|
| NORTH ARGENTINA AND CHILE IN 21 DAYS |
|
From Tucumán, passing by Salta and the Calchaquí Valleys, journeying to Atacama and its Lagunas Altiplánicas, Jujuy until la Quiaca and las Cataratas. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
We will be transferred from Ministro Pistarini (Ezeiza) International Airport to Jorge Newbery Metropolitan local Airport (Aeroparque) in Buenos Aires city to take the flight to San Miguel de Tucumán city. Reception and transfer from Tucumán´s Airport to the hotel.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will start visiting the historical center and its surroundings, with places full of history which are reflected in their buildings. The Independence Square (Plaza Independencia) is our departure spot, so we can go to the Government House (Casa de Gobierno) and all the historical houses which surround it.
Then, we will go the Cathedral, the Church and the San Francisco Convent, a national monument because of the old relics it preserves, like the first national flag that was rised in Tucumán in 1814, among others; Nuestra Señora de la Merced Church has a neoclassical style with a simple interior, the Nicolás Avellaneda Historical Provincial Museum (Museo Histórico Provincial Nicolás Avellaneda) which is the house where he lived as many other politicians in the XIX Century, the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, among other buildings and representative houses.
Once the tour is finished in the historical center in the city of Tucumán, we will continue to 9 de Julio Park, designed by Carlos Thays, a french artist who designed gardens and Parks. This park has a very beautiful clock made of flowers, very colourful and paths to walk between the trees. Then, we will go to the Museo de la Industria Azucarera "Casa del Obispo Colombres", in which we will learn the history about the sugar industry in the province from its origin. We will continue to the most distinguished area in the city of Tucumán, the outstanding Urquiza Square because of its paths and spaces so people can skate and ride a bicicle, it is also a green area to rest which has a french style in its surroundings; San Martin Theatre, the Legislature Building and the Casino. Alberdi Square is another green area with its very well preserved grass and benchs and it is located in front of the General Mitre Railway Station which will be our last spot in the tour.
|
 |
Breakfast in the Hotel. We leave from the capital of Tucuman to make the Grand Tour, passing localities representative of this interesting province, taking the National Route 9 until we enter Tafi Viejo (Old Tafi). We divert at kilometer 20 to visit the Celestino Gelsi Dam, found in the locality of El Cadillal, and its town, Veraniega. We appreciate the very beautiful adjoining lake of nearly 3,000 acres surrounded by mountains marking the ultimate elevations of the Sierra de Medina (jagged mountain range of Medina). This is an ideal area for adventure sports such as kayaking, aquatic skiing, diving and amongst others, point to point trekking in the jungle or simply to refresh in the hot summer months.
We continue to the towns of Raco and El Siambón, the first, located at 48km from city Tucuman and dates from the 17th century. It is a small picturesque town that has the river Raco running through it and has a club for diverse activities. A few more kilometers and we find El Siambon, another beautiful place know for its gentle green slopes in harmony with the blue skies and pretty houses, here we also find the Benedictine Monastery built in 1955.
After visiting these places we go to the town of San Javier situated some 1150 metres above sea level that beholds a mountain park of the same name and an ideal place to relax amongst this natural beauty or take in other activities such as parapenting, trekking and horse riding. On the way to the park we pass through an attractive residential zone. After, we visit el Cerro San Javier, a special hill top viewpoint where we can also see el Cristo Bendicente, a 28 metre statue. This is followed by a visit to Villa Nogués, another picturesque locality in the middle of the valley amongst zones of yungas jungles that are notable for this region. We then return to San Miguel de Tucumán.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will get ready to start this tour which will take us to Tafi del Valle, the natives Quilmes Ruins and, our last stop, Cafayate. We will go through the national route 38 to visit, as a first stop, the Jesuitical Ruins of San José de Lules, which has a chapel and a convent which was found by the jesuits in 1670. We will continue our tour going through Famaillá, Acheral and Santa Lucía which is the road that will take us to Tafi del Valle and the one from which we will be able to watch some sugar cane, citrus and other fruit farm fields.
