Celebrate the humble spud
The humble potato gets a bad press. It's associated with unhealthy eating habits: eg crisps, often eaten by a couch potato while another member of the family is provoking a chip pan fire in the kitchen. There's the Irish potato…
Birth of Inca Legend
Bolivia is famous for its salt flats, the Salar de Uyuni, and Peru is rightly celebrated for Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Inca trail, but there is much more to discover in these predominantly indigenous countries. I returned recently to…
(Un)holy trinity part 2
When you're visiting Argentina with Poncho Tours, you will notice many roadside shrines: one featuring red flags, another mountains of plastic bottles. You may also be sharp-eyed enough to spot small altars festooned with black flags. These are three of…
Taking the bull by the horns
There is a curious ceremony in an obscure town in the Puna of Argentina which marks the Assumption of the Virgin Mary today (August 15th). The tiny town of Casabindo, nestled in the Altiplano north of the Salinas Grandes salt…
Pachamama is Mother Earth
Today is Pachamama day, perhaps the most important celebration in the indigenous calendar (closely followed by carnival but they’re so interlinked you can’t have one without the other). On August 1st, Argentina’s indigenous population give thanks to Mother Earth (which…
The Inca trail in Argentina
North West Argentina is particularly rich in pre-Hispanic history, as it was one of the most heavily populated parts of the continent when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. The formation of the Andes between 12 and 15 million…
From Brazil to Salta
The airline industry was just about tottering to its feet and making baby steps after the Covid-19 shutdown when Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine, prompting a world fuel and cost of living crisis, in addition to the tragic and…
Guide to Buenos Aires
I don't spend a huge amount of time in Buenos Aires, as I'm normally passing through rapidly, hot-footing it back to my home country of the UK, or returning to my adopted city of Salta in north-west Argentina.You can see…
Salta nightlife
When you are organising your tour of Argentina, after enjoying a tango show in Buenos Aires, you musn't miss the most typical feature of a night out in north west Argentina: the peña.A peña is traditionally a gathering of any…
Argentina re-opens to tourism
The Prime Minister of my home country, Boris Johnson, unwisely dubbed it "Freedom Day" when the UK liberated itself from most Covid-imposed restrictions on July 19th this year. The result was an uptick in infection rates despite mass vaccinations, and…