Cachi and Cafayate

We visited several very remote high mountain villages while in Salta Province. The first one was a 3 hour drive from Salta and was accesible by a narrow and very windy road. At the top of the road I saw an Andean Condor. A very large bird with an impressive wing span. I felt fortunate to see one fly by us (maybe 50 feet away) just as we got off the bus. The road was probably the scariest mountain road I have ever been on. I'll post a picture to show how windy and high we were.

Once in Cachi, we met with a woman from the local group of indigenous people and she talked to us about her culture both past and present. We felt really fortunate that she was willing to spend time with us, although she was reluctant to say anything that put the government in a bad light. We know that it has only been recent that the Argentine government has recognized most of the local groups of indians as being a distinct cultural group with important significance to Argentina's history.

The next day we went on the Cafayate, another small indian village that has grown large due to the tourist trade. It was a very pretty town with a delightful restaurant where I ate the local special of Argentine grass fed beef. The owner of the restaurant, Eduardo, waited on us himself and insisted while I was there I speak only in Spanish. While I tried my best, I finally suggested (in Spanish) that he could practice his English with me, he told me in perfect English he didn't need to practice, he was an English professor. Then, while I felt a bit foolish, we all had a good laugh and when we departed we said goodbye as good friends with an Argentinan kiss.

After lunch, we headed on to Tucuman via another very narrrow, windy and bit scary road. Although, it was unique geography, as we left the high desert area and entered a yunga, which is a mountain rain forest. Unfortunately, my camera battery gave out on the way over and I only have video. It was really interesting landscape as there were all these parasitic plants that were atttached to the trees. They looked like the plants you can buy in the U.S. called air plants. Aside, from having to get out of the bus periodically, to get our blood moving according to our tour guide, we were changing altitude rapidly, our trip was uneventful and we eventually arrived in Tucuman.