After a few kilometres, we will be getting to Quebrada de Los Sosa, we will travel by the Cornice Road (Camino de Cornisa) which offers us a spectacular vision of the wild tucumana vegetation and we will go through spots like the Indio, Fin del Mundo and Heladera along all the way, which are attractive to people because of their curious geoshapes. We will continue ascending and as we do it, we will notice some changes in the landscapes, because it starts appearing lower vegetation, between willows, pines and alisos which give a special and beautiful touch to the green hills, crossing streams in an admirable light blue sky.
We are ready now to come into the valley, which offers a huge green postal right in front of us, so we can go to El Mollar, a tourist village in the province of Tucumán, which was a very important archaelogical settlement, where some ruins of an ancient civilization that dates from 300 years b.C has been discovered in the XX Century. We will be surrounded by pure nature and green landscapes; we will continue to see La Angostura Dike, a wonderful water mirror which is an ideal place to practise aquatic and adventure sports.
We will see the "village of a magnificent entrance" (pueblo de entrada espléndida) just in front of us, a name given by the diaguitas, a native community who lived here a hundred years ago and that is what means "Tafi". Once we get there, we will visit the Jesuit Church of La Banda, a simple colonial relic which dates of the beginning of the XVIII Century. From there we will continue to Abra del Infiernillo, a deserted path between Tafí del Valle and the calchaquí Valleys, where we will be able to watch animals such as llamas and sheeps and it is also the habitat for some animals in extinction danger like the andino cat and the taruca. Once we cross the Abra and go to Ampimpa, we will be able to see cardoons beside us, a natural balcony of the Yocavil Valley or Santa María from where we will see the village of Amaicha del Valle, a few kilometres away. There is only one native community in the northwest who live in this last area, the diaguita culture, manufacturers of unic handicrafts, apart from being a famous town because of its exquisite "patero" wines, alfajores, nougat candy (turrón) and quesillos.
As soon as we cross the Yocavil river, we will come into the Quilmes Ruins, remains of the biggest pre columbian community in Argentina, the name was given because they were forced to walk a thousand kilometres when they were defeated by the spanish, until getting to Buenos Aires, to the town which has that name. We will do a visit to the museum and next, to the fortress built by this community.
We will go through El Bañado, Colalao del Valle. Then we will continue to the town of Tolombón so we can enter to Cafayate. We will be able to watch its arid landscapes and vineyard fields, then we can notice that we are in the Cafayateñas lands. We will spend the night in Cafayate.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will continue our journey from Cafayate, by visiting the Calchaquí Valleys. We will visit the Cathedral "Nuestra Señora del Rosario" which contrast with the multi - coloured hills in the background and then we will cover the most traditional wineries in this beautiful city between valleys and hills of an impressive green colour, which is the most important one in the Calchaquí Valleys because of its "torrontés" wines above all, an ideal place because of the temperature and humidity to the development of this kind of grape with a sweet and fruited taste, together with their goat cheese. The name of the city was given because of an old native settlement which means "Bury of sorrows or sadness" (Sepultura de las Penas). We will be pleasured to taste some wineries´wines. We will continue to visit the Archaelogical Museum, a place where there is a great quantity of objects which belonged to native villages. Many people have been investigating, making excavations, restorations and exhibitions about them.
We will be wondered as soon as we watch those rare and eye-catching shapes, going through Quebrada de las Conchas, where we will be able to see figures such as the Devil´s Throat (Garganta del Diablo), the Amfitheater (Anfiteatro) a wonderful place where we can perfectly hear the echo of any sound and it is here where many festivals take place, such as the folklore; another shapes are the Obelisk (Obelisco) which makes a lonely crag, the Castles (Castillos) of an intense red colour which reminds the castles in the medieval times, the Yesera with its light sandstone formations, the House of Parrots (Casa de los Loros) named like this because there are stone walls which are the habitat for great flock of parrots during the summer; the friar (Fraile), the toad (Sapo) and the impressive Devil´s Throat in Salta, shaped as a human trachea and also called like that because of its colour.
