly, but just to see the diversity within a 50 kilometer radius, it was impressive and left me wanting to see more.

the drive into Cafayate

Quebrada de las Conchas

On our first morning in Cafayate, after a wonderful run in the rain with vineyards on either side and mountains all around, the sky cleared and Meri, Javi, our friend from the hostel, Jon (Nottingham, UK), and I went on a guided tour of the Quebrada de las Conchas. A “quebrada” es a ravine, and the Quebrada de las Conchas is part of the Calchaquí Valleys (named for the native population of the region).

La Punilla

the train

the plants of the Quebrada de las Conchas

el obelisco

The next morning, I woke up, rented a bike, and headed up 5 kilometers, again with vineyards lining the dirt road, to the base of the Río Colorado. There, I hired a native guide, Franco, to take me through the series of three waterfalls. I had been advised that it was easy to navigate on one’s own, but I’m so glad that I decided to go with Franco. Being raised in the mountains, he had the knowledge of the side routes and quick paths up the side of rock faces. He also knew that we would have to start at the farthest fall and work our way down if we didn’t want to climb straight up cliff sides.

bike ride up to the Río Colorado

irrigation system from the river to the vineyards

hallucinogenic frog...lick it!

we climbed up pretty much straight from the bottom

los cardones

Franco told me about the first white man that he saw – he was fishing along the river with his friend and a tall, large man showed up with a huge camera. After communicating through gestures, they understood that he wanted them to guide him through the mountains. They led him around and at the end, the tall man motioned that he wanted to take them out to eat to thank them. This was lost in translation and they understood that he wanted to eat at their house. They brought him to their home, but he clarified that he wanted to invite them to the pueblo to eat. Having never been to the pueblo, they didn’t know how to act. They changed clothes and went down with him. Upon sitting down, they didn’t know what to order, so they ordered the same as the man – milanesa with papas fritas. With the nerves that they had, however, they couldn’t eat the meals. And now, Franco continues to lead foreigners through his mountains.

Franco