Salta Argentina

Kristi and I had planned to take my parents to Salta during their visit in our car, but circumstances conspired against us and we traveled with them in Paraguay instead.  After they departed we left for Salta by bus.  We were still able to take advantage of a fairly posh Air B&B reservation my parents had made. Our hosts generously moved our reservation dates and upon our arrival even invited us into their home to watch Brazil play the Netherlands.

The city of Salta itself was perfectly pleasant. Similar in many respects to other Argentinian cities the central area featured: plazas, old churches, parks, street vendors, a mediocre lager style beer named after the city and all manner of shopping.  Salta also has a very impressive anthropological museum featuring Andean mummies, artifacts, and really good interpretative info in both Spanish and English.

The Northern provinces do feature some things not found in other areas of Argentina.  The municipal market had a few things we were not used to seeing like these amazing potatoes and coca leaf.  Some people suggested the area was in some ways more similar to Bolivia than other parts of Argentina and when we left the city this seemed especially true.

The most exciting difference we encountered were these tamales which we ate on a daily basis and we found to be as enjoyable as any Mexican or Central American Tamales we could remember eating.  Another regional dish we sampled was called locro and featured corn, squash, beans, and a variety of savory meat pieces.  Both dishes were a pleasant departure from the Argentinean pizza, sandwiches, and pastas that are frequently disappointing.  

We spent our first couple days doing stuff around Salta including including watching the World Cup final.  We were excited to be in Argentina for the final but not especially sure how the people would react to a possible loss.  The people we were with cheered for their team all game and after the match stood, applauded and said
"second place is good."

We then took a very long day trip to visit two mountain towns called Purmamarca and Tilcara,

and a famous salt flat.  The day began by driving steep forested hillside as the sun was rising.  Highway 9 going North out of Salta is the narrowest two lane road I have ever seen and full of hairpin turns.

We left the forest and emerged into an otherworldly landscape of multi-colored rock formations and very little vegetation. Our pictures do not convey the stark beauty.  We have never been to Moab but have read that this part of Argentina looks similar.

The towns we passed were tucked beautifully into the hillsides.  Many of the buildings were simple adobe structures in various states of disrepair.  

It is the middle of winter, but the intense high elevation sun, thin air, wind, and freezing evening temperatures made the places we visited feel barely hospitable.

Cemetery near Tilcara

From Purmamarca we drove up a pass to about 13,000 feet and then down towards the Salinas Grandes salt flat.  Along the way we saw these vicunas as well as a couple of alpacas, two of the area's native camelid species.

We spent a couple hours at the salt flat and then made the long drive back to Salta.

We left Salta and drove South towards the town of Cafayate.  Once again we were in a high desert like environment surrounded by incredible multi-colored rock formations. Undoubtedly the best part of this trip was the scenery we experienced driving from place to place.

If scenery was the best part of our travels, drinking some great wine was easily second best.  A few bodegas we stopped at were large establishments like you might find in Mendoza.  Others were tiny family run operations hidden down long dirt roads. 

The most common grapes grown in the Cafeyate region were: Cab, Malbec, Tannet, and Torrontes.  We usually gravitate towards Cab but the great thing about going to wine country is you try things you otherwise wouldn't.  We found one tannet that we loved, as well as some Torrontes that was great during the heat of the day.

From Cafeyate we drove to the small mountain town of Cachi.  Soon after leaving Cafeyate the road turned to dirt and we had another four hours of breathtaking views.

Parrots posing roadside in route to Cachi

Remnants of an old church in route to Cachi

We had a quiet night in Cachi and then got up early to make the most of one last amazing drive back to Salta.  The first leg took us through an extensive cactus forest and a number of low lying fog banks.  The temperature outside, according to our car thermometer, was right around freezing.

We ascended one last pass which took us to about 11,000 feet.  This little chapel was perched near the top. From there it was about two hours back to the city.  We returned our rental car and boarded a bus for Clorinda (our least favorite border town directly across the river from Asuncion.)

A visit from my parents 2: Paraguayan Pantanal, Piribebuy

Upon returning from our little road trip we planned to take a military transport flight to Northern Paraguay and visit the Pantanal.  However, there was not space for us on the plane and that part of our trip was delayed for a couple days.

  

With our extra time we spent one day in the city.  We visited Mercado 4, the main municipal market and went downtown to watch the US lose to Belgium.  Kristi ordered a Stella (originally from Belgium), which explains why we lost.  I tried to rectify things with a liter of Budweiser, but some mistakes once made...

The next day we took a trip to do some bird watching in the countryside North of the city and drove around on some back roads near the town of Cerrito.  My parents saw some birds they were excited about.  "Bird watching" is something Kristi and I do often when we are in the rural areas.  Usually it consists of driving slowly on random dirt roads and stopping occasionally to investigate anything of interest.  Paraguay has very interesting bird life, but we often spend an equal amount of time discussing the cows and chickens that roam freely everywhere through the country.  They are oddly intriguing and easier to take pictures of than birds are.  

On the way back to town we stopped at the fish shacks, a great area to visit, buy local fish, or eat a delicious fish based meal. We had not been here in several months.  A restaurant that usually overlooks the river from a high cement bulkhead served us a great meal.  The remaining restaurants and fish market were under 5 meters of water.

The following day we were able to get on the plane to Bahia Negra, a medium sized town in the Northeast corner of Paraguay very close to the border with Brazil and Bolivia.