We will make a stop in Alemanía, a lonely town, but we cannot miss the visit so we can admire its old country houses between green hills, the train station which doesn´t work anymore and now we can see the beautiful work of the craftsmen who invite us to bring a nice souvenir from this town. We will get ready to descend through the valleys. We will get to Dique Cabra Corral, next to Coronel Moldes, an ideal place to practise water sports, then we will go through some towns dedicated to the farming activities such as El Carril, where we will find many stock-tobacco companies and also fig tree, walnut tree and peach tree fields; La Merced, with its cleany streets and green spaces which make it so picturesque, and Cerrillos. All these towns belong to Valle de Lerma, where there are treasures which come from mines that were found and they are hidden somewhere between the hills, according to local stories. We will continue to Salta city, going through impressive landscapes that change on every curve we make in wonderful colours like the reddish hills, ochre colour of the grass, grey stones and green cactus. Night in Salta.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will start our tour along the city from the nice 9 de Julio Square, so eye-catching because of its decorated coloured quarries and its fruited trees which leave a nice fragrance in the salteño air. From the square we will be able to have a first vision of its history and colonial past, as we will be surrounded by old buildings such as the Cabildo, the Cathedral, the Church of San Francisco, the Convent of San Bernardo de las Monjas Carmelitas, one of the oldest buildings in the city which was the entrance door to the convent and it is made of carob wood that was carved by the natives in 1762; its old houses complete the historical quarter, which are today very important monuments.
Then, we will go to the impressive and most recognised hill in the salteña city: Cerro San Bernardo. Before getting to it, we will tour along the streets, getting to Güemes monument, an argentinian general who is known because of its ideals of freedom, dispise to materialism and his love to his Motherland. We will get to San Martín Park where we will find the cable railway station, our means of transport to get to the hill so we can have an amazing panoramic of the city and its surroundings, with the hills at the background.
After the ascent, we will continue to a really charming place, which is chosen by many tourists because of its wonderful natural attractions and the different activities to do: the summer village of San Lorenzo, where we will find the Quebrada, an ideal place to spend the day at the edge of the river, listening its relaxing sounds. We will enjoy our way to it, as we will go through flowered Gardens, mansions and castles which are surrounded by small hills and where we can do (horse) riding, trekking and pic-nic. We will go back to the city, going through the Handmade Market (Mercado Artesanal) first, where we will be able to get some souvenirs from this beautiful city, such as silver and pottery pieces, rustic fabric of llama wool, craftwork in leather, among others.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will do the way around through the Calchaquí Valleys, this time through Cachi, driving between extremely lovely landscapes. During our tour to this charming town, we will be able to see beautiful tourist spots in particular, starting in Quebrada del Escoipe, almost a wild region followed by the homonymous river and it crosses several Bridges until getting to Cuesta del Obispo. This last one is also a nature work, as we start the ascent by a twisted and cornice road, where we will be surrounded by impressive green coloured hills, an indescribable view together with the vegetation, in contrast with the sky. The highest point in this way is Piedra del Molino, to 3348 metres above the level of the sea and, from where we will have a unic panoramic of the Quebrada del Escoipe.
Two kilometres before getting to Piedra del Molino, we will be able to appreciate the sign which says that we are in Los Cardones National Park that protects its vegetation, such as Neblina, Monte, Puna and Alta Montaña bushes. Some fauna like the taruca, vicuña, guanaco, puma, red fox, wild cat, Wessel, quirquincho, condor, carpintero de los cardones, ututo lizard, coral, yarara, among others, are preserved in this national park.
After coming through the highest point, Piedra del Molino, we will arrive at Valle Encantado, a place where shapes and colours are mixed and where the action of the wind and water sculpt the landscapes with curious shapes and reliefs. There we will find a small lagoon and cave paintings. Of course, if we are lucky, we will be able to watch condors flying through the sky. Later on, we will get to a small soft mountainside valley covered of bushes, which is eaten by the cattle, that we are surely going to cross during the tour. If we continue a few kilometres more, we will appreciate an enclosed basin and El Hervidero lagoon, the favorite place to graze by the guanacos.
