ElPelar

Trip Report- 3 weeks in BA and NW Provinces of Tucuman, Salta, and Jujuy:

1. Buenos Aires: Stayed at Casa Las Canitas (Palermo-Las Canitas area) and Art Hotel (Recoleta) www.arthotel.com.ar . Service at Canitas (boutique hotel) was great; helped with taxis, touring, etc. and had wonderful staff of college students. Nice inner courtyard with BBQ area, turtle pond, mini-wine bar in lobby; quiet rooms; great restaurants around corner; young vibrant neighborhood. About US $125/night (www.casalascanitas.com). Art Hotel staff also excellent.

Did several walking tours (from Frommer’s web site), including Florida Ave., Bocca, and Av. De Mayo. Great way to see city. Used radio taxis; very convenient. Took the Lonely Planet Argentina guide on trip, but won’t use anymore because they leave out lots of key sights and museums (there are about 4 museums in Salta not listed). Did a tango “singing” show and was blown away by local talent.

2. Day Trip to Colonia, Uruguay. My advice: DON’T BOTHER! Took fast boat, Buquebus, plus their packaged tour with lunch and guide. Big waste of money: you can’t go on deck on the boat, lots of waiting in line to get on/off boat, go through immigration; the guide for the walking tour/bus tour was lame and provided scant information, lunch was mediocre buffet, and tour on the bus was a let down. Colonia is interesting as a small Portuguese village, but it’s a waste of a day and several hundred dollars compared to what you can see in BA and other parts of Argentina.
3. Tucuman: Aerolineas Argentina from BA to Tucumán- be patient with this airline, and don’t try to make an international connection the same day; we had lots of delays coming and going and had angry ugly Americans on our flight who were upset about missing a connection. Might try LAN Chile R/T to Salta next time. Stayed at Sol San Javier, up on San Javier hill above Tucuman. AR $269/night, very romantic having dinner and seeing lights of city below. Hotel is decent, near nice state parks with hike to water falls and side trip to quaint Vila Nougues. Great bird watching in area; saw hawks, owls, etc.
4. Trip to Cafayate: Rented Chev. Corsa (great gas mileage, but low clearance if you are going on rough roads, such as Salta to Cachi (need to cross small rivers!). Drove to Famailla, Acheral, El Indio (rainforest-Reserva Nat Los Sosa, with hordes of parrots and lush vegetation), El Mollar, Tafi de Valle, Amaicha del Valle, etc. in one day. Menhirs in El Mollar worth seeing, but display is run down and badly maintained. Jesuit museum in Tafi worth seeing. The Pachamama Museum in Amaicha is amazing, a must see. The metal and stone work is incredible, as are the courtyards and halls of paintings. Quilmes: need about ½ to see ruins if you are an archaeology buff; great hiking trails around ruins; fabulous. Try walking around in the ruins area that is unrestored; you’ll see birds nesting in the saguaro cactus and hawks.
5. Cafayate: Killa Hotel, AR $280/night, worth every peso (www.killacafayate.com.ar). Most gracious hosts of all hotels we stayed at! Amazing landscaping, design, and architecture; great breakfast and snacks. Wonderful town, wineries; check out the goat cheese factory, Museo Arqueologicco, Museo del Vino, village square and church.
6. Cafayate to Salta: Drove the Quebrada de las Conchas route. Allow time to stop and hike; each rock formation has a road sign to alert you to pull over. Lots of canyons and washes to hike; you don’t need a guide except for extensive trekking.
7. Salta: Stayed in San Lorenzo, a summer village about 10 km. North in foothills: awesome location. Hotel: Posada Don Numas- has small spa w/ hot tub, steam baths, 2 pools, sauna. Fabulous facility and gracious bubbly hostess. AR $220/night w/breakfast; other meals available; beautiful grounds, clean, very quiet at night; enjoyed hob-knobbing with Argentinean guests. Great hiking in Quebrada ([email protected]) nearby (self-guided hike, about 5k; we hired a guide for a 3 hour hike up into jungle). Only 10 minutes to downtown Salta. www.donnumas.com.ar. Beautiful old houses and castle in San Lorenzo; ate a Restaruante Lo de Andres—top notch grilled meat/trout. Also nice outdoor café by trail into gorge.

Also stayed at La Candela (Pueyrredon 346) one night in downtown Salta; great place for those on budget-about AR$195 /night; clean, quiet, free parking garage, nice inner courtyard. Also have a cabana for larger groups.

Stayed 3 nights 1 hour from Salta at Estanchia El Manatial del Milagro, which is near the village of La Silleta. Magnificent old ranch, which has a dairy, pigs, and tobacco growing, Very historic building, wonderfully furnished; hiked on farm and into nearby hills. Relaxing place to stay, but not much to do on farm and the hostess was not helpful as far as activities and trails on ranch. Dinner was too expensive. You can drive over to Campo Quijano in 15 minutes for a US $10 steak dinner and a look at the old steam locomotive (The train trip is still closed for reconstruction).

