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Tour Around the Calchaquí Valleys

The cobbled streets, the whitish buildings, the parish and the well-known Archeology Museum were built around the main square in the mid XVIII century and invite visitors to behold and admire their features.

After a delicious regional meal, made up by tamales, locro, humita or spicy chicken accompanied with a good glass of wine (only one because the excursion must go on), the tour around the valleys continues surprising travelers.

Route 40 passes by several villages scattered along the valleys and making up this Calchaquí scenery. At the village of Seclantás, it is very likely to find its inhabitants working on the looms, making real handicrafts such as ponchos, belts and sashes. If visitors have some time to spare, we recommend that they make a stop at don Alfredo Guzmán's house. This man, also known as "el Tero” (the Lapwing), is glad to tell travelers some of his personal secrets when it comes to weaving threads in the loom.

Another singular attraction in this town is its church, built in 1835, and protected by Del Carmen Virgin.

Farther ahead lies San Pedro Nolasco de los Molinos, another district founded in the mid XVIII century. It is made up by adobe houses with porticos and galleries. Its church follows the Cuzco style and was built with quartz. San Pedro Nolasco de los Molinos and Del Rosario Virgin are its Patron Saints.

During the ride along mysterious Route 40, travelers may observe several workers from “La Angostura” and “La Arcaídia” estancias digging the weeds from the onion nurseries or keeping an eye on the goats.

Suddenly, a kind of oasis amidst the Calchaquí Valleys shows the way to “Angastaco”, which in the Cacán native language means “people of the high pool". The stanza written by Manuel J. Castillo and displayed by the welcoming sign post at the entrance of town indicates the politeness of the local dwellers: “Walker reaching this sandy village, let Angastaco offer you its fortune, its friendship and its wine, which you shall drink gladly while you step on the white heart of the moon.”

Lands of the Torrontés

Following the zigzagging road, the local topography begins to show majestic rock formations, such as Quebrada de las Flechas (the Arrows' Ravine) or Piedra Pintada (Painted Rock).

After some kilometers, the road goes past San Carlos, once considered the "granary of Upper Peru" when the Company of Jesus began to settle down in the area. It is important to point out that its church was built in the Cuzco style in 1760.

During the tour, the landscape becomes more and more intense. The Tolombón, San Antonio and Acochuya estates prepare the travelers' senses for the moment they reach Cafayate.

Cafayate is bordered by rivers, sandhills and vineyards where the torrontés grape is grown in a worldwide known variety used to make wines with delicious taste, body and color.

Once there, visitors may stay at some local hotel and get ready for the following morning. Before leaving Cafayate, the wineries that make up the Route of Wine are a must. They unveil the most select secrets of winemaking and offer visitors the chance to taste the most exquisite productions in town.

The architectural style in town is a cross between colonial and Baroque from the late XIX century, as evidenced by its five-aisle cathedral.

The tour around the Calchaquí Valleys starts once again, this time towards the starting point: the City of Salta.

The Final Turn

Leaving Cafayate, visitors must take fully paved National Route 68, which is in excellent condition. The tour continues through the Cafayate Ravine, which displays colorful rock formations offering an unprecedented show.

Imagination plays an essential role in this stretch of the tour, as the clayish sandstones are "molded" by the wind and river erossion and they adopt well-known shapes. Thus, the road passes by "the Boat Marina”, “the Rabbit”, “the Obelisk”, “the Friar”, “the Amphitheater” and “the Devil's Throat”, to name some of the sculptures that charm visitors.

On the way, the Santa María River is crossed. This is the only water course in the country flowing northwards due to the geophysical and orographic comformation of the region. This river appears when it joins the Calchaquí River, and it adopts the name of Río de las Conchas (River of the Shells), so-called after the ravine that surrounds it, where there is a strong presence of sea fossils.

After crossing the town of Alemania, the road leads to the famous Valley of Lerma, which reveals the proximity of the City of Salta. This fertile valley occupies a surface of 120 kilometers of length and 40 kilometers of width, with thick mountain ranges, fields sown with tobacco and featuring excellent weather almost all through the year.

The Valley of Lerma features a drainage basin that causes part of the volume of its rivers to empty into the Bermejo River basin, whereas the other part is accumulated in the Cabra Corral Dam to continue its course along the Juramento River.

The last towns greet travelers. With their colonial architecture, their handicrafts, their music and their regional poetry, La Viña, Ampascachi, Coronel Moldes and El Carril bid their farewell to tourists who return to the City of Salta feeling completely amazed at the experiences enjoyed during the tour around the vast territory of the Calchaquí Valleys.