Day 1 From Lerma Valley to Calchaquies Valleys

We will start early in the morning at the place/hotel where you are staying, then we will drive up the mountain over Los Cardones National Park visiting the Enchanted Valley and then we will keep going down to Calchaquí Valley. The first village to visit will be Seclantas, it is a colonial village with fantastic 18th-century architecture and it is possible to stop there and walk around to see some of the historic buildings.
Then, we will continue over National Road 40 (unpaved) and we will cross several old villages such as Molinos, San Carlos, and Animana.
From Molinos, we will keep driving on Road 40 to a place on the way named Quebrada de Las Flechas or Arrows gorge. The name comes from the shape of white sandstones like arrows looking up at the sky. It is a place like the moon pictures; the contrast in this part of the trip is amazing. Then, a couple of hours later, we will arrive in Cafayate city to relax at the hotel and you can have a nice dinner in one of the restaurants in front of the main square.

Day 2 Ascent to Puna de Atacama region

After breakfast, another day begins, another great day in one of the most deserted and highest areas in our country. A few kilometers away from Cafayate, we will cross over Tucuman province. Then, we will keep driving in our 4x4 truck into Catamarca province, where we will slowly go up into a fantastic scenery road over dunes, high deserts, salt flats, lakes, and high mountains. Right at the time of sunset, we will go into the protected area named Campo de Piedra Pomez where we will use our 4x4 system to not get stuck in the sand. Once we get to the right place to pull over, we can get out of the truck and walk over the white desert and watch one of the best and most dramatic landscapes of Argentina. We will be at 3500m above sea level. On the way back we will not return over the same way to the main road, we will drive over de volcanic ashes field to Volcan Carachi where we will stop in a beautiful lake nearby to see flamingos

After visiting this amazing place, we will get back to the main road and keep driving to El Peñón village to stay at the local lodging, have dinner, and rest after a long and spectacular journey.

Day 3 To the supervolcano

Mid-morning time, we start our trip to visit the famous Volcán Galán, driving down to the valley where is located. The mountains that surround this valley are indeed the crater of the volcano Galán. On the way, we will stop near lake Laguna Grande which between December to March it's full of local avifauna, especially flamingos. Right on the valley where is the crater, there is another huge lagoon named Diamante, and nearby a small hot springs where we will have a picnic. On the way back, there is another amazing stop right on volcanic rock formations and then we continue back to El Peñón again and over the main road to the next village where we will spend the night: Antofagasta de La Sierra

Day 4 Driving across the Altiplano

Not so early on this day... We will start our 3rd journey where we will go across the Puna de Atacama region. Our gravel road will get to altitudes like 4650m above sea level a couple of times during the day, and we will see the biggest salt flats in Argentina. The first one is Antofalla where we will stop in a small village in one of the corners of the salt flat, and then the Arizaro salt flat, back again in Salta province. In Arizaro salt flat, we will see a hill in the middle of the salt flat with a strange shape like a cone or pyramid named Arita. Then, we will finish crossing this salt flat driving on the salt for 100 km until we get to a small village named Tolar Grande where we will spend the night in a hotel of familiar lodging.

Day 4 Descending back to Salta

After breakfast, we will start again another great day going over the same region as the day before. On this day, we will get to very high altitudes on the road 3 times, that is, up to 4500 Mts. above sea level. More salt flats, and red sandstone deserts, and we will see part of the railroad of the famous Train to the Clouds. Then, we will arrive in San Antonio de Los Cobres village where we can have lunch in one of the restaurants. After this village, we will continue down to Salta after crossing the last high pass at 4080 Mts. asl. descending over El Toro gorge driving on asphalt road. The estimated time to arrive in Salta city will be around 6:00 PM