Between Desert and Sky
A Journey Through Argentina’s High Deserts, Ancient Valleys & Hidden Rainforest
Where high-altitude deserts bearing rainbow-colored mountains give way to vineyard filled valleys then cloud jungle forests truly one of South America’s most diverse landscapes. This is northwest Argentina at its most raw and revelatory: a place where the vast high Andean Puna rises above humid semi-tropical Yungas ecosystems, where Spanish colonial cities, ancient Incan and pre-Incan ruins stand side by side with villages containing descendants of all three. A place older than human memory, waiting for you to come form your own.
March - December
From $3500
8-9 days
- The Calchaquí Valleys & Ruta 40
- Cuesta del Obispo & Los Cardones National Park
- Cachi, Molinos & hidden Andean villages
- Ruins of Quilmes
- High-altitude deserts and Puna landscapes
- Remote trekking and scenic drives
- The subtropical Yungas rainforest
- Boutique lodges and regional gastronomy
- High-altitude wine experiences
Wake Up in Salta
Argentina’s most elegant colonial city will earn its nickname Salta La Linda, flower-spilling balconies, the iconic red-and-gold bell tower of Iglesia San Francisco rising 160 feet above the rooftops, and cloud forest air carrying the scent of empanadas from corner kitchens are just a few highlights. Spend the morning with world-famous pre Spanish Inca child mummies that offer a profound and moving window into the indigenous history of the high Andes, then learn at the Cabildo Histórico the story of how Salta helped overthrow the Spanish empire that built it. By afternoon, ride or hike up through subtropical cloud forest to a mountain top overlooking the entire valley(or city), or head into the Quebrada de San Lorenzo to hike straight into a steamy jungle ravine and leave the city behind.
Through the Quebrada to Humahuaca
Leave Salta early and climb into one of the most extraordinary valleys on the continent, the UNESCO-listed Quebrada de Humahuaca, a corridor of painted mountains and ancient caravan routes traveled by traders, pilgrims, and armies for over 10,000 years. Begin in Purmamarca, where multicolored hills rise like a cathedral wall behind the village market, before climbing to the pre-Incan fortress ruins of Pucará de Tilcara, which command sweeping views of the entire valley from one of the most significant archaeological sites in Argentina. Push further into the quebrada and hike the jaw-dropping red-rock canyons of Quebrada de las Señoritas and Los Colorados, where the peaks turn the color of embers as the afternoon light shifts. The day ends in the atmospheric high-altitude town of Humahuaca at 3,000 meters, where the majesty of Andean night sky shows you why the Incas revered them.
Hornocal, the Salt Flats & Return to the Quebrada
Rise early for winding ascent to the Serranías del Hornocal, the Mountain of 14 Colors, and watch the sunrise paint the ancient limestone a palette of crimson, lavender, gold, and emerald at over 4,300 meters above sea level, shifting and deepening with every degree the sun moves across the sky. Then visit the terraced mountain of Coctaca, continuously farmed for over 1,500 years, a living monument to Andean agriculture. From there choose one of two paths towards the high Andean Puna and the Salinas Grandes, one of the largest high-altitude salt flats in the world, a blinding white expanse of hexagonal salt crystals framed by volcanic peaks and infinite sky, where seasonal rains transform the surface into a perfect mirror of the heavens. Vicuñas, baring the softest wool in the world, graze the altiplano at the edges of silence, and the only sound is wind. The evening winds back down into the warmth of the quebrada valley, carrying the day’s worth of geological wonder with it.
Finish the Quebrada, then Jujuy & the Yungas
Begin the morning with whatever the quebrada still has to offer, a final sunrise among the painted canyon walls, one last wander through the markets of Tilcara or Humahuaca before descending east toward San Salvador de Jujuy. On the way watch the arid Andean highlands give way with startling abruptness to the lush, steaming emerald of the Yungas, Argentina’s cloud forest belt and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the continent. Choose your afternoon depth, wade into the stunning jungle slot canyon of Angosto de Jaire, where subtropical forest closes in around you and the walls of the Río Grande gorge rise dramatically overhead, or soak in the highland thermal pools of Termas de Reyes surrounded by forested mountain ridges with trails climbing deeper into genuine cloud forest beyond. For those who want complete immersion, Parque Nacional Calilegua delivers waterfall-fed pools, jungle-rimmed hot springs, and miles of trail with nothing but untouched nature.rneySalta to Cachi, Following the Tren a las Nubes
Depart Salta heading west along the route of the legendary Tren a las Nubes, climbing from subtropical valleys into Parque Nacional Los Cardones, where thousands of towering cardón cacti stand ten meters tall and centuries old, take the road less traveled to get lost among its winding crimson sandstone formations. Then descend into the ancient Calchaquí Valley, where an intimate family vineyards offer a quite, peaceful, quintessentially Argentinian Andes experience. Continue relaxing in the valley, or hike the Rio Las Paillas through a cactus-lined river canyon to a waterfall in one of the most dramatic and least-visited corners of the valley. The day ends in Cachi, where centuries of Calchaquí history wait at the Pio Pablo Díaz Archaeological Museum and the mountains hold the last of the light long after the valley goes quiet.
