Flash flood, rockfall...roadblocked

....and roadblock ( police)

Yesterday we had a wonderful road trip from Salta to Cafayate and back, whereby the back part at times looked like it might not happen.

The views on the trip start about 50km south of Salta. In the far South of Argentina and Chile, the dominant features of the Andes are the magnificent towering grey granite peaks. Here, the Andes are almost entirely red sandstone. It's hot and mostly dry, and it's often very sunny. The bright sunshine and later the setting sun help make the red stone truly stunning. The valley floors are surprisingly green, and there are plenty of cactuses of various types, and so the mix of red and green is quite pleasing.

We had lunch in a quaint restaurant in the quaint little town of Cafayate, which is at the centre of the regions vineyards.

On our way back, there was a thunderstorm, with sudden heavy rain, and this provoked Flash flooding of the road and rockfall onto the road.

We dodged the rocks, and we ploughed through the rivers crossing the road until we reached one that was too deep, even for 4x4 trucks to cross. So we were stuck. We had no clue for how long, but luckily, after about an hour, the water level dropped enough that we could cross.

That was not the last hazard. You see, we were 6 in a car licenced for 5, so as luck would have it, we were stopped at a police checkpoint. Luckily, Oscar hid himself super fast on the floor, and so after my licence was checked, we were able to move on.

We got back about 90 minutes later than planned. It's not too bad.Read more