Fourteen Colours & Cloud Forest

We head north from Salta to San Salvador de Jujuy, following the old mountain road between these two historic cities, before climbing into the Quebrada de Humahuaca. This is the old Spanish supply route from Buenos Aires to Lima, and it's peppered with history from the past 1,000 years. The Inca adapted an 11th century indigenous hill settlement at Tilcara, in the middle of the Quebrada, and when the Spanish arrived they built churches, including Uquia’s San Francisco which has some rare and startling artwork. And a Spanish fort at Hornillos has been converted into a museum dedicated to the War of Independence, much of which was fought up and down the Quebrada de Humahuaca two centuries ago.

We explore the multi-coloured canyon of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, famous for the Seven Coloured Hill of Purmamarca, and cross the 4,200m peak of the Cuesta de Lipan to take in the spectacular Salinas Grandes salt flats on the road west to Chile. Then we climb out of the canyon to the Serranias de Hornocal, where a viewpoint at 4,350m altitude offers a spectacular view of the Hill of Fourteen Colours in the perfect afternoon light. Next we follow a winding mountain road with stunning views of the mountain range to the predominantly indigenous adobe village of Santa Ana.

This is the gateway to the Yungas of Calilegua Cloud Forest (“Yungas” means “Warm valley” in Quechua). After the dry, desert-like cactus-peppered landscape of Humahuaca canyon, now we gradually descend 2,000m in altitude into the lush, sub-tropical vegetation of the Cloud Forest, taking photos of the extraordinary change in scenery along the way.

For hikers, there is a stretch of the Inca trail here which is easily accessible and outstanding for its excellent condition. (Outside Peru, Argentina has the most identifiable remains of Inca trail in South America, with 119km.) There are also some great hiking trails in Calilegua Cloud Forest, home to 3,000 different varieties of plant, 300 different types of birds and 100 different species of mammal.

This trip can be combined easily with the Bolivia wine region. 

Available April to November.