Meeting the Northwest

Day 1
In the early evening we have the first Meeting in a hotel in Buenos Aires; connecting & sharing maté. Afterwards we will have dinner together.

Day 2
We visit the largest delta in the world, step in a tourkayak and make an excursion through the beautiful watercanals of Tigre (does not matter if you haven´t kayaked before; tourkayaks are very stable..), we will lunch on a island, swim and connect to the flow of water.

Day 3
Today we fly to Salta, La Linda, the beauty, as this city is called in Argentina. It is our intention to fly in the morning to have the chance of enjoying a middaywalk in the hills with a view over the city. In the night we can go to a local peña, a folkloric restaurant where the Salteñas enjoy a good meal with music and dance.

Day 4
We make a transfer from Salta to Cafayate and visit a few amazing places in the Conchas canyon. We will see our first wonderfully eroded rockformations with beautiful earth colours. We will walk a little higher into one of the canyons to feel and connect to the forms and wonders of our Planet. In the midday we will search for some pre-inca petroglyps and/or visit one of the famous Argentinian winehouses.

Day 5 & 6
We start with a daywalk in the valley of Cafayate, and disappear in a fascinating desert with dry rivers, cactusses and eroded rock formations and leave the civilised world behind us. We can discover how much we like to walk or to be present and enjoy the landscape without doing something in particular. We will come back in our accomodation in Cafayate in the late afternoon. The total walking time will depend of the group and the moment. We walk crosscountry over desertplains, through canyons and over easy rocky terrain. The next day there are several options also depending on the wishes of the group and the suggestions of the local guide. One of the possibilities is to make a walk into a deep canyon with waterfalls along a path upstream, and to have a swim in the canyon surrounded by huge walls of rocks and plants. Trails of pumas have been seen once on a small beach near a waterfall.

Day 7
We make a transfer from Cafayate to the colonial village Cachi through the valleys of Calchaquies. The ambience of the villages and the wide landscape with haciendas remind us of the early history of the Spaniards who came here to take the fertile lands of the Calchaqui Indians. We will stop in several places, visit a colonial church and make a short walk in la Quebrada de las Flechas. We stay in an ambient accomodation in a quiet valley a little outside Cachi, called Cachi Adentro.

Day 8
We make a walk in the valley of Cachi and experience the spectacular views on high volcanoes with snowwhite peaks. We walk around 8 hours and reach an altitude at a viewpoint of around 2500 metres.

Day 9
A day completely dedicated to do whatever you like.

Day 10
We make a transfer from Cachi to a Finca surrounded by huge cactusses from where we will start tomorow with our trekking. Along the way we visit a canyon which still breathes the outburst of volcanic activity and we will have a look in a canyon with waterfalls. The excursions are on a altitude above 3000 metres and give us a good chance to acclimatize. In the late midday or in the early morning we will meet our Gauchos who will accompany us on our trekking with their mules and horses. We sleep in tents during the trekking. The altitude of the campingplace is 2600 metres.

Day 11
We walk in around 4 hours, including lunch, from our first campingsite through a narrow canyon to an open plain, where we find the next Finca. In the late afternoon we hike to a viewpoint with a spectacular view over the mountains and eroded valleys from where we can see the trail of tomorrow. Later we return to the camp on 2900 metres high and share dinner in the patio of the Finca.

Day 12
Today will be a long hiking day. First we will climb gradually two times over a small pass around the 3500 metres altitude. After this we will descend, pass a local school, and during the rest of the day walk through the riverbed of a canyon. We see all kind of coloured and eroded rockformations from red to yellow, green, orange, pink and brown. We sleep near a hacienda on a altitude of 2700 metres with a view on a huge wall of rock where we might see some condors. Here we have seen a few times trails of pumas as well. We will walk in around 8 hours from the finca to the hacienda, including lunch and small breaks.

Day 13
Today we make a relaxed roundwalk through the valleys of this area, to connect and feel the energy of the area. We visit several pre-Inca petroglyps carved on the rocks and a pre-inca ruin close to our hacienda. From here on we follow a small trail to a river, see several ruins of abondoned haciendas, visit a local family and an indian graveyard. We estimate this walk with lunch and breaks around 6 to 7 hours.

Day 14 & 15
These days are completely dedicated to do whatever you like. We can go to the river in the canyon nearby. The water will be cold, but the warm sun, sand and rocks can make us feel warm soon again.

If the weather is good we can decide to make bivak and sleep one night in the open air, near a cave or in a dry canyon, only carry very few things and let the stars shine on us.

Day 16
Today we have the longest hiking day and leave early. We start with ascending through a riverbed and pass through several canyons to reach in the end the first pass at 3100 metres altitude. From here we descend, pass several local water reservoirs of herdsmen from where we climb again to an impressive mountainridge at 3100 metres. From here we descend to our campingplace near a waterwell at 2300 metre. We estimate the total walking time including lunch and breaks on 10 hours.

Day 17
A day completely dedicated to do whatever you like.

Day 18
We climb again to an altitude of 3100 metres by zigzagging to a large highplain. We continue two hours on this plain and enjoy the most spectacular views. If the weather conditions are good we might take some time to stay here a little longer. In the end we descend in a deep canyon, and when we are down we ascend a little again to reach a beautiful hacienda in the famous Toro canyon. We will stay here for two nights and sleep here in beds again. We say here goodbye to our Gauchos who have accompanied us for all these days.

Day 19
Today we let our feet rest a little and make a tour in the Toro canyon on horses as a part of the Argentinian lifestyle in the countryside. It is not necessary to have earlier experiences with driving horses, you may learn that by now and enjoy all of it.

Day 20
From the hacienda we make a daywalk to a very little visited, historical Inca site. We have a beautiful view over the canyon and cross the railway of the Train of the Clouds several times. Today we can say goodbye to the mountains and express our gratitude for all the experiences we have had. In the end of the midday we go back by bus to Salta where we will arrive in the early evening.

Day 21
Today we fly back to Buenos Aires. Depending of the flight schedule we will have either a goodbye lunch in Salta or a goodbye dinner in Buenos Aires.

Note that there are interesting extension possibilities to stay longer in Salta. For those who prefer something special with comfort, we can offer a finca just outside Salta or an exquisite appartment of a lovely couple in the higher areas of the city with a view over the city of Salta.