Trips only in 4x4 trucks
Safari to the Calchaquíes Valleys
2 days 1 night
Day 1
It's a very nice program visiting some villages and small towns, having contact with locals and enjoing the nature.
The first journey we start in Salta at 8:30 am driving to the west, through a paved road at the begining, but after few kilometers, and when we start to ascend, conditions changes. We will go up the famous Cuesta del Obispo, it has a difference of altitude of 1100 mts in 20 kms, reaching 3348 m.a.s.l. in Piedra del Molino into Parque Nacional Los Cardones.
Once there, we will descend to Valle Encantado, an small valley that marks a transition between two ecoregions: Monte and Pre-puna. If weather permits we might be gifted with the majestic flight of a condor over us.
After Valle Encantado, about 40 kms further away, we will visit Valle de Tonco a place unknown for most of the people and which entrance is restricted just for tourist operators with an special permission gived by Administracion de Parques Nacionales. There we will see a geological formation called Yacoraite, the same one that you could see in the famous Cerro de los Siete Colores, but here is its greatest expression.
Continuing with our trip, after we left Parque Nacional Los Cardones, we will take across Payogasta village and few minutes later we will arrive to Cachi to have lunch,and visit its picturesque chapel and the archeological museum.
Going to the south our route continue on the famous Ruta 40 through other small villages such as: San Jose, Seclantás and finally Molinos also known as "the poncho's capitol". Molinos has an historical chapel built in the XVIIth. century and a Vicuñas breeding place that belongs to a local artisanal cooperative. In Molinos we spend our first night in a hotel or an inn depending on your interests
Day 2
On the next day we leave Molinos continuing over national route 40 and we get another small village named Angastacoo (means in indian language "Village of the high spring"), where at his time it's building a new hotel named "Fuerte de Angastaco", name come from the original indian fortress situated at only 150 mts. form this place and was an importan place 700 years ago, where the indians divided two differents etnias between the Pulares indian in the north and the Calchaquíes in the south part of the valley.
After Angastaco, we will start to see one of the most extrange landscapes in south america know like "Quebrada de Las Flechas", favotite place of geologist and the strong contrast between desert, green valley and snow caped mountains on the back ground take your brith away.
After that, another small village comes again like San Carlos with his spanish architecture and it's old church from 1850 transport you to the spanish empire times on XVII and XVIII century.
After San Carlos we get into the most important wineyards area os Salta, first Animaná (name of the local indian tribe) and finaly the small city of Cafayate with 10.000 habitants sourounded by winerys and extended wineyards. Some of them are posible to take a guided tour to see the wine process an then test the differents kind of wine maded.
After lunch we return to Salta over a nice asfalt route with many places to stop to take pictures at the extrange rock formations modelated by wind and water erotion since many thousand years ago. The name of the canyon is Quebrada del Rio Las Conchas and will conect us to Lerma Valley again where is Salta city over the southern part. Time to arrive to Salta estimate arround 6:00 PM.
Options on this trip
3 days 2 nights with the follow itinerary: Salta - Cachi (night) - Molinos - Angastaco - Cafayate (night) - Ruinas de Quilmes (visiting an old indian settelment)- Cafayate - Salta.
3 days y 2 nights ending in Tucumán: Salta - Cachi (night) - Molinos - Angastaco - Cafayate (night) - Ruinas de Quilmes - Amaicha del Valle - Tafí el Valle - SM de Tucumán.
Any of this options is possible to do in both directions, starting in Salta or in Tucumán
Ruinas de Quilmes and church of Villa Nougués (prov. de Tucumán)