Nature - Argentina, Salta region

Argentina - Salta region

This is the third article describing the incredible natural world we encountered during our exploration of Argentina and Chile. Previously, I’ve described the Iguazu Falls as seen from Brazil and Argentina, and the Patagonian fjords and Torres del Paine National Park.

Here I’m going to describe what we saw in the Salta region in the north of Argentina. The first thing I’m remembering as I write this is the tremendous variety of wildlife, geology, and vistas that we encountered throughout our trip. The Iguazu falls impressed with their scale and raw power. Patagonia’s huge reserves of fresh water tied up in glaciers and mountain-tops is the third highest in the world after Greenland and Antarctica. Salta, is a few thousand feet above sea level and is mostly quite arid.

The cover photo is of a small herd of guanaco (I think) a llama-like mammal common in this part of the world. We saw this small herd in the area around Humahuaca. All of the pictures in this article, except for the last one, are from around the area of Humahuaca. We saw the goats roaming freely above a village and have no idea if they are wild or owned by someone. There was certainly no sign of human concern about them. The vista with the road way down in the valley is from a 2-hour trip up a mountain in a rented pickup truck. I forget the altitude at the top but we were high enough to experience shortness of breath whist walking around

The final photograph is from the valley approach to the town of Cafayate. This place was for the most part very arid and mountainous. It reminded me of parts of Arizona and Nevada.

Approaching Cafayate

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