Mendoza

May 08, 2023

Mendoza

Flight from Rio at 12.10 am and arrived at 8.30am in Mendoza with a stopover in Buenos Aires for a few hours. Maree has noticed that no one works with pace or vigour in South America and it takes forever in queues. Most frustrating early in the morning.

Arrived in Mendoza and we were picked up by our Air bnb host. Settled in and a rest before a look around and a trip to Western Union for some money. Argentina is going through a period of hyperinflation 100 % plus and since we have been here in South America it has lost 30 % on the US and Kiwi dollar so you can only draw about $20 out of the ATM at the lower rate about 50% of what you get at Western Union. Anyhow after a trip to Western Union to get about $500 kiwi you end up with about 130000 in Argentine pesos in 500 and 1000 bills.

We were able to get a rental car from a local agent and drove up into the Andes for a look around spending a night in the tent at a little town called Uspallata. The next day we drove further up the Andes to the lookout to Aconcagua the highest mountain in the Andes and in the Southern Hemisphere. We went for a short walk to a lookout area up to about 3000m. We stayed the night close to here in a Refugio, a very modest room, but there was a hot shower and a tasty spag bog on offer for dinner. This high up at 2700 metres you start to notice not only the altitude but the cooler temperature at night. Though when we tented at Uspallata at 1900m, the tent was as dry as a bone in the morning. Mountain and desert air. The road was the main road to Chile and there were a lot of traffic stopped for customs, luckily we could drive on because we had not crossed the border. There were also many check points along the road and armed soldiers stopping cars, we were waved on most of the time only having to show ID once or twice. There was also the old railway line that was used between Chile and Argentina, what fascinated Jim was the old railway infrastructure they had just walked away from.

Mendoza is renowned for its wine region and is sort of an oasis in the middle of a desert below the Andes. They have a system of channelling the water around the region in various size ditches even into the towns. The irrigated land is productive – but the barren land is just that, so the irrigation system works very well. We have had blue sky since we have been here and apparently it hasn’t rained since October and the rivers from the mountains are very low.

We visited and stayed in two nice towns further south called Tunuyan and Tupungato, at the later we stumbled across a concert that evening showcasing local singers and dancers. The music as lovely as it was, was a bit hard on the ears. In the square (San Martin – there is a San Martin square in every town) where the concert was were also market tents with artisan products, food, beer and wine.

We did a walk and bus around the city, quite a nice city, a couple of larger parks, monuments and fountains.

Aconcagua 6960m the highest mountain in the Andes and in the Southern Hemisphere

Our flights from Rio to Mendoza with a stopover in Buenos Aires

View of the Andes from Uspallata campground early morning

The next few photo are of the mountains driving up into the Andes from Uspallata

and their stunning red colours

Signage at Puente del Inca

Maree on the walkway up to the lookout photo point and very excited about getting there

Really liked looking at all of the old railway infrastructure in photos below it all would have

been someones pride and joy once - More info

We both like the cactus and we think its this one

Denmoza rodacantha is widespread throughout the mountains of Argentina, where it occurs in Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja, Tucumán, Catamarca and Salta.

Altitude range: This species at elevations between 800 and 2800 metres of elevation above sea level.

Habitat: Eastern slopes and foothills on monte habitat, in gravel soils and has a wide range, is locally abundant, is present in several protected areas, and is not utilised. The major threats to this species are mining activities and fires.

The Refugio in the Andes where we spent a night

Sunset over the Andes

Some of the road trips around Mendoza

Tenting - pumping up the air mattress

We found this little town called Manzano Historica and spent the afternoon. This monument celebrated the mountain pass that General San Martín crossed on his return from the Liberation Campaign in 1823 and the famous naturalist Charles Darwin used a few years later.