Once we cleared out of Paraguay, we decided to head west towards the Andes mountains again. It was too hot on the eastern plains and we'd done a bit of research and listened to others who claimed Route 40 that heads south along the Andes is the most scenic route to get to Ushuaia.
We didn't want to get into the high altitude of Salta (highest point on Rte.40 at over 16,000 feet) and didn't want to backtrack to the north, so we found some roads that crossed at a bit of a slant towards Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina. Wine areas are generally quite nice for temperatures and we are enjoying good red wine at less than $3 a bottle. Ours was probably less than $2/bottle with the exchange rate!
Saw some pretty patterned rock walls along the way.
A few fields of sunflowers graced the route along the way, too.
The generator acted up again and Jason had to disassemble it again. Such a frustrating time. I'm glad he's so handy when it comes to diagnosing and fixing such things.
The colorful rock formations are everywhere around here!
Usually the shrines along the road have tiny houses and plastic flowers, but we started seeing bottles of water piled up near the shrine sites where someone had died or locals want good luck when traveling or to dispel jealousy. A strange custom for us and these piles of bottles with water looked bizarre, especially in times of high winds when they didn't blow away.
Mountain scenes are splendor for sure.
We went to the Ischigualasto Park to see the unusual rock formations and dinosaur remains. This is a big area for dino fossils.
Karen before we got too far into the national park. Unfortunately, it was another overcast day and all the photos look washed out, but it was a beautiful area with unusual rock formations and colors.
Wind and water eroded these shapes that sit high and dry now.
A crack and hole in the middle of this rock will eventually split it completely.
Guanaco wandered in the area where they can roam freely.
I think this one looks like a sphinx.
Hoodoos of different shapes and sizes were in small areas in the park.
The shapes are actually quite delicate and would be vulnerable to destruction if folks were allowed to wander freely on them, so there were walkways built out to some of the more interesting ones away from the dirt road.
This is a field of round boulders, made of concretions that are only in a small area of the park.
They are all natually rounded by Mother Nature and sit where discovered.
It's really amazing how round some of them got over time.
This one looked like a Mousekateer hat. When they combine like this, they remind me of the spirit stones we saw in Alaska, also concretions from a different area.
You know some of these would be covered with graffiti or broken if not protected in the park
How do some of these stay balanced up on other rocks?
Squish that little sphinx between my fingers.
Awesome rock figures here.
This one is part of the 'submarine'. Some of the unusual formations have been given names.
We had to drive in a convoy with a guide in the front vehicle. We stopped at the interesting points and walked out to see the formations up close.
Even Jason liked these rocks.
This one has a hole in the middle if you look closely.
A dinosaur fossil being uncovered in the visitor center. The white is the plaster they use to encase the bones to protect them and their positions.
More of the dinosaur skeleton in situ.
The entire ridge of red rocks is a fabulous view, even if the colors don't come through in these photos. Our convoy heading back to the entrance along the red mountains.
An entire red mountain makes this place special.
This is El Horno, the mushroom. It's the same rock as on the poster up above near the top of this blog post but without proper light for a great photo.
Is Jason really holding it up?
The distinct lines between the different colors amaze me.
Imagine this in the sunlight.....
Cracks and caves in the rocks, but we weren't supposed to stop without the guide.
Small herds of guanaco roamed the area. We weren't allowed to part in or near the camp because they'd spotted a puma in the area a few days earlier and they didn't want us to be in danger.
What fabulous lines and designs! The subtle color differences were evident in person.
Dinosaur skeletons have been found all throughout this area.
Fossils have been protected for viewing.
As we drove away, we encountered a few abandoned villages and farms that were left to decay when the railroad pulled out of operation around here.
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