What to see in Salta: - Main square: Church, 3 museums- MALM (with Incan mummy), Cabidillo (city museum), and Centro Cultura America Museum which now has amazing exhibit of Pre-Colombian artifacts which is free! Other museums: Museo Folclorico, Museo Nacioanl Historico, Museo Bellas Artes (closed for remodeling), Museo De ceincias naturales (lots of stuffed native birds). You can see a folk music show on Balcarce Street after 10 pm. If you are driving in Salta, be careful: its anarchy on the streets.
8. Cachi: Drove from Salta to Cachi via El Carril and over pass to Payogasta. No problema, just do it during day and take it very easy going up and over 10,000 foot pass; you are on a gravel road and any fast maneuvers or passing could lead to a serous accident. Road is under construction in at least 4 areas; be prepared to drive through 3 streams; 4WD not necessary, except maybe in rainy season. You don’t need a guide to do this, but if you want to kick back, take a guided tour from Salta on a tour bus or hire a private guide for US $100/day. Locals take 3 hours for the trip (but the tour vans drive fast); you should allocate 5 hours and stop for views. Look for wild guanacos once you get over the pass and start coming down off the high plain. Stayed at Bodega El Molino de Cachi, in upper Cachi (Cachi Adentro). What a place: a converted old mill, winery, and wonderful retreat. AR $400/night, with breakfast (they will serve a 4 course dinner for about US$25/person, which is a great experience). Also, there is a goat farm and cheese factory about ½ km across the valley you can visit and get fresh cheese. Make sure to hike in Cachi Adentro: continue up road for 7 km until you hit river and bridge; park, cross bridge, and walk up dirt road into this beautiful tranquil valley—you will be amazed. In town, see the church, and archaeology museum.
9. Jujuy Province: Toured Purmamarca, Tilcara, and Humahuaca. Stayed at El Manatial del Silencio in Purmamarca: one of the best hotels in N. Argentina. Also fabulous, inexpensive dinning with award-winning chef at hotel. Day trip to salt flats (Salinas Grandes), up over 13,000 ft pass; great for the views and more guanacos. Suggest allocating 2 to 3 days to this area of the north- several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, museums, botanical gardens, monuments, ruins, and fabulous geological features. Didn’t get to see Iruya because of risk of road washout (road goes across river several times, danger of washout in Oct./Nov.).
Travel Arrangements: Worked with Irene Mintzer, Active Argentina, for all lodging ([email protected], Zuviria 982, Salta (54 387) 4311868. Irene did an outstanding job to ensure quality lodging, quiet rooms, non-smoking where available; she also helped with the itinerary. She has 4 guides who can do day trip tours in comfortable Renault mini-vans. Took 2 day trips: one to Salt Flats, other to Tilcara; both were great. Irene is a professor at Salta University and also a travel agent who works hard to please.

Money: Cash machines (ATM’s) in most larger towns; check with your bank in advance for ATM fee and foreign exchange; mine charged me US $1 per transaction. Also took cash; best rate was AR $3.15 per US $2. Hotels all have safe boxes for valuables.

Food: Dining is a bargain; US $5 to $15 buys a full meal w/drinks and deserts. In general all food safe, though may pay to avaoid ice and fresh salads; wife got dysentery for 3 days. Never drink tap water.

flintstones

Great report. Thank you for your visit to the NW!
Why did you choose it?
Where did you hear/read about th NW first time??
Warm regards.
Flintstones

ElPelar

Flintstones:

Buen dias.

Last year I went to Peru: Cusco, Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca. I enjoyed the areas that are influenced by the Puna and Andes, the remants of Incas and Spaniards. The Argentina NW has this flavor and is steeped in history. I wanted to see colonial buildings and architecture. Also, I heard how friendly Argentinians are, and it is more than true; people are very sweet, patient, and willing to help out with a smile.

For information, I reviewed this web forum, and many of your posting. I also looked at Argentina government websites: http://www.todowebsalta.com.ar/ , http://www.welcomeargentina.com/salta/index_i.html, http://www.turismo.gov.ar/eng/menu.htm.
I also read "Argentina" insight guide and the Lonely Planet Argentina guide. Finally, I have a relative in Buenos Aires who made lots of suggestions.

You are to be commended for providing posters to this site so much information about the NW. I am an independent traveler who doesn't like packaged tours, and your information helped me with this trip. Muchos gracias.

Scarlett

OMG what an amazing trip you took!!
I am going to print this out, I live in Buenos Aires but there is SO much to see...I will follow your footsteps

Thank you so much for posting this great report!

