The Best Laid Plans

Sometimes, life throws us curveballs. This is one of those times for us. We have had some bad news from home and will be returning to Canada to be with Nance's family.

Humachuaca

Impressive French Cyclists!

I couldn't resist a photo
Shop 'til you drop

Brent makes a deal! Cocoa Leaves.

Blessing of the day

Monument for the Independence of Argentina

Brent had dinner with his brother

Tropic of Capricorn
Cactus Wood

Pre-Colombian Ruins

We were up relatively early and drove north up the valley to the town of Humachuaca. We passed by many small farms, but mostly dry county, and the farms must get their water by wells, as a fellow we spoke to at one of the stores couldn't remember the last time it rained in town. Maybe 8 months ago? There were lots of big cacti, obviously thriving. They do cut the cacti down, but only after they are dead, as the wood of a live cacti becomes very fragile if you cut it, and the dead cacti produces a beautiful, lightweight wood. Cacti live 200 to 300 years, so they have to be patient to get the wood.

The main attraction in the town of Humachuca is the San Fransisco Solano Church, where at noon, the statue of San Fransisco pops out of the clock tower and gives his blessing. (like a Coo Coo Clock) The locals certainly know where to find the touristas at noon, as just before he popped out of the clock, we were inundated with people selling jewelery, hats, key chains, and cocoa leaves. Brent "connected" with a cocoa leaf pusher, a little old lady who sold him two bags for $1.50. We popped a couple of small bundled up handfulls in our cheeks to test it out, as it is supposed to be good for altitude sickness, and I felt a wee bit affected by it, but was it just in my head? Brent said instead of altitude sickness, maybe it was better for attitude sickness...

After we were blessed by SF, we climbed the stairs up to the monument that was built to honor the fighters of the War of Independence.

On the way back, we stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn, which is the most southerly latitude which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon. This event occurs during the December Solstice. (in case you have forgotten your Geography from high school)

Last stop is a small town, called Tilcara to see a partially reconstructed pre-Colombian fort, which is hailed as one of the most complex ruins in Argentina.

Travelling with Brenty

As some of you may know, Brent loves his cars. He looks after them and takes pride in their spotlessness. So, he was cautiously happy when we received a brand new car from Hertz. Not a ding on it and even the wheels were shiny, and 0 km's on the odometer. The first mistake was made by the navigator, who admittedly would rather look at the scenery than the map and the road signs. She took us off the main highway over to a gravel road, which, augh, got dust on the car. The next day, another navigational nightmare took us onto the salt flats via a very rough, thick with light, red dust road. The next two hours were spent worrying (not by the navigator) as to how the dust was going to be removed. Once we made it back to the hotel room, the navigator's washcloth was "borrowed" along with a jug of water, and the car was scrubbed and rinsed until all of the dirt was removed. The next day, we were parking in a narrow, cobblestone street in a small town, when Brent (the worry wart) decided that the side mirror needed to be tucked into the car to avoid another car sideswiping it, except that the mirror wasn't built for this, and snapped off in his hand! Not a word from the navigator, while Brent pressed the mirror back in, and spent the rest of the day worrying it would fall off. Luckily, it stayed in place until we returned the car!

Colors and Salt Flats

Hike out of Purmamarca

Drive to the salt flats

Peak of the drive. 4,170 metres

Wild Alpacha

Go Flames Go

Wild Burros

Right where I want him.

The next morning, we were up fairly early to do a hike behind the town, as the mountain color's are best in the morning, and it was going to be a warm day, without a cloud in the sky.

I couldn't stop taking photos- red, green, beige, lavender, rust, brown, and teal were the 7 colors we counted.

After lunch, we hopped in our speedy Ford and headed up a long, windy pass to see the Salt Flats. The temperature varied from 24 C to 10 C at the peak, as it was a climb up to 4,170 metres. We stopped for a photo opportunity, but both of us felt dizzy from the lack of oxygen and the quick assent, so we were glad to make a fast decent to the salt flats. We have seen so many photos of salt flats, we were anxious to get there and followed the guide book to take the first gravel road off and then drive along to the flats. It was really dusty on the road, and by the time we got to the salt flats (they always look closer than they actually are!) the car was covered in fine, red dust. Along the way, we say wild Alpacha, and wild burrows. We headed back to the highway, only to discover that we only needed to drive another 1/2 km to an easy entrance onto the flats, situated by a restaurant that is no longer in use, but was totally built out of salt, even the tables. Apparently, they can't operate due to lack of water.

