We said goodbye to Iguazu Falls this morning
and flew to Salta which is in Northwestern Argentina at the foothills
of the Andes mountains.
We rented a small car and started a mini-road trip around the Northwest of Argentina. We would drive from Salta south to Cafayate and then turn back north to explore Quebrada de Humahuaca north of Salta for a few days before going back to Salta again. The northwest Argentina is famous for its geology, native culture, and wine.
Three hour drive south from Salta, Cafayate is the second premium wine region in
Argentina after Mendoza.
As we got near
to Cafayate, the road started to climb higher into the mountain and soon we entered a spectacular scenic valley called Quebrada de las Conchas which is filled with strange rock formations.
There is a deep canyon called Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat again. It seems like they name everything scary after Devil). There is a huge vertical hollow eroded into a
cliff side called El
Anfiteatro
(Amphitheater) and giant rock slabs that shaped like a castle (Los
Castillos).
Soon, we entered the windy
and dusty Calchaqui Valley with rows upon rows of grapes (now dormant as it was winter here) and many many
vineyards called bodegas.
We were pleasantly surprised by how nice our hotel is. The room was big and they had a very pretty garden and many orange trees.
They even had baskets of ripe and sweet oranges
for the guests to enjoy.
Finding a place to eat here turned out to be
very hard work. We could not figure out why most restaurants were closed and then it dawned on us that they only open late around 7:30p to 8p. It's hard to
adjust to this late dinner time for us early bird.
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| We can see the wide Iguazu River and the mist cloud that the Iguazu Falls make from our plane |
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| Outside the canyon going into Garganta del Diablo (dry version) |
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| It is a deep canyon eroded from the rock cliff |
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| Outtside the Amphitheatre formation |
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| How this huge hollow is created and eroded so symmetrically is hard to explain |
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| Strange rock formation in Quebrada de las Conchas |
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| Beautiful landscape on our way to Cafayate |
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| This one is called the Obelisk |
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| Spectacular scenery everywhere you turn |
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| This massive rock complex is called The Castle. |
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| Our hotel in Cafayate is very classy |
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| It has a beautiful backyard garden with flowers and orange trees |
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| The Catedral in Cafayate |
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