ecp222

Just returned from BA and Salta and many thanks for the the help. BA was phenomenal and inexpensive. We rented an apartment in Recoleta/Barrio Norte with the help of a BA travel agent (Isabel) and felt like we were native Argentines. Iguazu was a day and half trip and well worth it. I'd skip the ecology 4x4 ride there and go straight to the falls by boat. Salta was beautiful and we went to Cafayate, Colome, Cachi, Purmamarca. We underestimated the distances and times to travel this loop but still saw some great sites. A guide is the only way to do this as the roads are often gravel and lack signs. Buby from tropicoypuna.com.ar was phenomenal and took us not only to the major sites/ruins but had local artisans whose homes we stopped at to make the trip more interesting for us and our children. In all a great trip. Hope to go again during their summer and head south.

avrooster

Thank you for your trip report, ecp222!

Is there a chance you could tell us a little more?

flintstones

epc222, I am very happy that you really enjoyed your time in the NW, I am not surprised as Buby is one of the few collegues I could truat my customers. Thank you so much for choosing the area and for posting.
Warm regards,
Flintstones

ecp222

Angie - Thanks for setting me up with him. He did a great job.

AVRooster- more details coming. Food recommendations in BA- Juana M for great and inexpensive parilla in a funky setting. Cluny's was a great spot for lunch or dinner in Palermo Viejo. La Brigada Parilla was also amazing with the sweetbreads highly recommended. Ice cream at Persicco's was out of this world - much better than anything I had in Italy last year. In Purmamarca, Los Morteros was a treat with llama tenderloin(the best of the trip). Cafe Tortoni in BA was beautiful but the tango show downstairs was cheesy and horrible. It was more like a Disney show with bad acting and dancing in between.

In Salta, Cafayate and Purmamarca were the highlights. Salta was a busy town with insane drivers. A highlight there besides the architecture was a dinner/music show at Estacion Norte.

crzn1

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flintstones

Thanks to what concerns to "unsane drivers"...LOL! I drive in Salta but I agree with you it is not easy for foreigners to understand the way we dealwith it... Anyway, it´s a question of practice!
Thanks for the comments about the town itself.
Warm regards,
Flintstones

ElPelar

Yo, ecp222:

I spent 2 weeks last year driving around NW-Salta, Tucuman, Cachi, etc. and I humbly disagree about needing a guide. We rented a small chevy cobalt in Tucuman and drove everywheres, rarely getting lost. This includes up over the pass from Salta to Cachi on a gravel road and through streams. No problema, people. Salta city was a bit wild, but we did great using local maps, rarely got lost, and had lots of freedom and avoided guide costs. It's more expensive than taking the bus, but significantly less than hiring a guide and car. Don't be afraid of driving in rural areas: there is signage (not as big as the interstate)and friendly people to ask directions. There is even a big freeway to take you from Salta up to Jujuy to remind you of home if you like big roads. Downside: most of the other highways are actually small, two -lanes in the NW and you have to pay attention. Traffic is a lot thinner in these areas, however.

E.P.

DickM

ecp222,
Curious about your impressions of Colome.. my wife and I will be staying at the estancia there in October.. Thnx Dick

flintstones

ElPelar,I am very happy that you enjoyed your stay in the NW, that you did not get lost... nobody said it is impossible to drive by yourself, "you have to pay attention" on the road, and that makes you not to pay the "same quality" of attention to the scenery. Those are two differnt things, and many people are not used to drive for such a ong time...
Anyway, freedon is also to let the others to think in a different way.
The NW is fantastic, don´t you think so??
Flintstones

avrooster

DickM: I suggest you research Estancia Colomé by writing Colome both in this forum's search feature and in http://tinyurl.com/nw9f4

You'll get A LOT of info.

DickM

avrooster, My fault for not mentioning in my question that I've done as you suggested by monitoring/searching Fodor's, Tripadvisor, and other sites for the last several months for reviews/reports on Colome. We made reservations some time ago for Colome (and in BsAs and Igauzu Falls) based on the generally positive review/reports I read back then.. but haven't seen any reviews recently on Colome.

