Help for my South American (in)sanity

[mzb]

davefl wrote:

Ok thanks @JDB and @AFKAE I’ve decided to drve from Salta airport to Cafayate on the day I arrive, should have about 7 hours of daylight for the 3 hour trip so plenty of time to stop along the way. Then morning in Cafayate and surrounds, 3 hours to drive to Molinos, then the full following day for the slow drive and some hikes on the way back to Salta.

As for a day trip to Salinas Grandes and Purmamarca on the last day I’ll see how I feel and what the weather forecast is.

I think 4 days in a row of minibus/big bus, 12 hours per day would have driven me insane.

@redlilly There’s a new flight on Paranair direct to Salta (and they have a route to Jujuy as well). I’ll be on the second rotation of the new route.

It only flies Wed/Sat and then the onward bus from Salta to San Pedro De Atacama only runs M/W/F which is why my time in Salta is limited to 3.5 days.

Unfortunately the Jesuit ruins are too much of a stretch, it’s a 6 hour drive each way.

We did a similar route over the New Year of 2018, flew in to Salta mid-day, picked up a car from the airport and drove down to Cafayete. Beautiful time of the day to drive through, lots of spots to stop on the way for small hikes and pictures. Amazing drive.
We stayed in Cafayete for a couple of days, but mostly visiting wineries (great high altitude Malbecs) and a bit of hiking. Then took the whole day to drive from Cafayete to Cachi. The weather was rather dreadful (raining all day), the ruta 40 is a dirt road (amazing views again) but we managed and we had a little Ford (in retrospect would have rented something with a bit higher clearance). A stop at the Colome winery was a highlight (nice little cafe for lunch, amazing wine, and some modern art). From Cachi back to Salta took half a day, back on paved roads for the most of it, but over the mountains (here again the views were impressive). One of our highlights in Argentina by a long mile!