South America Day 33 & 34

Day 33 - We left Salta this morning and headed 260km to Cafayate passing through the Sierra de Carahuasi with sandstone landscapes.  We stopped briefly to visit the Garganta del Diablo (devils throat), El Antiteatro (amphitheatre) and El Sapo (road) rock formations.

Cafayate is a small town 1600m above sea level and surrounded by vineyards.  We visited the American owned Piattelli vineyard, a new vineyard with lots of up to date fancy equipment, they're first crop of wine was in 2012.  We had a group tour and wine tasting session.  They produce mainly red wine so we tasted one white and three reds, we and most of the group weren't that impressed the wine was too young.

We then drove the short distance to Cafayate and to our campsite 1km outside the town arriving about 2:30.  The designated cook group prepared lunch then we had a free afternoon to explore the town and sit in the sun, it was lovely and warm.  We were supposed to be having a group camp dinner but we all voted to eat out in town instead, there seemed to be a good choice of restaurants in the town, Nigel's cook group got away without cooking again!  My group had to go shopping for tomorrows lunch.

After shopping we joined a few other group members sitting outside a restaurant in the plaza and ordered a selection of empanadas, meat, cheese & quinoa, like mini Cornish pasties, traditional food in this area.  We also bought some wine from the local wine shop, me just a normal 750ml bottle of rose, Nigel a four litre bottle of red!

Day 34 - another big drive day, 440km, to Recreo a small town and a convenient place to camp on route as we head south through Argentina.  We stopped on route at some more stone wall ruins, The Quilmes Ruins, located in Tucaman province in Northwest Argentina.  The people of Quilmes were an indigenous tribe who inhabited the area as far back as 1000AD, resisting Inca invasions in the 15th and 16th centuries and even holding out against the Spanish for over one hundred years.  We stayed at a nice campsite in Recreo, the toilet/shower facilities were very basic though.  The owners were great and cooked us all a great group dinner as we had been unsuccessful in finding a supermarket open to purchase supplies to cook our own group dinner.