Cachi!

So on my second day in Argentina, we took a trip out of Salta to a little town called Cachi, through a tour set up by our hostel. A tour van picked us up very early in the morning and drove around Salta picking up the rest of our group. I think we ended up with about ten people. And we were the only Americans! Not that I look forward to seeing other Americans or anything, but it's strange for there to be NONE. Beccah and Claire said they hadn't met any Americans since they'd left Buenos Aires to go traveling. Maybe because it was the middle of November and that's a strange time to travel, or maybe because not many Americans go to Argentina. I'm not sure. Everyone else was Argentinian or European. Anyway...

The plan was to see all the beautiful scenery around Salta, stop in Cachi, and drive back. Fernando was our tour guide. I was the only person on the tour who couldn't understand Spanish so he would explain something and then translate it in English. I felt kinda bad, but he didn't seem to mind. His English was very good! He was a weird dude, that's for sure. At one point in the trip he told us to watch out for holes in the ground. We should NEVER put our hands in the holes because black widow spiders live in there. He detailed the suffering process after being bit by a black widow, like we were around a campfire at summer camp telling ghost stories, ending with, "And a man will experience a long, painful erection..."

And that was it. We just looked at each other and nodded.

Shortly after that, he said that the upcoming curve in the road was the most dangerous one in the mountains, and many people die as their vehicles plummet downward. He said the last time there was a car accident, three American girls were killed.

"But the tour guide survived," he said, smiling.

"So it's your turn!" I said, and he looked at me strangely and laughed.

Fernando was a weird tour guide.

Our first stop was near a bridge, from which we could see three mountains with differing flora. The nearest mountain had lots of green, the middle had less, and the farthest had none whatsoever. Fernando said this was due to the unique climate of the area. That's kinda vague, but it was cool nonetheless. There were lots of wild horses grazing nearby too, which was pretty nice. Here's Beccah, Claire, and I by the mountains.

We stopped at another point to look at some dried-out cacti and pretty scenery. Someone had also tied up a couple baby goats and a puppy to entertain the tourists. Tacky, but who cares?! I got to pet a puppy and a baby goat!!
We stopped again and took in some sweet views of the pretty mountains, winding roads, and clouds.

One of the coolest places we stopped was on a long, straight stretch of road, surrounded by cacti. Fernando said there were a thousand different types of cacti in that area. Maybe more than that, I can't remember. But what struck me most was how southwestern the place looked. I could have been in New Mexico or something. As we walked around and took pictures with cacti, we looked out for holes in the ground.
This is also where the jumping pictures began. Our obsession with jumping pictures continued the entire trip. This one isn't our best work, but it was the first.
We quickly learned that I'm a much better jumper than picture-taker. The only cloud in the sky.

For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant intended for tour groups. Beccah and I had locro, a local pumpkin stew dish. It was full of vegetables and some sort of meat, which we assumed was either goat or lamb. I feel bad if I ate a lamb :(. It was OK, a bit bland. I think Beccah said she'd had better locro somewhere else.

We finally made it to Cachi, a little town in the mountains. We had about an hour to wander around on our own, so first we went to the archeology museum, next to a church. The sky was so clear and the sun so bright, it was hard to even look at the buildings!A collection of cave paintings.
OoooOOOoo, a llama!
After exploring the museum, we walked around the town. It was awfully quiet because it was about two or three in the afternoon, so everyone was having their siesta.
We were hoping to find some ice cream, but that didn't happen. So we hung out in the shade in the plaza, watching some kids and a dog wrestle for a plastic bottle.
We didn't stop much on our way back to Salta from Cachi, and most people passed out in the van, including us. Everyone needed a siesta. We did stop once, though, at the highest point our van could go. The scenery was so beautiful, it looked fake!




So that was our trip to Cachi! That night we ate dinner again at the hostel. I'm pretty sure we had beef empanadas, which were tasty. Much better than those at the airport! While eating, we hung out with other travelers, some of whom Beccah and Claire had met earlier in their trip at other hostels. We hung out with some Australians, English girls, an Argentinian, and met (apparently) the only other American traveling around northern Argentina at the time. It was a fun night!

Next up, Tilcara! The middle of nowhere!