On the drive back, we were stopped to take photos, and four bikers went by on old classic bikes. We could hear them chugging up the pass from a long ways away. We both sighed and wished we had access to our bikes as the ride would have been very very very very fun!

Road Trip November 12-15

Purmamarca

We booked a car and drove north to a small town called Purmamarca, and at a population of 200, we really felt that we had journeyed off the beaten track. The town is famous for its views of the Hills of Seven Colors. We arrived during siesta time, so everything was shut down, so we decided to get a room and join in the siesta.

The town is quite touristy, and if you love to shop for Bolivian treasures, this is the place to do it. After dinner, we were wandering around town and heard some music blasting, so we went to explore. There was a community fundraiser going on, so we paid our pesos and joined in. There were games and prizes for the kids and adults alike, along with Gaucho entertainment. (drums, guitars and violins) The funniest game I watched was the ring toss for pop or wine, or bottles of booze. No matter the age, if a 10 year old looped a bottle of wine, that's what they got! Drinking isn't a big deal here, and there is very little of it practiced with the local population. Kids were running around, dodging the dogs, grandparents, parents and babies. Everyone was having a great time, including us!

Salta,

We started off our day with a hike up the mountain in Salta, leaving right from our apartment. There is a trail that has over 1,000 steps and features the 14 Stations of the Cross, depicting Jesus' last days. Once we reached the 14th, we were at the top of the mountain, and had an excellent view of the city below. There is a gondola option for those who don't want to climb. I was pretty happy with the hike, as this is by far the most walking I have been able to do, pretty much pain free. We toured the church, Caterdal de Salta, build in 1882, as well as the Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana. This museum features the mummified remains of three children 6, 7 and 15, as well as the objects burried near them. 600 years old, they were discovered in 1999, and their skin, hair and clothes were well preserved due to the high altitude they were discovered at. We both remembered hearing about this find in the news, as it was quite sensational. The other mummy in the museum is called queen of the mountains and was in a private collection for years, and as a result, not as well preserved.

Travelling with Brent

I decided to start a new ongoing blog about what it is like to travel with Brent. Especially when he doesn't have the password to this blog, or a clue on how to update it without me looking over his shoulder, I feel that I will be "safe" as far as any repercussions arise from my meanderings.

When we were in Buenos Aries, our friend, Roy, took us to the San Telmo Market, which happens every Sunday and features hundreds of booths to shop at, as well as entertainment and restaurants. The first thing Brent buys is this hand made contraption for 5 pesos from a street vendor. It is quite ingeniously made, probably involves a toilet paper roll, some Styrofoam, and a string, but when you pull on the string, it makes a really loud noise like a chicken squawking, then clucking then almost squealing, depending on how hard you pull the string. It is really quite realistic. Once he had that special buy in his hot little hands, he succeeded to stroll behind Roy and I, making chicken noises. Everyone would stop and turn to look for the chicken! Roy and I concentrated on putting some distance between Brent and us, but he kept up with us, nonetheless.
So, last night, we were in our hotel room in the quite village of Purmamarca, where the hotel rooms were adequate, the dividing walls were not so great between hotel rooms. Needless to say, I know know that during "Siesta" time, not all people are Siesta-ing! Anyway, last night, there were some folks in the room next to us who had a couple of visitors over, and they were all chatting away, until someone started making loud chicken noises out of our room. It went dead quiet next door, and I am sure they are wondering to this day who in the hotel brought their own chickens!
As we lay in bed giggling about all the places Brent could bring his new toy, Brent came up with the best plan...I think we are attending a wedding next September? (Sarah and Justin, watch out!)

Salta, Argentina

Apartment view!

Salta Views

2 blocks from our apartment, town square.