Syl

Wow! I'm reliving my October trip through your wonderful posting. We also used Irene from Active-Argentina.Adrian picked us up from the Jujuy Airport to drive us to Purmamarca & Noe was our guide for the balance of our NW tour.The only regret I have is not going to magnificent Iruya. We met a couple in Purmamarca who drove to Iruya for a 2 night stay & loved it.They went on a 5 hr hike to a town that exists on the dry riverbed. When the water appears, the town disappears. We'd love to return.

skatedancer

thank you for a great report. How long were you in the NW? It sounds like you had a good amount of time there, and were able to take advantage of the beautiful surroundings with your hikes. I would have loved to have spent at least a night in Cachi like you did, because it was such a peaceful, beautiful place.

AndrewDavid

El Pelar, Thanks for the nice trip report. We are going for 3 weeks in January: Bs As; Glacier NP and Iguazu.
Some of our time in Bs As is at the Art Hotel. Do you have anything else to add to your comment ( good service)
Are the room s quiet, nice?

thanks
AndrewDavid

ElPelar

Total trip time in NW was 2 weeks; 6 days in Buenos Aires, and 2 days in Santiago, Chile (flew LAN Chile R/T from LAX via Santiago and BA).

Art Hotel: Room was on the 3rd floor, clean, and was quiet at night; did not front on the street. Rooms are small, as was the one-person bathroom (shower stall, not tub); but have mini-bar, mini-TV, phone. Free from smoking odors. No view, window opened to interior building area. No desk or other table area; small closet for luggage storage. Computer w/Internet service available in lobby. Breakfast: OJ, Tea, Coffee, Ham, Cheese, cereal, yoghurt, various breads, jams. Not a luxury hotel, but good value and great location.

Hiking in NW: We found out that in Oct. and Nov., it is rainy season in certain areas. This makes access to national parks El Rey and Calilegua difficult, because the access roads can wash out and you can get stuck en route to the park. Apparently winter is best time to access these areas. For spring time, you can hike in such areas as Quebrada de los Conchas, Quebradra in San Lorenzo above Salta (a type of rain forest), Puna and pre-Puna areas. Lots of guides available in NW; here is one hiking guide: Rodrigo Bisbal, Viajes y Expediciones, www.alternativasalta.com (54 387 43984150). By the way, birding is awesome in the NW; take binoculars!

yestravel

Thanks for a great trip report. Did your travel agents get discounts on your hotel rooms or airfare?

ecp222

Awesome trip. Thanks for the info.

kodi

I'm going to print it out too. THanks for the great report and for providing so much valuable information.
Great report!!

ElPelar

Yestravel:

Yes, Active Argentina provided an overall discount on lodging booked. The main benefit was that they did all the bookings, I paid one fee, and they sent me vouchers for each hotel. It was therefore not necessary to pay hotels, except for additional items, such as extra meals. They ensured I got quiet rooms, and non-smoking where available. They also called some of the hotels to see how our trip was going. As far as flights, I booked Aerolineas Argentina on-line. I paid $342/person for R/T tickets from BA to Tucuman, and Salta to BA. My understanding is that there is no way to get around paying higher fees for non-citizen tickets in Argentina, and that even if a local travel agent buys tickets for you, you still have to show your passport at the airport on checkin, and they would see you are a foreigner paying an Argentinian airfare. If anyone has information to the contrary, please let me know for next time. I traveled on frequent flyer tickets to Argentina, so it was not possible to buy discount tickets for local flights on LAN or Aerolineas.

Speaking of Aerolineas, there is another recent post about major problems with this airline. Here is my experience: On Oct. 30 and Nov. 13, we took internal flights on this airline; from and to BA. Both times we had 3 hour delays. If we hadn't had our hotel check with the airport before leaving for the flight, we would have had 5 hour delays! Also, the flights had one stopover each (i.e. Jujuy on the way back from Salta), and there was lots of waiting on the plane at stopover points. I would never schedule a connecting international flight in conjunction with Aerolineas; maybe LAN has a better track record. In the end, it all worked out, we got where we were going safely. Take a good book, and relax.

Pelar

Fredhanson

Great description of an exciting trip. I am also planning a trip to NW Argentina, but got concerned about the weather.

I have one question for anyone familiar with the Salta area: how rainy is it in February? I heard about the "green" season there, and looked up historical weather data on weatherunderground.com, and it looks pretty wet! Rain 3 or 4 days a week, and clouds 2 or 3 more. Question: When it rains, how hard and for how long? Does the ground or unpaved roads get muddy, how is the rin more like what we'd call a shower? Besides seeing this fascinating part of Argentina we're also interested in being in a reasonably pleasant climate.

All answers will be greatly appreciated.

Fred Hanson

flintstones

Fredhanson; This time is the rainy season and it last until the end of MArch, but it does not rain all the time. It is not wet as in BA, and for sure less wet than Iguazu... The only are wich I would not recommned to try in a rainy day it would be Quebrara del Toro.
I can not be precise about the weather when YOU arrive, but, I will tell you something you drive a pair of hours out of Salta city and it is completelly different. A "shower" could last maybe one hour or two, and then it stops.
I would not worry too much.
Flintstones.

seeksocean

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crzn1

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