We arrived into Salta on a wet Sunday afternoon so not the best first impressions given everyone seemed to be indoors! However our Airbnb apartment here is stunning, very trendy, right in the centre and the girls have their own rooms so they’re very pleased. Things improved the next morning when the world was once again out on the streets. Spent the morning strolling the pedestrian shopping streets, so many shops and people although got the impression not a lot of purchasing happening. The shops often had signs offering free credit so definitely not an economic upturn yet. Our only purchase was some new shorts for Hatty in one of the multiple sports shops – we saw more than any other type of shop?!

Late afternoon we walked up the Cerro De St Bernardo, a short sharp ascent behind the town which rewarded us with great views of Salta, although still not yet the Andes with the low hanging cloud. We did the tourist thing and took the cable car back down, much the girls delight getting people to wave to them. Stu picked up our huge pick up truck ready for the next few days’ roadtrips. Salta isn’t that far from the Bolivian and Chilean borders and in the foothills of the Andes, and after just a  couple of days you can definitely notice the difference with the people, the culture, there is much less of a Western European influence and much purer South American Andean identity.

We headed north of Salta for the first day, taking the scenic route as suggested by the tourist information. Scenic yes, rather nerve wracking too however! Stu did a great job driving along a constantly twisting road, neither side being wide enough to fit a car, with a sheer drop on one side at most times. It was stunning through lush greenery winding up and down hills. Katie clung on for dear life and the children….well the children slept! We arrived at our first destination, Purmamarca in one piece, although all rather relieved to get out of the car.

Purmamarca is a tiny village famous for its stunning Seven Colours Hill which towers above it. Will let the photos do the talking as it was slightly surreal, waves and waves of different colours of rock. We took a walk around the hill and felt like we’d stumbled into a film set, just amazing. After a quick snack of cheese and ham tortillas (our standard diet the last three weeks and a bargain at 80p each) it was back into the car to drive even windier roads (although thankfully a bit wider) going higher and higher, up to 4,170m at one point then down to the Salinas Grandes salt flats. Another film set moment! We drove our car behind a guide onto the salt flats to see them up close. Unfortunately he only spoke Spanish so Stu got the gist of the history, the rest of us just looked around awe struck. We did the standard comedy pics, the girls having raided the kitchen before we left! Thankfully decided against the scenic route back and 4 slightly more straight forward hours later we were home, the driver having a well deserved beer.

Next day it was time to head south of Salta, heading for Cafayate. What we hadn’t appreciated was that this would be an even more stunning drive! We drove through the Quebrada de las Conches, a long valley where every turn of the road revealed a different coloured rock formation, each one more impressive than the last. It was all simply stunning, and thankfully a bit lower down than yesterday driving through the valley alongside a river, although there were frequent dips in the road where the river tributaries flow in the wet season, currently very dry. Very grateful for our massive car here!

 

 

After checking into our rather serene hotel a quick taxi took us to the Finca Las Nubes, a relaxed vineyard with amazing views over Cafayate out to the mountains beyond. We wiled away the afternoon, in the shade of a tree, enjoying lunch and sampling wines produced from vines growing meters away – just perfect and at around £6/bottle it would have been rude not to. A quick dip in the pool back in the hotel refreshed us all – rather chilly!

Thankfully the heads weren’t too sore next morning ready for the drive back to Salta after a light breakfast of cheese and ham toasties, fruit and medialunas (sweet croissants) . We made multiple stops this time along the road with so many amazing natural rock formations and views to gaze upon. Highlights were the Garganta del Diablo (or devil’s throat) where we all scrambled up rocks inside, admiring the incredible natural amphitheatre; and Los Colorados, which was huge red rocks with small caves to explore. With a peanut butter roll lunch – travel is definitely not always glamorous – we headed back to Salta passing some gauchos on their horses along the way….one on his mobile so not completely traditional! We handed the truck back and headed to our lovely apartment to cook dinner and chill for the evening!

One final day ahead of us in Salta which will be a day of local sightseeing, some homeschooling and domestic travel admin i.e. washing, cleaning, planning and booking accommodation, etc. before we fly south to Mendoza, for even bigger mountains to be awe struck by and explore, and the premium wine producing region in Argentina. The adventure continues.

 

S, K, L & H x