Even though I have reservations for all our destinations I like to keep checking anyway just in case there's some last minute issues, like they've run out of wine or Motel 6 bought them out! As the OP was there recently was hoping he could confirm everything is still wonderful.

Btw, have enjoyed all your insightful and helpfulcomments these last few months. Thnx Dick

avrooster

Thank you very much for your comment, DickM.

You are quite right, there are no recent comments about Estancia Colomé.

I believe the dean of Argentina tourism Internet experts, the world-famous drdawggy was there recently, but may not actually have STAYED at the Estancia.

For some reason or other, he has not yet published a report about that part of his trip, but I'll do my best to prod him into finally writing it. LOL!!!!

BTW, you are quite right to "keep checking anyway just in case there's some last minute issues".

flintstones

Maybe that is because it passed through several new managers since Charlie has gone. And there were some "details" like for instance, there is not a professional massajist, one of the maids is doing that job and it is not the same. Charlie was always in all the details and had everything ready to receive the customers. I myself recomend not to book in the rainy season as sometimes the road turns into a huge river instead.
Take into account also that if you have a flight at middday it is better to spend the night in Salta and not in Colomè.
Warm regarda,
Flintstones

eurotraveller

I also drove for the 9 days we were in the NW part of Argentina and didn't feel it was any more dangerous or challenging than driving in other parts of the world. I had hesitated to drive due to several people warning that it was dangerous, few gas stations, poor signage, etc. We found there were plenty of gas stations and the signage was very good. It was much easier than I expected, even in a small compact car.

We really enjoyed the freedom of having a car, stopping every 5 minutes to take photos and enjoy the scenery.

This is a beautiful area of the country and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Argentina! Whether you drive on your own or hire a guide and driver, you are sure to enjoy it!

avrooster

DickM: I'm afraid top poster drdawggy did NOT visit Colomé in the course of his recent visit to Salta, so we won't be getting feedback on the subject from him.

DickM

Flinstone, We are spending our first night in Salta as you suggest. FYI, Will be driving from Salta to spend 3 nights in Colome. Then to Cafayate for 2 nights then back to Salta for our last night before departing for Iguazu Falls via a combination of LAN and Aerolineas flights (fingers crossed there).

Avrooster, hoping the OP will get back to us with more details. If not will try to do a trip report when I get back the first part of Nov.

For now, ready to be totally immersed in the beautiful NW with its great local food and wine.

avrooster

DickM: the OP is not a very frequent poster and may not be back, but rest assured you'll have a great time in our NW.

Ask Angie (Flintstones) anything you want to know about that area.

flintstones

DickM; I am sure, you will have a great time in the NW, I myself think three nights in Colomè is more time it deserves.
Just to clarify... I never said it is dangerous to drive in the NW (except in JULY when porteños copme in their cars...) I said it is more enjoyable when people watch the landscape more than the road.
Anyway, driving or having a guide or in a regular tour, the food and the wines are great, people are very kind and the weather will be fantastic. Take your time, and enjoy it... Any questions? Pleade do not ehsitate to e-mail me.
Flintstones.

