Day 1

'Into the Calchaquíes Valleys' 

We will pick you up at your hotel early in the morning and we will drive up the mountain through Los Cardones National Park, visiting the Enchanted Valley where we will stop to begin the first hike of the trip (if the weather conditions are ok and the National Park keeps the entrance open). We will do a two hours walk with a beautiful view and then we will continue down into Calchaqui Valley and will see Seclantas village and finally Molinos village. 

We will stop in Molinos to visit one of the nicest colonial villages in the valley. Heading from Molinos, we will continue on Road 40 to a place 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 moon pictures; the contrast in this early part of the trip is amazing. Then, a couple of hours later, we will arrive in Cafayate city to relax at the hotel. After your check-in, you can have a nice dinner in one of the restaurants in front of the main square.
Summary: 2 hours hiking in Los Cardones National Park and 6 hours driving.

Day 2

'Into the Puna' 

Leaving Cafayate after breakfast, we will continue driving into Quilmes ruins where we will stop to visit the museum and hike for 1 hour on the path exploring the Indian ruins; then, we will be back in the truck and will continue driving south to Catamarca province, going across an important city called Santa Maria del Valle de Yocavil on the way.

After 2 hours of driving from the Piedra Pómez field, we will arrive at a village named Antofagasta de la Sierra, located in an area of a volcano-dominated landscape. To get there we will have to travel over an old lava flow of black (old lava flows) stones, and many times you will wonder which planet you are on! It is not easy to explain how these landscapes appear to be from a different world. We will check in at the Antofagasta de la Sierra local lodge in double rooms with a private bath. 

Day 3

'Archeology and volcano trekking ' 

Leaving around 9:00 AM, we will drive to Antofagasta's Volcano, where we will do a short trek up the cone, for a total of about 2 1/2 hours, which will allow us to circumnavigate the crater. We will have a great view of the town and surroundings from the top. Then, after the descent, we will back to the village and after lunch, we will go to visit beautiful cave paintings driving up to the mountain where we will hike for a few minutes to get there after leaving the vehicle. After visiting it, we will back to the hotel on Antofagasta to spend the second night.

Day 4

'Over the Salt Flats

Leaving the village Antofagasta de la Sierra, we will continue to the west where we will see our first salt flat 'Antofalla'. 'Salt Flat' means a flat surface area with pure salt which occurs when the natural salt of the earth in the mountains is transported by rain to the lowest level of the landscape. On the way, we will see a lot of vicugnas, and sometimes ostriches walking on the desert plains in a dramatic volcanic landscape. At lunchtime, we will stop in Antofalla village where local people can give us local and homemade food. At the end of the day, we will reach Tolar Grande village where we will spend the last night of this trip.   

Day 5

'From the Altiplano back to Salta'

Leaving Tolar Grande, we will experience another highlight: the Red Desert. Red mountains of sandstone, strange rock formations, and occasional salt flats will give a strong contrast,  it is hard to believe rocks can display these many colors. It is like a dream, yet we are in it. After the Red Valley area, we will cross another salt flat called Pocitos, and then we will drive upwards until getting to 4500 m above sea level, then back down to the village of San Antonio de Los Cobres (famous since the Train to the Clouds stops here). 

After having lunch in a restaurant we will continue with the trip on asphalt road descending to Salta over a beautiful landscape named "Quebrada del Toro" (Bull Gorge), the estimated time to arrive will be around 6:00 PM