We got up early for our pickup to the airport. I know that there must be some private homes somewhere in the BA area but so far all we have seen is high-rise apartment/condo buildings, even on the way to the airport.
We have a nine-hour flight to Mexico City and a three-and-a-half hour layover before departing to Guadalajara. We love going away and but always look forward to getting home, seeing our puppy and enjoying our house.
The Duty-Free store has a fabulous tuk-tuk that I would love to have in Ajijic. Of course, it is designed by Dolce & Gabbana!
On our flight, we reviewed the highlights and lower lights of the trip. First of all, we were the only ones on this tour. That was unexpected. This trip to the South America Wine Triangle was unique, providing us with an opportunity to see some fabulous wineries, enjoy different foods, and experience cultures that we did not know previously.
Our first destination, Santiago, Chile, was a very special city. Close to the Maipo Valley wineries, we tasted some incredible wines that we have enjoyed or will now enjoy in Ajijic. Flying to Calama and then driving to the beginning of the Atacama Dessert provided some interesting scenery. The town of San Pedro de Atacama was kind of a throwback to the 60’s when everyone was looking for an adventure. in hiking garb.
Crossing the border from Chile to Bolivia was daunting and expensive. However, our new guide and driver were waiting for us and provided some much-needed assistance getting through the paperwork. What we didn’t expect was a four-hour drive on terrible sand/dirt roads to get to our first destination. The dessert is unforgiving and we were reaching higher and higher altitudes. We started at 3,800 meters (almost 12,500 feet) and went up from there.
We saw lots of animals, lagoons, and mountains. It was a unique experience. Going to the Salt Flats was something we could never have imagined. Driving another four hours on narrow dirt roads, looking at rock slides on one side and deep valleys on the other side was horrible. We cannot lie! Finally arriving in Tarija was good, though. We stayed in a beautiful hotel and enjoyed the wineries and other things the area had to offer.
Finally, we were looking forward to going to the border with Argentina. However, we had yet another four-hour drive on red dirt washboard roads that hung on the side of very high mountains (up to almost 5,000 meters, 16,000 feet) with more hairpin turns to get to the border. With the positive aspects of Bolivia, the three long drives on scary roads was something we could have missed. Hello, Argentina!
Our driver in Argentina was a kick. We enjoyed the small towns but found Salta and Mendoza great. The wineries at Maipu were especially good. Our day trip to Calafate was a bust. We asked for this side trip but we could have missed it easily. In the end, Buenos Aires was as fascinating as we thought it would be. We will not be returning to South American any time soon, so we made the most of this tour. If anyone wants more specifics, do not hesitate to contact us.
Our next “not yet finalized” trip will be in May/June to Italy. We have both been there many times but we are going to see parts of the country we missed and will be spending a week in a villa at a class, planning, shopping, and cooking all our meals. We will also have a quick trip to another destination in the middle that I have wanted to visit. We will reveal the details once we make the final decisions.
I hope that you have enjoyed hearing about our travels. I really do this to remind us where we have been and what we saw. You know that we “old people” don’t remember what we ate for breakfast, let alone where we were for almost three weeks. Thanks for supporting us!