Expedition to the Cloud Forest

We interfaced with Nick to set up a 5-day, 4-night tour in the areas to the north and west of Salta. First, Nick was very responsive to questions and happy to provide advice on all aspects of the area. He was great to work with, and he worked with us to tailor a trip to exactly what we wanted to do. He also provide some great advice on aspects to add to our tour and practically what was feasible (the distances are often not far, but expect to take twice as long to get there relative to what you would expect in the U.S. or Europe... half of the roads were gravel, and they were main roads!). Regardless, we have only great things to say about the initial trip set-up experience. We ended up have Nick as our guide for the trip; he splits the work between himself and several other guides that he knows well. In the end, we decided to do the Calilegua cloud forest, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Salina Grande, the Abra de Acai (5000 m pass), and the Parque National los Cardones. All of these were spectacular in terms of landscape, and many had cool little towns nearby to explore. The great thing about Poncho Tours is that it is completely personalized and they will cater to what you want to do. We stayed the night we arrived in Salta at their B&B Poncho Huasi in a small town outside of Salta. It would not be ideal for seeing Salta, but it is great if you get into town late in the day and are leaving on a tour the next day. It was great for that!Of the places we went, we particularly liked the Calilegua (and the small town of San Francisco), the Abra de Acai, and the Parque National los Cardones. However, all we very interesting and spectacular in their own way. Service is definitely a high priority for Poncho, as they offered to pick us up from the airport when we arrived. We stayed one extra night in Salta city after our tour ended, and Nick even offered to pick us up and take us to the airport. It was definitely not something we expected, but it was appreciated. We enjoyed essentially everything about the trip, though realize that some days may involve a significant amount of time in the car depending on the tour. However, they do great job of finding interesting stopping points to do short hikes, have picnics, and otherwise split up the drives.The recommended lodging options were generally great, and varied from very simple to fairly nice. They are also happy to try to arrange/book the lodging of your choice; definitely helpful for those small places that don't have online booking. We used a combination of their recommendations and reviews on various websites to choose our lodging. Overall, it was a great trip and I would definitely recommend it for those who are a bit adventurous and want a personalize tour. Thanks Nick!