The Tin Tin Straight Line (Recta de Tin Tin) will be another unforgettable spot in our tour as we will watch it along the way we go, as it is a perfect straight line of 18 kilometres, from where we will be able to watch a great quantity of thistles and looking at our right we will see the Tin Tin Hill and at our left we will see the Negro Hill. We will go through this old inca road so we can get to Payogasta where we will be surprised with the red and reddish pepper plantations, now descending to Cachi town, which is located at the base of Nevado Hill between the homonymous river and Calchaquí. There we will go for a walk along the streets watching its dazzled white buildings, its houses made of adobe and paving streets, but the town stresses more because of its kindness and warm contact that the local people give. We will return to Salta in the afternoon.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will get ready to travel on the Train to the Clouds from the city of Salta to Viaducto La Polvorilla, the highest spot in the tour. As we do this crossing on the train, we will see some different towns, valleys, quebradas and stations, such as Cerrillos, Rosario de Lerma, Campo Quijano, where people say hello when the train makes the horn sound. We will arrive at El Alisal, a place named this way because of the landscape which shows us many aliso trees and it is the station where the train makes the first zigzag while it moves back to reach altitude. We continue visiting some other towns like Chorrillos, Puerta Tastil, Incahuasi, Abra Muñaco, Los Patos, then we arrive at San Antonio de los Cobres, a centennial village which is located at the edge of the river with the same name and it offers many legends and natural resources, we will continue to Mina Concordia where we will ascend 4144 metres over the level of the sea, the place where the engine´s coach will remove to be put behind and we can come back to Salta city. Our last spot in the tour on the Train to the Clouds is the Viaducto La Polvorilla where we will descend and we will be careful, as an example we will walk slowly because we will be at the highest point and the oxigen reduces itself, so we will be careful not to suffer from "apunarse" (get sick). In some stations, we will be able to get souvernirs that the craftsmen offer us, such as the vicuña poncho, among others.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will go to San Pedro De Atacama city by regular bus. Reception at the Bus Station in San Pedro de Atacama and transfer to the hotel.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will go to Toconao town so we can previously visit this oasis. It is located at 2500 metres over the level of the sea aproximately, where the Bell Tower Church (Iglesia Campanario), the Quebrada de Jerez, a place where the old inhabitants have left their marks with cave drawings, also called petroglyphs stresses the most. This town is the entrance door to the Atacama Salt, which is our aim point, that has its origin in a lake of big dimensions under a carpet of salt. Its extension gets up to 100 km aproximately.
Once we are there, we will visit the Chaxa Lagoon, located at the edge of the Salt, which is the habitat for many species of flora such as the engrana salada, brea, among others, apart from some animals like the andean and chilean flamingo, andean seagull, playeros de Baird, pequenes, black breast swallow and small tricolour sea chicken. It is a landscape which contrasts with the sky and clouds in a perfect way and they offer us an amazing visual about life in that place. Chaxa Lagoon also belongs to Los Flamencos National Reserve.
Then, we will go around the Salt to get to Socaire, a precolumbian village at 3250 metres over the level of the sea and it is divided into a farm area in terrace, the town and the farmhouses. So, we get to Miñiques and Miscanti altiplanic lagoons while we ascend at 4000 metres over the level of the sea, that is why we are going to be careful so we can enjoy the visit to this amazing lagoons, which were formed a million years ago when the Miñiques Volcano eruption took place. There we will be able to watch flamingos, tagua cornuda, ducks, juar-jual, caiti, guallata goose, ñandu, llamas, guanacos, fox, vizcachas, vicuñas and alpacas. This impressive landscape is surrounded by volcanos and mountain reliefs, where the Miscati and Miñiques hills stresses the most. We will return to San Pedro de Atacama.
|
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will get up very early in the morning to do our next visit to the Tatio Geysers, in the Tatio Volcano National Reserve, so we can spend the morning enjoying this amazing spectacle. This is the best time because it is when they spout out (between 6 and 7 in the morning) at temperatures that reach 85ºC and they can get between 8 and 9 metres high, we will really gaze at this admirable spectacle. These jets (mix of water and steam) are produced when the circulating groundwater comes into contact with the volcano´s magma. They are at more than 4000 metres over the level of the sea and, of course, our visit and tour will take extreme caution and we will see them at a considerable distance.
