Tante Heloise and Robin are at it again! This time through the colourful landscapes of Northern Argentina!

(Mar 14, 2013)

…so here’s the skinny (Robin tells me to hit the key themes and highlights).

To get where we’re going:  buses rock and sometimes reel , (whee!), cabs are OK (and can trigger the most lively discussions), we’ve had “opportunities to learn” about air travel. We can rely on our feet and sometimes: the kindness of strangers - Robin hitched us a ride for the last 500m into Las Nubes. In BA Robin somehow scored a “BA residents only” bus pass, - sweet and cheap, impressed the locals no end.

It almost goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway – we – a.k.a. Robin, makes friends everywhere and all the time. In the Bicentennial Museum (BA) there were three Information guides marking up our map; at a lunch place our waiter “Pedro” would dash over to check in on us; us being Robe-in and Sofia. I’m Sofia; “Hilary” was a bit much.

Our accommodation from BA through Cafayata was brilliant. Robin got to BA ahead of me, checked the hostel and deciding it wouldn’t do, found a swell B&B for the night. In Iguazu ,The Stone Garden gave us a cosy, profoundly pink room with decent beds, clean everything, and  functioning AC – hurrah! – jungle air is mighty humid. After 4 hours on the bus from Salta (176 km) we got in to Cafayata in the dark. A wee slip of a gal from France met us while drumming up business for our hostel – The Balcon. It was very well located and our room really was the best room there – something Robin had insisted on when booking it - big, very pink and red, hand carved wooden furniture, en suite and yes – a balcony!

A note here on Robin’s planning and negotiation skills - another theme – she’s got the knack. And her rapido Spanish makes all whom she encounters surrender any thoughts of trying to pull a fast one. These skills, along with her friend-finder chops, served to get fair taxi prices, the best resto recommendations, solid wine suggestions, the best tours (with bonus side stops) and pretty well everything.

We’ve realized we both seem to enjoy the process of discovery more than being presented with something to simply observe. The museum in BA and tour through the Casa Rosada were nice, but not giddy – whole lot of gold braid to go with the revolution and all terribly grand. The walk back to our B&B through the city’s streets and parks was much more fun.  We trundled along with the hoards who piled off the little train at the top of Iguazu heading to The Devil’s Throat, got there saw it, ooh, ahhh, click click, ok let’s go. It was hiking down to the boat to go under the smaller falls, charging straight into the spray and getting drenched –now that was a blast and the water tasted great! Also, now sans hoards, more time to linger and enjoy the amazing wildlife. So many gorgeous butterflies, exotic birds – even toucans – a crocodile, coati, wild guinea pigs, monkeys…

In Cafayata we did a few winery tours and again, the ones we most enjoyed got us up close to the action. At Esteca, home of Don David wines, we samples the grapes on the vine and then went into the bodega to find out how they translated into wine. It was there we discovered an abiding passion for Torrentes! The best was a surprise add-on to our morning excursion to the ruins of Quilmes! The Las Arcas de Tolombón winery was a new and major concern, not quite set up for tours. This meant instead of a quiet, somewhat scripted tour, we got to see the grapes coming in from the field and the guys running it through the machinery (all amused by our picture taking), thus getting a sense of the whole process…with four tasting samples!  Very yummy, very reasonable, got a bottle for the road.

This side trip was part of Robin’s friend making. Our driver Saul, originally very quiet, opened right up as Robin chatted away, demonstrating his English skills (uncommon in Cafayata) – learned from music and TV.  Robin peppered Saul with questions, why he loved Cafayata, what it meant to be Argentinian, the provincial responsibilities for roads – Robin questions, and he was happy to share. After throwing in the side trip to Las Arcas we chatted back to Cafayata and, having announced our interest in cheese, Saul volunteered to take us off to the cheese boutique on the outskirts of town for another tasting!

Food. Yes, Robin asks everyone about their favourites for authentic local nosh. In Iguazu we found Victorino Restaurant – off the tourist track, full of Iguazu locals - and had what may have been our absolutely best Argi grill of the trip. It set the bar high for comparison! We ordered one dinner to share, only managed half of it, and enjoyed steak frites on the plane to Salta the next day; cold, garlic-y, and delicious! At Esteca Bodega Robin discovered her new favourite grape, Torrentes, was in an Empanada joint around the corner from our hostel so we checked it out. They were very good…but not as good as our new standard from Uco Valley, Mendoza, which Robin will write about later.

We discovered, food, friends and lodgings - now for the adventures!

Our trip with Saul was to Quilmes, a reconstruction of a fortified town build into the mountainside by people who withstood the Spanish for 130 years. Robin is a mountain goat and skipped up the dry stone walls and trail to all the lookouts over the valley; graciously finding me the best path and offering a supporting hand. The rocks were amazing, huge boulders of quartz and mica sparkling in the sand and rocks like fairy dust. No surprise, we (I) stuffed these magic stones, these treasures, into our pockets.

Post-Quilmes, -wine, -cheese and -empanadas picnicking on our balcony, we were ready for the “Martian landscape”. We’d bussed through it from Salta, so knew it would be stunning, and it was. Our group hiked an hour through deep reds and purples (iron), greens (copper), blues (cobalt) and yellows (sulphur). It was gentle walking – no-grade to start and then  we started going up. Robin was amazing, as sure-footed as ever. At one point I was concentrating on “one foot at a time”, focused entirely on Robin’s feet and not daring to look left or right. Near the crest, which seemed tricky to me, without a word I saw her hand come into my range of vision and all seemed swell and steady then.

Further along we had another climbing adventure and another “Devil’s Throat”, this one all rock. Robin was encouraging but I thought, no, not for me. Robin shot to the top and when I saw some unlikely candidates make the move I thought – what the heck and went too. The guide helped, but as soon as Robin spied me from her perch she skipped down and helped me spot where to put my hands and feet. Robin led the way on the way down too, not just for me, for all the macho guys. She opted to sort of run down what looked vertical and after she did  (laughing all the way) all the tough guys got out of the easier route and did the same. It was a blast!

We left Cafayata like a bullet; the alarm went at 4.30 am and we were at the bus terminal 15 minutes later.  A personal best for me but I think Robin has this kind of exit down cold.