Nicci

I would like to chime in about the value of a guide in the Salta region. We hired Angie based on a review from a LP search and were the first to introduce her highly recommended services to the Fodorites based on our experience over 3 years ago. We have rented cars and driven on challenging roads in many 3rd world countries across our planet and chose to hire a guide here because we are not Spanish speakers, our tight 4 day schedule and she was able to introduce us to unique experiences that only a local would know. We were interested in more than just the highlights of what some shared on the internet or in guide books. My husband is a professional photographer and our guide allowed us to focus on the beauty of the area, stopping wherever for as long as necessary to get the perfect shots. One experience that stands out is exploring an undiscovered stone wall with ancient carvings and paintings from hundreds of years ago. It was located about an hour off a main road, 30 minutes down a dirt road, then 20 more minutes walking down a dry river bed….which we would have never found on our own, even with directions. Angie happened to know a local artist that told her about it and he personally took us there. She also helped us celebrate my husband’s birthday by going out of her way an hour’s drive to a bakery for a cake and balloons while we had dinner. And she helped me save a little dog who had been injured by a car with a broken bone coming out of his rear leg…last I heard, he was healed and happily living with a family at the a hotel we stayed at. She sent me a photo a year later.
Sure, renting a car can save you some money. But if you are looking for more than a bird’s eye view and stress free, a personal guide in this area is worth every peso/dollar spent in my opinion.
BTW , we rented a car in Mendoza for 4 days since we were staying at a vineyard outside of town. It was very frustrating driving into the city since many of the roads have the same names and street addresses were not easy to find. Road condition was good and easy to drive on…just need patience.
This is the Salta portion pulled from my trip report. For the full Argentina report, click on my name and photos can be found at www.slrobertson.com.
“Our private guide, AngelicaValdez de Zaleski, picked us up at the airport. We started our four-day journey south of Salta on Route #68 towards Cafayate, the wine area best known for its Torrontes grapes. Our first stop was at a small roadside restaurant that produces homemade goat cheese from the goats on the property. Our next visit was to the small, picturesque ghost town of Alemania, abandoned buildings and a train station are inhabited by a handful of artisans. In Cafayate we visited 3 vineyards for tastings and had lunch in the center of town. After a few hours we left for the village of Angastaco, our final destination to overnight. In the morning we hiked up a dry riverbed towards an overwhelming array of burnt orange and cream colored mountains. We also discovered what our guide said was an Indian burial site littered with shards of broken pottery. At midmorning it was time to leave for Cachi where we had a delicious lunch overlooking the town at Hosteria ACA. We arrived in Salta around 8:30Pm and checked into the Salta Hotel for the night. Our guide met us at our hotel at 8AM and we drove north to Jujuy. This day we saw beautiful mountains with as many colors as a rainbow called Cerro de Siete Colores near Purmamarca. After an excellent lunch at La Posta in Purmamarca we drove over a mountain pass towards the salt flats. At the top of the pass we stopped for photos at a monument marking about 14,000 feet and saw a herd of 20 or so wild vicunas run by us. These animals are the smallest of the llama family. There seemed to be a shimmer reflecting from the honeycombed patterned salt flats as we approached. After an hour we returned to charming village of Purmamarca where we retired for the evening. The next morning we drove to Tilcara to see a hilltop stone fortress with panoramic views of the valley below. Our next stop was Uquia where we purchased ceramics and visited a church with paintings of Angels holding guns. For the past two years, the artist who owns the ceramic store had promised to show our guide a secret spot with ancient rock carvings. This was our lucky day. We drove just outside of Humahuaca down a dusty gravel road to the Aguasapa Gorge and parked by a single tree with a donkey resting in the shade. After hiking 20 minutes down into the gorge, we saw a 20’ x 20’ flat rock wall with carvings of animals, people and geometric shapes. We felt privileged to have learned about this special place. Finally we drove through Humahuaca, which was nice, but over rated in my opinion. With a quick stop for lunch and shopping in Tilcara, we were back in Salta by 7pm. We enjoyed the dry breezy days and cool nights of this region. By the end of our trip, we discovered the best prices and selection of textiles and ceramics here. For our taste, we thought the Salta/Jujuy region offered the best food with more flavor and spices than the other regions. We highly recommend using our guide who has lived in this area her entire life, worked in the travel industry for over 15 years and speaks fluent English. Her e-mail is [email protected] and her cell phone number is 154088612. We flew to Mendoza at 9:30AM the next morning.”

flintstones

Dear Nicci; Thank you soooo much for bringing back your report. I always mention you were the first customers trusting me and of course I always remember you and Scott, Specially when people hesitate about coming to this area in DECEMBER because they were told it is TOOOOOO HOT! I would appreciate you say something about the weather as you came in December. And please let AVRooster know you did not melt!LOL!
Thank you so much once again and much love from this corner of Argentina.
Flintstones