The plane ride itself was a major part of the adventure.  Until we were seated in the plane, which held about 20 people, none of us were sure if we would really be going.  As far as we could tell, this plane that  flies three times a week,and exists mainly to serve several small communities that are accessible seasonally by a 24 hour bus ride, or year round via a five day up river boat ride.  On the way back we even made an unscheduled stop in Concepcion so one local resident could visit the doctor.

In Bahia Negra we bought some food at a small grocery and had an obligatory millenasa lunch.  We then got in a small boat for our final destination: the Tres Gigantes Biological Station. (click here for more info)

The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland, only a small part of which exists within Paraguay.  Tres Gigantes is managed by Guyra, a non-profit conservation organization.  The biological station was created to facilitate scientific studies but allows tourists to use their facilities or camp for a modest fee.

My mom told me she experienced the best bird watching she has had in thirty years.  Indeed we saw many incredible birds that we had not seen in Paraguay before, as well as many other types of wildlife.  In non protected areas of the country most wild animals get asadoed (cooked), so terrestrial wildlife sightings are rare.  The abundance of animals we saw at Tres Gigantes made the place feel truly wild.  The ranger who hosted us even showed us a picture of a Jaguar a nearby game camera had caught three days prior.

Kristi and I spent much of our time exploring the area by canoe.  The reserve has a system of hiking trails.  Flooding has inundated much of the land in the Pantanal this year, and in fact, the two buildings that comprise the reserve structures are currently on an island; one that has grown increasingly smaller throughout the winter.  We had a great time paddling the trails, occasionally getting out to pull the boat through shallow water.

After returning to Asuncion we had planned to conclude my parents visit by driving to Salta, Argentina.  However, we were expecting  a critical piece of paperwork (required to drive into Argentina) to arrive while we had been in the Pantanal.  Due to unknown mystical and incredibly frustrating factors of all things bureaucratic in Paraguay, our document was still being processed.  We went instead to spend two nights in the countryside two hours east of Asuncion.  The little burrowing owl above was a popular fixture at the place we stayed and posed for us every time we came by.

We did a good amount of relaxing at our place of lodging.  The image to the right is one panel from a mural in the town of Piribebuy near where we were staying.  The town was pleasant and typical of small Paraguayan towns.  Historically, it is famous for a battle that took place in the town during the Triple Alliance War.  The mural above depicts the towns inhabitants, many of them children, trying to fight off alliance forces.  According to Wikipedia (and possibly other sources) it was a gruesome affair during which the towns hospital was burned down with the wounded inside and many prisoners were beheaded. 

We also sought out a totem we had heard about located near the town of Caacupe.  The totem depicts the seven Mitos, mythical monsters from Guarani mythology.  Each one governs some part of life and has an entertaining back story.  Jasy Jatere, for example, governs the yerba plant as well as the siesta.  He is commonly known to go after children who will not take a nap when they are told to.

After our impromptu trip to the campo we returned once again to the city and my parents boarded their overnight bus to Buenos Aries

It was fantastic to have my parents spend some time with us in Paraguay and we genuinely appreciate their visit.  Paraguay is not a popular tourism destination.  However, with a good attitude and sense of humor it is definitely possible to have a great time traveling here, and we did just that.

A Visit From My Parents: Posadas, Ruins, and Iguazu

My parents generously came for a visit over our past winter break.  They arrived during finals week while Kristi was still working, so after a couple days in Asuncion, I took them on a quick road trip to some Jesuit ruins and Iguazu Falls.  Initially we drove South to Encarnacion and spent a few hours wandering around town until a fairly serious rainstorm hit.  We took shelter with some vendors next to the bus station and my parents asked them for some of their mate.  The vendors thought it was hilarious and we all enjoyed watching Greece play the Ivory Coast, until the rain let up enough for us to go find a place for dinner.

 The next day we crossed the Parana River and spent some time in Posadas, Argentina. Unlike Paraguayan cities, Argentinian ones often feature pleasant public spaces, pedestrian walkways, and public art like sculpture and murals.  My parents enjoyed wandering around town.  We watched Argentina beat Nigeria in a local bar and to my surprise they even bought some chori pan con mayonesa from a local street vendor. (sausage on bread with mayonnaise)

After the game we left Argentina and drove North from Encarnacion about an hour to the Ruins of La Santisima Trinidad de Parana. The old missions date to the early 1600's and are one few places in Paraguay that are well developed for tourism.

Kristi and I had visited these ruins before, but the nasty weather we were having made for a very dramatic experience.

The next day we left Trinidad and headed for Iguazu.  We stopped at a parrilla near Ciudad del Este to watch the US play Germany and then crossed the Parana again into Foz do Iguazu and spent the last few hours of daylight at the Brazilian side of the Falls.  Between the torrential down pour and the water fall we were all soaked.  It was a chilly ride into the Argentinian town of Puerto Iguazu as my car has no heater and when full of wet occupants you have to keep the AC blasting to prevent the windows from fogging up.

The next day we visited the Argentinian side of the falls and got quite wet.  This year flooding has been a problem in this part of the world. The Paraguayan rivers are currently over their banks and have been for months.  Northeastern Argentina has the same problem and consequently much of the more impressive parts of the park were closed.

Nevertheless, these waterfalls are always impressive. I don't usually get excited by waterfalls. However, the scale and volume of Iguazu is like nothing I've scene before and the experience of viewing them up close is powerful.

We left Puerto the next day and had an uneventful drive back to Asuncion, stopping only to watch Brazil v Cameroon at a road side comedor.