The valleys of Tucuman Province: Tafí del Valle and El Mollar

Tafí del Valle

Tafí del Valle and El Mollar are two small towns in Tucuman province, North of the capital, San Miguel.

They are easily accessible by bus which winds up the many curves into the mountains before eventually heading down into the valleys which are still over 2000m above sea level.

A statue of an indigenous messenger on the road up the mountain

Tafí del Valle is the larger of the two towns set in amongst the hills surrounding the valley.

The town is quite rural with horses and other livestock often grazing on the side of the dirt roads in the town.

Llamas grazing

The town is surrounded by many hills from which you can get a panoramic view of Tafí and the surrounding valley.

The trail to the hills starts just out of town across the Rio Banda.

Rio Banda

Soon after the river the trail becomes very steep as you begin the ascent into the hills.

The trail up the hill

From the trail you can see all of Tafí de Valle all the way to El Mollar.

Looking down the valley to El Mollar

At the top of the hill is a cross (of course) and from here you can see all of the valley.

The cross and some four-legged companions I picked up along the way

Tafí del Valle

Looking towards El Mollar

The trail continues into the hills but sadly the weather was turning bad so I had to head back to Tafí to enjoy some local delicacies.

Clouds over the trail

Locro - a local stew of pumpkin, beans and meat

Delicious local wine

Cayote with nuts - the fruit is slow roasted with sugar and eaten with nuts.

After a night's feasting, the next day I was ready to explore the nearby town of El Mollar.

The main square in El Mollar 

El Mollar is a tiny town on the edge of a large dam around 15km from Tafí del Valle. It's accessible by local collectivo via very bumpy dirt roads from Tafí. 

La Angostura dam

The town boasts a collection of important archaeological artifacts - Los Menhires.

Los Menhires

These stones were originally stood in front of the houses of the local indigenous people and could be found all around the valleys. Unfortunately many of the stones were vandalised, stolen and even used to construct bridges and roads so they were all moved to a secure park in El Mollar. The curators of the park have tried their best to recreate the position and orientation of the stones.

Designs carved into the stones - often faces or representations of animals

Unfortunately the reconstruction is mainly guesswork as many of the structures had already been dusturbed.

A reconstructed stone circle

The other reason why many of the stones were moved was to make way for a dam in El Mollar. The dam now provides a recreational area for the locals and a habitat for local birdlife but sadly has destroyed some of the valley's indigenous heritage.

La Angostura dam

The straits of Magellan by ferry: Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas

The ferry Yaghan

The ferry from Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas is a 30 hour ferry ride through the Beagle Channel and the Magellanic straits.

The ferry is a commuter and goods ferry, so it is not designed as a tour - however the scenery makes it an unforgettable experience.

The ferry itself is functional and comfortable with fully reclinable bed seats which were long enough even for me and quite comfortable. The food is basic, but tasty, but you don't take the ferry for luxury.

A reasonably tasty spag bol

The trip starts through the Beagle channel heading north towards Ushuaia. During this trip, the ferry was joined by many animals, including Orcas (which sadly dived before I could photograph them), Penguins and sealions.

A sealion

The ferry also startled many birds who took off as the boat approached.

A Cormorant flies off

The ferry starts by travelling up the Beagle Channel through fairly calm waters.

A fellow traveler on the Beagle Channel

As the ferry leaves at four in the afternoon, the slow sunset over the channel provides a beautiful backdrop to the cruise.

Sunset over the Beagle Channel

The mouth of the Beagle Channel

The ferry then turns out of the Beagle Channel and into more open seas over night.

My view first thing in the morning

Where the sea is a lot rougher 

Rough seas

However, once the ferry entered the Magellanic straits, the sea calmed as it passed the southernmost tip of the South American continent.

Entering the straits

There is a giant white cross which marks the southernmost point.

The tip of the South American continent

The ferry continues towards Punta Arenas as the sun goes down over the Magellanic straits and arrives around 10pm in the evening to Punta Arenas, allowing passengers a final sunset on the sea.

Sunset with Punta Arenas in the distance

A short walk around Lapataia

Lapataia river is an easily accessible area in the Tierra del Fuego national park that offers several short walks around the river.

In addition there is an abundance of animals (both native and introduced) around this area.

Sadly, many of the animals are far too acclimatised to humans as a source of food - so their presence is more opportunistic than natural. For example a native Patagonian fox was hassling tourists for food just outside of the lake area - and stupidly, despite lots of signs, idiot tourists couldn't help but feed it.

Patagonian fox

There are lots of trails, offering views of the different landscapes around the river - including several lookouts that give great views of the water.

From the river there is a fairly easy trail that leads alongside Route 3 though stands of myrtle and sphagnum moss bogs.

Myrtle trees

The trail opens out

Sadly much of this area has been damaged by introduced species.

Horses on the trail

Animals, such as horses, have changed the landscape from stands of trees to wider open grasslands.

Grasslands

The "Turba" trail

One of the most destructive introduced species is the Canadian beaver.

These animals have devastated trees and their damming of rivers has altered the flow of the rivers causing them to silt.

Beaver dam

Destruction wrought by beavers

I was told that the beavers were spreading North and that some had been seen as far North as Punta Areanas.

Beaver

Beaver swimming

The visible damage of introduced species around this section of the park, and the changes in animal behaviour because of ignorant tourists is a great pity in this beautiful part of the world - and reminds us just how fragile nature is.

A walk around reserva ecológica costanera sur, Buenos Aires

The Buenos Aires reserve is a 3.5 square kilometre park close to the city on the banks of the river plata.

It consists of several lagoons, teeming with animals, navigated by many trails which are excellent for biking or jogging. There are also a large number of scenic picnic spots both by the lagoons and by the river.

I went on a sunny Saturday and it felt like most of Buenos Aires was either jogging, biking or picnicking in the reserve.

Camino de los lagartos

Puerto Madero from the Reserve

One of the lagoons

The trails follow along the lagoons until they eventually converge on the coast of the Rio Plata

The lagoon

Birds in the lagoon

Rio plata picnic ground

Coast of the Rio Plata

Sadly once I had walked to the coast, the walk down to the river was closed due to an over abundance of snakes. Things being closed due to dangerous animals is something I'd expect from Australia but not really here.

Basically - Don't go down, there are snakes

It turned out that the sign was accurate because a little further down the trail I met one of the critters contributing to the closure of the river walk.

Snake!

Continuing along the trail I encountered several other animals, including a capybara which sadly did not hang around for a photo. However several other creatures were happy to pose.

Birdlife in the park

A black and white tegu

Another tegu hiding in the grass

The trail makes a grand circuit of 8 km back to the entrance of the park where there is a wide boulevard with many food trucks where you can replenish on grilled meat after a healthy walk around the park ;)

The lagoon from the boulevard outside the park - not a bad view while eating asado