Mendozine selection

Aconcagua

The highest peak in the A-M-E-R-I-C-A-s!!!

Desert

Safari

To see these fantastic National Parks a good spot to stay is San Agustin de Valle Fertile. The small town lies in a natural oasis of a valley in the middle of the desert. It is a lovely town, relaxed and pretty. We were there as the town prepared fo the "Safari tras las Sierras". A massive two day rally race of makeshift 4x4 vehicles around the mountains. The Cumbia was a banging, the Fernet was a flowing, and the goat was a sizzling. People were camped all over the place with their crazy vehicles. Spirits were high and the atmosphere was altogether festive.

Mantis

I corrected the settings

Talampaya

You had to be there.

Ischigualasto

Here are a few cliched snaps. Unfortunately I had the bright idea of blindly altering the manual settings the night before and left it on some demonic setup. The photos look a bit wierd.

Exit

Playground

San Juan

We jumped to Salta from San Juan, a city with very little of interest. It is a very hot and dry place reaching upto about 50 degrees and occasionally is destroyed by earthquakes. San Juan is therefore relatively newly built and rather uninspiring. What was spectacular was the desert landscapes of the Province and neighbouring la Rioja. The National park Ischigualasto is a dinosaur fossil bed of particular interest since it has revealed the oldest dinosaur species. It is also an unusual and beautiful place. Unfortunately I messed up the camera settings and bodged up the photos.

San Lorenzo

Horse riding in San Lorenzo

Mazzoleni

Yunga

The Yungas or Cloud forests of South america are jungles sweeping over craggy mountainsides stretching to high altitudes and teeming with wildlife. I was sweating in the middle of nowhere and covered in srange biting creatures I had never seen before. I freaked out on a couple of occasions. It was beautiful. It must have been about 45 degrees in the middle of the day, I was roasting. I put away 4 litres of water and on running out, was forced to ration the refreshing hot water left in my thermos. I saw no jaguar but came across lots of paw prints.

Calilegua

I went to the jungle for a day where I nearly lost my mind.

Rocks

Emma went off to Cachi for a day where she made a friend who showed her his rocks.

Wet

We got Californian in the pool.

Iquique

The Daughter made a friend called Pato from Chile.

Salta

Salta is a very pretty city and the capital of Salta Province. It boasts the best kept colonial architecture. I didn´t take particularly good pictures but I ate very well.

Poverty

San Antonio de los Cobres is a very, very poor place in the provinve of Salta inhabited by soldiers and the families of exploited miners. It is very high up and depressing but the people are very nice. I liked to see this Chico Marx girl drinking Cocacola.

Salt

Here are some rather large salt flats.

Coca

Fresh

Here is some goat carcass on my plate. Eating here was a pleasure as it was clear that all the produce was plucked from the local area by old women and very fresh. The valleys of the Quebrada are very fertile and green. Every morning at the bus terminal old farm women load their delicious vegetables onto the buses.

Iruya

This is the very remote town of Iruya where some goat carcass is being hauled in on donkey and llama back. On the way here, on the other side of a craggy valley, I witnessed some villageres carving a road into the mountain side with no more shovels and picks to make access to their village.

The Puna

The Puna is a very high altitude desert roamed by wild donkeys, vicuñas, llamas and very occasional herdsmen.

The Altiplano

This is 4000 metres above sea level. It is very high. It is an amazing landscape with remote populations.

Quebrada de Humahuaca

This is in a region at the very north of Argentinacalled Jujuy. People a lovely. The Andes are multicoloured. It is our favoutite part of Argentina. We stayed in a town called Tilcara were we carnavalled and we love it there. The pictures above are in Purmamarca.