Later, we will have the opportunity to visit the thermal water pool where we will take advantage of a relaxing bath in these waters, at a 40ºC temperature, aproximately.
When we return to San Pedro de Atacama, we will do a visit to Machuca town, where we will see its buildings made of mud and brava straw. There are very few people living in the town but they are dedicated to agriculture, cheese production, among other farm activities. The Salada Lagoon is very close to this town, where big communities of flamingos, ducks and seagulls live and offer us a great spectacle together with their beautiful landscapes. |
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We go from San Pedro de Atacama by regular bus to San Salvador de Jujuy. Reception in the Bus Station in Jujuy and transfer to the hotel.
|
 |
Breakfast in the hotel. In the afternoon we visit the historic remains of the town, including the San Francisco church, the Lavalle Museum, the Government House and the room of the flag. The Government House is a beautiful French style palace. We also pass the old railway station, the artisanal way and the residential areas like the Perales and the old rough streets with large colonial houses and their typical windows and central patios with wells. We finish our excursion in Alto La Viña where we find the Jorge Pasquini López Archeological Museum which has a unique viewpoint where we can enjoy the marvelous landscape that this northern city has. |
 |
Breakfast at the hotel. We will tour the road that the Train to the Clouds does, even visiting the Big Salts (Salinas Grandes) to Purmamarca. Campo Quijano will be the first village that we are going to cross, it is a peaceful town in which we have to highlight Las Lomitas Dike, where we are going to get beautiful views of its farms and green hills such as the Arenales river landscape in El Encón, it is a traditional town in the Lerma Valley, very well known for being the entrance door to the Puna, where the Train to the Clouds railway tracks go past.
We will continue our tour going through Río Blanco, which is surrounded by pure nature, we will get to Quebrada del Toro, which stretches to Puerta Tastil, a small precolumbian city which has its higher development in the XIV century and then, it strangely disappeared, in this very same village it appears the Río Blanco again that goes along the way. The prehispanic city of Tastil represents the entrance "door" to Quebrada de las Cuevas, where we will find the archaelogical Ruins of Tastil. We will continue by Abra Blanca which is located at 4080 metres over the level of the sea to San Antonio de los Cobres, a small village that is found at 4000 metres over the level of the sea and it is famous because the Pachamama (Madre Tierra) National Festivity takes place there. Besides, it is the best spot in the Train to the Clouds.
We will continue on the Route 40 to the Big Salts (Salinas Grandes), now in Jujuy, which are at 3450 metres over the level of the sea, aproximately. These stretch through the Puna Jujeña region. The origin of the salts date from 5 and 10 millions years ago, in which period this salt´s basin was covered with water with a great quantity of salts because of the volcanic activity, and little by little, the evaporation of these waters gave rise to this big salt, which is an spectacle to enjoy and it contrast with the sky. We will descend the Cuesta de Lipán and we will get to Purmamarca town, located at the foot of Cerro de los Siete Colores. We will return to Salta.
|
 |
Breakfast in the hotel. This begins a special day because we encounter the llamas. The llama is a true companion of the local peasants. They are used, like donkeys, to transport goods across the puna, valleys and the jungles. In Tilcara they use a system of 'positive stimulation' to tame them and this results in them becoming docile and perfectly domesticated.
Called the 'camel of the heights', the llama became a sacred animal for distinct ancient cultures and was an emblem of richness or nobleness. It is identified with Jujuy and its cultural legacy. Here we can go walking to rural houses and panoramic points to enjoy visiting the local inhabitants and experience the spectacular views. Also we will be able to perceive the ancestral wisdom that the Jujuy men incorporate in whichever cultural activity they realize. In the afternoon we begin our trip to La Quiaca following the rest of La Quebrada de Humahuaca to arrive at the extreme northwest of Argentina.
|
 |
La Quiaca - Yavi - Villazón - Jujuy
Breakfast in the hotel. We visit the city and after go Yavi, known for its historic chapel. La Quiaca is on the Bolivian border with its sister Bolivian town of Villazón and they are connected by an international bridge. At the beginning of the 20th century a railroad was built from La Puna to La Quiaca and here it crosses the river Quiaca by a viaduct of three arches.
