Most guides recommend taking malaria pills for travel to the lowlands of Salta and jujuy provinces but I was not sure if Humahuaca is in this region or not? Many thanks

Are you serious? We were there in December and did not hear of this recommendation. It's so dry that it never crossed my mind and I don't recall seeing one mosquito while in this region of Argentina.

Thanks for that Nicci...Also, can you recommend places to see in that region?

This is cut and paste of the Salta portion from my trip report:

"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. "

To read the entire trip report, just click on my screen name. You can also see photos on my husband's website at www.slrobertson.com.

We spent nearly a week in the Salta area a few years ago, in April. Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

1. Inca ruins at Tilcara (on the way to Humahuaca), archaeology museum
2. Pumararca (spell?) -- a very nice small village, colors of rocky hills are stunning!
3. Funicular in Salta, and just wandering around town.
4. Cueseta Del Obispo -- long ride into the mountains, absolutely beautiful. We did this with a tour guide
5. Cafayete -- canyons, rocks, winery
6. Tafi del Valle -- on the way to Tucuman. Drove through rain forest. This was part of a two day side trip. I didn't like Tucuman.
7. Jujuy -- rain forest road, cathedral