The Ruins of Quilmes and the Condor

We left Catamarca heading north, driving up a long wide valley. In contrast to the desert landscape of previous days, the area was green and full of well established trees and shrubs. The clouds above us

were channelled up the valley by the tall mountains on either side and it was clear this area received more rain. Eventually we crossed over a range of low foothills and immediately the area opened up in to a wide, fertile plain where tobacco and sugar cane was being grown. This area felt more prosperous than the desert lands with many small farms in evidence.

We headed West and climbed over the Tafi Del Valle Pass with its winding roads, lush vegetation, steep cliffs and a waterfall at the bottom of a ravine. At 2,000 metres we were in the clouds and the temperature had dropped to 10 degrees. We emerged in to a bowl shaped plateau and the sight of a huge lake created by an artificial dam with the summer resort of Tafi behind it. This was a green and

pleasant place, the refuge of many wealthy Argentinians, escaping the heat in their second homes. Continuing our ascent again we reached the summit at 3,040 metres and the thick fog immediately disappeared to reveal a change back once again to the dry, arid conditions of the desert. We stopped for photographs on the descent at the Cuesta De Cardones, where giant cacti littered the mountainsides, and after 50 km arrived at Quilmes.

Quilmes was the stronghold of the Calchaquis people, farmers who developed an impressively integrated social and economic structure. The area once had as many as 200,000 inhabitants, and it

was the last indigenous site to fall to the invading Spanish in 1667. The walls of neatly set flat stones are still perfectly preserved, though the roofs of giant cacti girders have vanished long ago. We were impressed with this site, its fortifications and the vast complex of its residential area. It was well worth the visit.

We finished our day with a moment of pure exhilaration. As we picked our way carefully down the hillside between the ruined buildings a huge condor appeared from nowhere and circled above our heads. We stood in awe as we watched the effortless flight of this majestic bird, wheeling and twisting its way across the sky, riding the thermals with barely a flap of its wings. It was magical

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