Quebrada de Humahuaca, La Quiaca, Yavi:

534 km

18/03/2011

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We left the hotel at 7:30 am to be able to drive the 230 km all the way up to La Quiaca at the Argentinian-Bolivian border. We started at 2192 m and were then drving at 3440 m. We even went further East to Yavi because we wanted to see rock paintings that were supposed to be at the river. But we never found them, there were only many "modern" drawings on the canyon and cave walls. Nevertheless, this canyon was very interesting with its many trees and flowers, and two condors we saw, so we enjoyed it anyway. Before going to Yavi, we tried to find the Laguna Colorada which is somewhere between la Quiaca and Yavi but there were no signs and we thought we would be lost. On our way back we retried and we found it almost by chance and took an adventurous track to come out on the road we had been before, passing the airport of Yavi. We were lucky to see 2 condors again at the Laguna Colorada. We also saw for the first time Guanacos, and again many lamas and a few vicunas. Lunch in La Quiaca with a "parilla" full of halosches... Drive back to Purmamarca with a storm, hail, and lots of rain. At 6:45 pm we were in Purmamarca where we had an ice-cream at Cavalino II before heading back to our hotel where we were relocated in room #2 (standard room) for our last night here. Total km: 534 km.