Eldertreks’ Hidden Treasures of South America
Day Fifteen – 4 April 2018
Weather: Sunny, 12 in the morning, 22 in the afternoon.
I was up just after six and took my time getting ready. I brought all my stuff to breakfast so I wouldn’t have to walk back to the room.
We left at 8:30 and headed north towards the town of Humahuaca. We made a quick stop at the same viewpoint just outside Purmanarca where we had stopped the day before, and this time, the sun was behind us.
The most fascinating thing about this photo is that every layer represents a period in the Earth’s history from twenty-one to six hundred million years ago. A sign a the viewpoint described the layers as follows:
“Grey, dark green and violet-like colours belong to maritime sedimentary rocks. They are the oldest found in the Jujuy Province and belong to the Precambrian Eocambrian Period (600 million years old).
Purple, dark pink and whitish colours are also of maritime origin. They are quartzite and quartzite sandstones from the Superior Cambrian Period (540 million years old).
Colours going from light grey to yellowish belong to outcroppings of clayish sandstones and shales from the Ordovician Period (505 million years old).
Red colours are rocks belonging to the Cretaceous Period (144 to 65 million years old). The rock has the presence of conglomerated gravel and sandstone.
Reddish colours going to light pink belong to more recent clays and sandstones from the Tertiary Period (21 to 65 million years old).”
Our first stop was at the ruins of an indigenous settlement called Pucara de Tilcara.
It was one of a number of indigenous sites along the Rio Grande in the Quebrada de Humanhuaca.
Pucara means ‘fort,’ but there were no defensive emplacements found at the site.
Like other sites along the river, it was located on a hill. The site was occupied for hundreds of years before the Spaniards came and it had also had contact with the Incas.
The sites were always in an area where the giant cactus grew as it was used in construction.
It is still used today but there are limits. In Cafayate, the vineyards were not allowed to cut down any of the giant cactus.
It was easy to pick out what was made from the cacti from the pattern in the wood.
At the high point of the settlement was a truncated pyramid built as a monument to honour two of the archeologists who worked on the site – Dr. Juan Bautista and Dr. Salvador Debenedetti.
The monument was placed on top of existing ruins which seemed counter intuitive to its purpose.
The site also had a great view of the mountains.
And the town.
I walked through the ruins and was back at the entrance for 10:30. From here we drove to the main square in the town of Tilcara.
There were vendors set up all around the square selling much of the same things.
We had about an hour to look around before we headed to lunch in Humahuaca.
I got aboard to find the driver had given the dusty back window a great cleaning.
I could look out the window and watch the great scenery go by.
In Humahuaca, we pulled up next to a monument to the indigenous people who had aided the Argentinians in the liberation of the country from the Spaniards.
It was an impressive monument.
I went to change my zoom lens to my wide angle and it took flight. I almost had it, twice, and then it hit the stone on the ground. The clear filter that I had on the lens cracked but the lens appeared to be intact.
The only problem I had was that I couldn’t get the filter off the lens. Everyone tried. No luck. (I wouldn’t get it off until I got home. I needed a pair of vise grips to do it).
We walked down the massive staircase below the monument.
And found the square where there was a town hall that looked more like a church.
The church was smaller than what we usually saw in the squares.
We walked to the restaurant which was only a block away.
I had empanadas and vegetable soup and then went for a walk around the town.
We left at two and first made a stop at the Tropic of Capricorn monument.
Then we stopped at a gas station so that the bus could fuel up for the long drive into Chile. Apparently, the one gas station at the border was closed for renovations for ten days.
The submarinos were good for a truck stop.
We made one last stop at a viewpoint of some colourful flat irons.
Impressive.
It was a short drive back to Purmanarca and we had a couple hours to relax and get ready for a set dinner at the hotel. Most of the tour showed up early so that Eric could go through all the stuff that we had had for the picnic lunches that we couldn’t take over the border.
So, they drank wine and I ate cheese. We finished off the nuts and mandarins and then went to dinner. Eric also changed our leftover Argentine pesos for USD. It was a much better rate than we would have gotten in Chile or at the airport.
We had a set dinner of salad, chicken and cake for dessert. The chicken was especially good.
We were done before nine and that gave me time to pack up for an early morning departure to Chile.
Go to Day Sixteen
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