Wine and Mountains

From Salta city, we head south into the Valles Calchaquies over one or two days, acclimatizing with overnights at close to 2,000m altitude before climbing into the very southern edge of Argentina’s mountain plateau, where we rise gradually to nearly 4,000m altitude.

You will witness a complete change of landscape as we transition from the valley to the Altiplano: we are rewarded with views of snow-topped mountains and lagoons speckled with wild vicuña, the cameloids of the high mountain plateau. We arrive in El Peñon, an oasis of a town set in the middle of the plain, and a strategic jumping-off spot to visit the extraordinary lunar landscape of the Piedra Pomez (pumice stone) fields at the very southern edge of the Altiplano.

We can visit Laguna Grande, home to thousands of flamingoes during the breeding season of September to March and the pukara (fort) of La Alumbrera, built by the Belen tribe, dating from 1,000AD. This vantage point offers some great views of the lagoons, the Puna town of Antofagasta de la Sierra, and the mountains beyond.

We will visit the oasis town of Antofalla, then head on to the Cono de Arita Salt Pyramid, set like an island in the ocean of the biggest salt flat in Argentina, the Salar of Arizaro: from here it’s a short journey north with some breathtaking close up views of the Andes mountain range, onto Tolar Grande.

This old railway town in the shadow of the volcano of Llullaillaco is set in an extraordinary red rock landscape.

We return to Salta through the Desierto del Diablo, via the viaduct of La Polvorilla where the Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) finishes its journey, and the Quebrada del Toro: another complete change of landscape, where we can visit the pre-Inca ruins of Tastil.