Northwest Argentina: Wine and The Desert

Although it took much effort, we were finally able to drag ourselves away from the bustle of Buenios Aires and headed toward the northwest corner of Argentina, bordering Chile and Bolivia. Our time in Argentina was coming to an end, and although there is so much more to this country that we have to leave for next time, we have enjoyed what areas we were able to see and felt that some time in Argentina's wine country was a good way to say good-bye.

First, we stopped over in Salta, a nice medium sized city, to rest from our long bus ride. We then headed a few hours south to Cafayate. The area around Mendoza in Argentina is known for its red wine made from Malbec grapes, which we have sampled in restaurants throughout Argentina. However, Cafayate is known for its white Torrontes, although there are also a few red wines floating around as well. The torronte grape grows particularly well in the Cafayate valley. The small town itself is surrounded by miles of vineyards and miles of desert. We spent two days walking and biking to the various vineyards for tastings and then one day touring the surrounding desert.

After we felt well informed enough to settle on our favorite white and red wines to purchase, we hit the road again heading back north to Jujuy, another medium sized city. North of Jujuy are some beautiful desert areas and we spent one night Purmamarca. Although tourists may flock to this town, they are completely justified by the colors of the surrounding landscape. Most famous is a large hill overshadowing the town that´s known for having 7 different colors of rocks in various layered formations -- hence the name ¨7 Colors Hill¨. Although this hill was very beautiful, we were particularly struck by the hills we saw on an afternoon walk as these same 7 colors were repeated in more isolated forms. There would be one hill that was bright orange, while the hill next to it was purple (yes, it was actually purple even if the camera did not quite pick it up).

Some of our pictures have been updated from the past few days, while others we have not had the chance to upload. Additionally, more desert pictures are on the way as we are preparing for a 4 day tour of the Salt Flats in Bolivia. (And yes, for those who know Kendra well and have ever had the unfortunate experience of talking about the desert with her, she is in heaven here).