Ischigualasto National Park - Canyons and Cacti

It took the whole day to get from Mendoza to San Agustin de Valle Fertil. I caught an early bus to San Juan but then had to wait eight hours for the first connecting bus that wasn´t full. Finally arrived at 11pm and was greeted at the station by one of the locals inviting passengers to stay at his hostel. I was joined by a few Argentines and we were soon drawn into the party celebrations for the towns anniversary, drinking wine and eating empanadas til 3am, while acoustic guitarists played some latin American faves. It was an unusual introduction to the friendly town of Valle Fertil after a long drawn out day.







The next day we took a tour of the nearby national parks, Talampaya and Ichigualasto. This is desert and canyon country, similar to the landscapes you might find in Utah or Australia´s red centre. Dramatic rock formations, created by millions of years of erosion are situated in bright red sandstone canyons, surrounded by exotic desert flora of algarrobo trees and cacti. The surreal landscape and new found friends made for quite a memorable day. It was good to be able to practice some Spanish, whilst also having the luxury of switching to English when my understanding failed me. Am finally beginning to make some real progress and can now communicate reasonably well. The main problem is trying understand the language when its spoken quickly and fluently. Returning to the hostel, the Argentines invited me to try some mate, and it was good to finally satisfy my curiosity and sample the yerba brew that is a national obsession. Later that evening there was an onwards bus to La Rioja. With infrequent connections northwards and the country gearing up for Easter, I decided to take the opportunity and make up some time with still plenty more to discover in northern Argentina. However, it was a shame to leave, especially just as the hostel´s weekly barbeque was about to begin. There was just enough time to grab a quick, tasty lomito before the mini bus arrived and I was back on the road again, now with a Belgian couple and a French Canadian for company.











We arrived in La Rioja around 2am and were hoping to make the 3am connection northwards to Tucuman and Salta. However, perhaps predictably, the buses for the next 12 hours were full and we somehow managed to find a hotel still open and broke the journey for the night. After a leisurely few hours exploring the laidback town the next day, it was back on the bus for a six hour trip to Tucuman. The others had to wait an extra hour for their bus to Salta, so I found myself back on my own. Leaving behind the desert of San Juan province, the countryside was soon awash with lush green vegetation and by the time we reached Tucuman, the tropics were almost upon us.





Energetic, seductive, brash and sophisticated, were some of the words my guidebook used to describe Tucuman, so I decided to check it out. Its turned out to be a good place to break the journey for the day. I feel exhausted after the last week or so, between all the sightseeing, trekking and bus trips, there has hardly been any time to relax.