Written by Brent, as per popular request:

Well, we made another 23 hour bus trip across Argentina, and arrived in Salta yesterday morning. The city's name comes from the word "Sagta", which means "the very beautiful one." The region is filled with valleys, mountains, and the salt flats. The city has the best preserved Colonial Architecture in the county, and is located in North West Argentina, close to the Bolivian border.

We had booked a hostel room for the first night, which was a great idea, as we didn't want to spend the morning walking the streets with our luggage hunting for a room, and it was close to the bus depot. Later that day, we found a great one bedroom apartment for $40 per night, ninth floor of the building, with a great view of the town square.

We have booked a car for 3 days on Friday, as we need to get out of town due to a religious celebration and all of the rooms in the city are booked solid. We are looking forward to this trip, as all of the guide books recommend the driving route we have planned, with mountain vistas, canyon colors, and the salt flats all in one loop.

We plan to come back to Salta and spend another week in our bargin apartment, as there is lots more to see of this city of 500,000.

Boat Ride and Jungle Hike

Toucan in the wild!

A great place for sun!

Our hike into the falls.

Red Snake warning. ( Anne watch out!) We don't want to step on him!

I don't know what it's called, but they like to steal people's lunches.

Close enough for you?

Today, we went back to Iguazu Falls and hopped on one of the boats that goes right up to the falls. We dressed lightly, as we knew we were going to get wet, but didn't quite expect HOW wet we actually got! The boat went so close to the edge of the falls that we could see the rock underneath, and the spray was behind us! It was lots of fun, very refreshing and exhilarating!

After a rest in the sun to try to dry out, we went on a self guided jungle walk to see some more falls. This is by far the better way to experience the jungle, as the other option was to hop on a big 4 wheel drive buggy that carries 20 people, and the noise alone scares the animals away. So, we were lucky, and saw a Toucan, a rat-like animal, huge with no tail, two snakes and several large lizards. Only missing animal was a monkey!

We have enjoyed the town of Iguazu, as it is quite small, but has great restaurants, and shops to keep busy if you need a break from the falls. It is the first town we have experienced where they take their siestas seriously. Everything shuts down from about 1 pm until 4 ish. I can see in the hot weather how that makes sense, as they then stay open late until 9 or 10, when people feel like wandering the streets again.

Tomorrow, we take a long long bus trip 11 am until 12 pm the next day, to the North Western part of Argentina, to a town called Salta.

Bye BA Hello Countryside

So close! And me without my barrel! Brents favorite hang out, waiting for the wet tee shirt contest to begin!

Feel the spray, and cool down!

A great way to cool down!

No Zoom lens needed here! That will be us, manana!

Flocks (is that correct?) of Butterflies hang out around the misty falls. Brent makes a friend. They like the salt on our bodies and land and hang out for a while!

We left BA (sadly) at 7 pm by bus, first class, which gave us seats that fold into beds, dinner and breakfast for our 16 hour ride to Iguazu Falls. Very comfortable way to travel, and very reasonable. $200 for both of us. We both slept well and settled into our new accommodations upon arrival. We have downsized and down priced a bit $30 per night for both of us in a cozy hostel, that includes breakfast and a pool! It is a bit of a rabbit maze to get to our room, and I am glad that Brent has no issues with carrying my 50 lb suitcase down 12 steps, along a corridor, up 16 steps, along a corridor, down a ramp, along the hallway, then up another 26 steps to our room! Our room is cozy, and actually sleeps 4, if you include the bunk bed, but for our big dollars, we don't have to share, and even have our own shower and toilet! Nothing but the best!

It is much warmer here than it was in Buenos Aires, and I'm guessing in the low to mid 30's.

We were up and ready to head for the Falls by about 10 am. Taller than Niagara and wider than Victoria Falls, the falls actually consist of over 275 separate falls. What is really amazing and fantastic, is that the area is undeveloped and very well set up for a park. We took the local bus into the park, and walked on the trails which eventually turn into metal boardwalks that bring you extremely close to the falls, above, and below, and even across them! I could have taken hundreds of photos, but tried to get the best ones up on the blog for all to share! Too much to take in with the heat and humidity, we are going back tomorrow to do more hiking, a swim and to take the speed boats that go right under the falls!

We plan to stay here for a few days, and "chill" as well as soak in the sun, before moving westward to an area called Salta.