Northwest Argentina

Northwestern Argentina is a land of superlatives and stark contrasts. To visit this spectacular region is to experience nature on a truly grand scale. Mountain rivers brimming with whitewater course down rugged gorges through moss-festooned Yungas cloud forests where endemic birds, reptiles, and amphibians abound. On the leeward side of the various Andean mountain ranges we traverse, dry air gives way to high-altitude deserts dotted with towering cacti and other hardy succulents. Guanacos graze atop windswept ridges, while Andean Condors patrol overhead in the nearly cloudless skies. The imposing salt flats of Salinas Grandes are a sea of white that seems to go on forever, challenging our sense of scale. The vineyards in the famed Calchaquí Valley in the province of Salta extend for kilometres and bear the fruits that are used to make local wines.

We begin by visiting the humid forests on the eastern slope of the Andes, with a focus on the biodiverse Quebrada Los Sosa (gorge) and the various endemic birds that live here. Crossing to the leeward side of the Sierras de Córdoba mountains brings us into a dry environment of expansive desert en route to the Calchaquí Valley, the wine capital of Northwest Argentina and one of the world’s highest wine regions. A highlight here is the multicoloured Quebrada de Las Conchas, where we have arranged a special meeting with a local geologist. More regionally endemic birds await in Los Cardones National Park, an arid landscape that contrasts sharply with the humid Yungas forest at Calilegua National Park on the rain-facing side of the mountains. Farther north at Purmamarca, we ascend to over 4,000 metres above sea level before visiting the sweeping Salinas Grandes salt flats on our descent.

Amid our explorations of such markedly different natural landscapes, we have planned several visits to Indigenous ruins, mountain villages, and cities with rich colonial architecture, giving us a sense of how people have endured and continue to endure in Argentina’s northwestern reaches.

You can extend your Argentinian adventure with a post-trip visit to Iguazú Falls and the surrounding Atlantic forest ecosystem.