After nearly three weeks in Argentina, the chickens are preparing to make two loops quite famous in the provinces of Salta and Jujuy. It’s ancient time when the chickens with a minimalist backpacks rushed off the coast on a scooter. In Argentina, it is mainly by a rental car that everything is done to discover these desertic beautiful landscapes.
Southwest Salta: vineyards and volunteering
So we start by reaching the picturesque town of Cachi on the first day of this well-known “road trip”. And here my girls mates (I specify because it is often a feminine characteristic), fan of cactus, you found your paradise. Followed by lunar landscapes, dotted with cacti and vegetation far from lush but giving a very pecurliar beauty to these landscapes, quite different from what we had been able to admire until then. All under a big blue sky. Audrey is the pilot of the day in the mountains, which, remember, is not really her cup of tea. But we arrive safely in our small inn with colorful walls in this small village stage. The next day, we take the direction of Cafayate, a city dedicated to our first mission of volunteering with a couple building their own house. On the road, or rather on the track, since the Argentinean roads are mainly made of pebbles of various diameters and shapes, it is still grandiose, and the site of “Las Flechas”will not leave us indifferent.
It is therefore motivated and curious to discover our new hosts and “bosses” that we arrive at Fernanda and Julio’s place. This Brazilian-Argentinean couple has welcomed no less than fifty volunteers for varying lengths of time from the week just like us, to several months for some feeling at home and wanting to contribute to the construction of their future nest. When the chickens arrive to begin their mission, the house under construction is almost completed, and we are entrusted with tasks such as the creation of a wooden fence lining the house or the sanding and varnishing of a wooden beam. This was certainly a first for chickens who are more used to handling computers than chisels! But rest assured dear readers, the pace of work is still very quiet (in Argentina), since more or less morning tasks are often followed by beautiful naps almost imposed by our hosts who practice this religion assiduously. Also we met a fellow worker in the person of Patricio, Uruguayan traveler eager to learn about absolutely everything around! Accompanied by his guitar, “Pato el che” (the Uruguayan accent is even stronger than that of the Argentineans!) is a real electric battery. He struggles to make the dilettante rhythm imposed by our hosts and we feel that the road is calling us. We will meet again Pato during this trip or a following one. See you soon!
We would not say that we learned a lot about the handling of sanders or the optimal mix of concrete but it was above all a great experience to share a piece of life of these two characters for whom the exchange was as important as the work done. We also take advantage of this break in the trip to rest a little, because it must be said, the chickens after eight months of travel, start ti feel a little tired at this point. And the small colonial town of Cafayate, turned towards the wine culture and enjoying a breathtaking view of the mountains, will offer us the perfect setting to breathe a bit (rest while working, but what do they do to the chickens?!).
After a week in Cafayate, it’s time to continue our journey and return to the city of Salta. Lucky as we are, the road is dotted with magnificent views reminiscent of the western landscapes, without cowboys and Indians. Sites such as “Los Colorados”, “Las Tres Cruces”, “El Anfiteatro” and “La Gargantua del Diablo” (a little effort, your memories of high school Spanish lessons will come back) are a sight to behold. We are very far from an uninteresting highway, and it is on this note that we end the south loop of the region of Salta.
North of Salta: canyons, colors and blind spot
Before heading back to the north and discover these lunar landscapes and out of the common waiting for us, we make a short day break in Salta. Effective stop since it is at our hostel that we meet Maud and Alexis to whom we propose to accompany us for a few days. Love at first sight with our travel buddies who will become our friends of misfortune…
Indeed, two short hours away we hit a new blow in Argentina (now known as “the loose country”), a car accident due to an imprudent Argentinean. Everyone gets away unscathed and that’s the most important. Well, it still involves significant costs and steps to no end for the chickens who are beginning to worry about their bad luck in South America, but it will be fine, we remain motivated!
The day could have been spoiled – it’s not every day we get stamped – but fortunately we discover the mountain of seven colors Purmamarca. A grandiose landscape of the northwestern Argentina that gives us a little help to continue (even if the driver’s door no longer opens). An excellent dinner with friends, a new car delivered at 1.00 am by our rental agency owner in person (he preferred to do it himself because the next day is national strike day, there are good people anyway), a good night sleep and hop, here we go again on winding roads and dusty. We were told “your car will never go up to the 4000m point of view”, it was without knowing our determination! The watchtower of the Hornocal. There friends, a view of breathtaking landscapes. The mountain of 14 colors (a sort of competition between the communes to know who has the largest color range) reveals all its splendor under a bright sun and a blue sky in contrast with the multicolored mountains. A feast for the eyes.
The descent from the watchtower is easier, we will not lie to you, the pot of yoghurt coughs less. Before continuing further, we discover the village of Humahuaca, ideal oasis to enjoy a good lunch break in this charming little pueblo with lime walls. We digest better by walking it seems, then heading to the viewpoint of the canyons of “Las Señoritas” for a short hike. Landscapes still so different revealing mountains with red screaming, strewn with cactus. It is the head full of the thousand beauties discovered that we return to Humahuaca, our city step for the night.
In order to get even deeper into the mountains and to enjoy the beautiful landscapes that the north of Argentina offers, we go after 50km of stony track to the village of Iruya. In this pretty village nestled in the cliffs, we only stay one night, enough for us to come close to a dangerous incident! Argentina will have made us drool. Indeed, the hot water tank (a kind of plastic bin of twenty liters with a resistance inside) catches fire during the night. Awakened by the smell of burnt plastic, we find with our acolytes the damage in the bathroom, the walls covered with soot, the carcass of the balloon can hardly be guessed. Wonderful experience at 3am. More fear than harm since the fire stopped by itself, thankfully.
At that moment, we say that nothing can happen to us because between the lost luggages, the theft of the camera, the car accident and the start of fire (you follow us), Argentina will have made us pay our days in Polynesian paradise. Feeling that he needed to add a cherry on the cake, Ben decided to go back in an electric pole and harm a car door (this one did not try to overtake him like the other racing driver, try to understand!). The decision is made unanimously, we change drivers for our last step. Audrey and Alexis take turns to visit the Salinas Grandes, a vast stretch of salt (the third largest in the world after Uyuni in Bolivia and another desert a little further south) where we can discover how the Argentineans extract the White gold. It is dazzling but it deserved a little detour!
Chickens must admit it, Bolivia is calling us and the impatience to get there takes over. Although Argentina has amazed us with its landscapes and gastronomy, the repeated misadventures leave us a bitterness of this first immersion in Latin America. But high hearts, it is with enthusiasm that we take our backpacks to cross the Argentinian-Bolivian border and head to the Salar of Uyuni, step expected for a while. But that’s for another chickens’ article!
See you soon,
Audrey & Ben