Earth, Salt And Sky

Devil’s deserts, floating volcanoes, a town at end of the world... North-west Argentina is the spectacular and surreal land you never knew existed, where you have to respect the creativity of Mother Earth.

- Lyn Hughes

As we descended from the pass, a vast yellow-green plain opened up ahead, rippled by the wind. At first it looked empty. But every now and then there was a rapid burst of movement: a small flock of ostrich-like rhea, or a family of guanaco or vicuña – wild ancestors of llamas and alpacas respectively, and both equally skittish at the sight of our 4WD. We pulled up by some rocks where a mass of chinchillas scampered, and where pumas are known to prowl.

It was several hours since we’d driven out of the city of Salta on Route 51. My companions and I were in north-west Argentina, heading to the puña grasslands and seduced by the promise of salt flats, volcanoes and high desert plains. It was an area utterly unknown to me, except for a whisper from a knowing soul that had described its landscape as something from another planet. So here I was, winding the Rio Toro gorge in search of a hidden side to the country that few others take the time to see.

As we drove, the mountains on either side were shrouded in heavy cloud, but we could still make out their multicoloured streaks – a geologist’s dream. Gradually climbing in altitude, we eventually broke through the cloud. The sky was suddenly clear bright blue and the temperature warmed.