La Quiaca has developed over time and became important from the middle of the last century. There is an incessant transfer of people from the Altiplano Andino, typified by their puneña clothing. We also visit the Yavi, another important north eastern town due to its historical routes and then cross the bridge to get to know the Bolivian town of Villazón. We will return to San Salvador de Jujuy.
|
 |
Jujuy - Salta - Iguazú
Breakfast at the hotel. We go from San Salvador de Jujuy to Salta´s Airport. Reception and transfer from Iguazú´s Airport to the hotel.
|
 |
We will do one of the most interesting excursions through the hanging bridges, which will lead us to visit the stunning Falls from the Argentine side. Then we will get to the Devil's Gorge and be dazzled by its rough waters, a nature spectacles at a height of 80 meters. In the Lower Area (Circuito Inferior) we will enjoy the rich wildlife around us, as we go down the flight of steps where we can watch the spectacle offered by this water curtain surrounded by thick vegetation.
We will pass by Álvar Núñez Fall, from where we will enjoy the first views of the Devil's Gorge. Following the path, we will find San Martín Island and the homonymous Fall. Finally, at the end of trip we will find Bosetti and Dos Hermanas Falls. We can stay and appreciate this spectacle of waters and get refreshed since the steam from the waves breaking on the rocks will spray us completely.
We will continue our trip, this time in the Upper Area (Circuito Superior), where we will go around the same falls but from a different point of view of the Falls and their surroundings. Besides, we will get close to our next destination, the most stunning, which will guide us through the roaring of the water currents. We will get to the Devil's Gorge's station by train, and start our trip around the islands, and thus, have a wider view of this great nature "mistake" in the middle of the forest created, according to a legend, by the angry God of Iguazú River.
Big Adventure
This activity is an extra walk through the hanging bridges, and with this we will start our adventure in which we will sail up to the Canyon of Iguazú River. Then we will sail for about 2 km along the rapids enjoying a beautiful view from San Martín Island.
We will go round the island up to the homonymous fall to enjoy a great deal and get sprayed from a close distance. We will get back on off-road vehicles through the thick forest surrounding the National Park.
|
 |
Breakfast at the Hotel. We will go round the famous Jesuitical Ruins, which were declared in 1984 as World Heritage by the UNESCO. In this trip to this magnificent place, we will enjoy the landscape and watch the different towns and plantations. These are the remains of a civilization created by Guarani people and founded in 1610 precisely by the Jesuitical people.
We will learn about building techniques, life and habits of aborigines and how they were educated in the catechism by the Jesuitical people.
The remains of the 30 towns established by these people are hidden within the forests of countries like Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Then we will head for Wanda Mines, at 40 km from Iguazú Port, where we will enjoy the extreme beauty of these semi-precious stones such as quartz, amethyst, agate and topaz.
These are opencast mines located by Paraná River, which makes it an unforgettable landscape surrounded by plantations of pines, yerba mate, tea, etc. As we move forward through the paths, we will be dazzled by the variety of colors of these gems. An interesting fact to have in mind is that the mine was named after a Polish princess who liked these stones. We can buy some of these beautiful precious stones as souvenirs.
|
 |
Here we will have a very beautiful trip through the only hanging bridge of 1 km to enjoy the view of Iguazú Falls from the other side, the Brazilian region. During this trip we can also learn more about the fauna and flora, enjoy a unique landscape of the falls since the area is more open regarding falls because most of them are on the Argentine side and form a water curtain of 2,700 meters wide.
So from this side we will be dazzled by the beauty of the Devil's Gorge to the full. Besides, this place is home to rare wildlife species, some of them in danger of extinction such as giant otters, anteaters, jaguars, red deer and yellow alligators. We will also see native flowers such as orchids, bromelias and thousands of butterflies.
|
 |
Breakfast at the Hotel. Transfer to Iguazú Airport. Reception at Domestic Airport (Buenos Aires).
End of our services.
|
|
|
|
|
