San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina

San Pedro de Atacama is a tourist town to the north of the the Salar de Atacama. There are many tours you can take from here to see the fascinating geology and geography of the area including volcanoes and hot springs. The way the layers of the earth are being uplifted here makes it seem as though it's happening while you watch.

We got up early on Saturday morning to complete the exit formalities at the Chilean border post right in town. You actually exit Chile at San Pedro; 160 km before the frontier. There was already a line-up and we were in time to hear the news that the Paso de Jama to Argentina was closed due to snow but that it may be open by noon. We went for a relaxing breakfast and came back at 10:30 hoping to be close to the the front of the line. As usual we ended up talking to a few other travelers including a guy from Germany who was motorbiking his way around South America on his older BMW 1000. We ended up waiting in line until nearly 1 pm before we got word the pass was open. By this time the crowd was getting impatient and there was lots of "closeness" as we tried to hold our place in line. Long line-ups seem to generate the worst qualities in people.
We ended up being nearly the first to leave for the pass and we found the road to be bare and dry as we climbed to the 4200 m pass. It was awesome but a bit chilly at about 0 deg C. We had expected the worst conditions but found a very nice road under blue skies with fresh snow on the peaks. We even saw herds of guanacos near the summit of the pass. They are the wild ancestors of the llama. They may have been vicuna (ancestors of the alpaca) but I don't think so. Someone can correct me if I'm out to lunch on this. Sorry, no pictures.
Because of the late start we were in a bit of a rush as we had a border crossing to do and we were hoping to make Jujuy before dark. It's too bad as this was one of those days where I could have taken about a thousand more photos.

Looking Northeast from San Pedro just after dawn.

The Chilean border post at San Pedro de Atacama

Somewhere on the Chilean side of the Paso de Jama up around 4000 m asl

Still on the Chile side of Paso Jama

More of Chile west of Paso Jama

The Salinas Grandes in Argentina

 Because we got such a late start we ended up staying in Purmamarca about one hour from Jujuy. It was a cool town and we ended up seeing another of the bikers here that we had met at the border in San Pedro. He was an Argentine who had been to Ecuador and had stopped to get a photo of himself in front of El Cerro de los Siete Colores. The Mountain of Seven Colours is one of many colourful mountains around the Purmamarca area.

El Cerro de los Siete Colores

It was in Purmamarca that I finally got in touch with my daughter Kirsten, who is in San Salvador de Jujuy on a Rotary International Student Exchange. I hadn't seen her for about six months and was really looking forward to seeing her. We got into Jujuy around 10:30 am the next morning and rode to the house of her present host parents; Ivanna and Hugo.

Neil, Me (actually smiling), Kirsten, Ivanna and Hugo. Kirsten's good friend Carley took the photo. Carley is on exchange to Jujuy from Pennsylvania.

 We had coffee and cakes at Kirsten's house then Hugo helped us find a hotel. After we got changed we headed across town to the home of Kirsten's original host family. We had been invited to attend a birthday celebration for the Grandmother of the family. We got there just in time for asado and an awesome lunch. There was a large gathering and I can't hope to remember everyone's name. We were treated like family and it was good to know that Kirsten had been taken care of so well. It was a lot of fun with lots of music, dancing, laughter and good conversation. Thanks Nanci and Family.

A large happy family.

I did say large family didn't I?

Birthday dance with Grandma Catty

So much for good clean fun.

Here is a lot of trouble in a small package.

Muchas gracias!

Today we had a relaxing day getting a tour of San Salvador de Jujuy from Kirsten with a great lunch and more good conversation at the home of Hugo and Ivanna.
In the afternoon we met with some members of the local Rotary Club at our hotel and we had a nice visit and chat while we heard a few stories about the girls and we told a little of our trip so far. I can't say enough about Rotary International and the great opportunities they provide for kids to go on exchange visits all over the world.

We had a nice meeting with some of the members of the Rotary Club of Jujuy. From left to right are: Marta (Youth Exchange Officer), Hugo (incoming Club President), Neil, Carley, Aida (Club President) and Kirsten and I

Kirsten, myself and Carley, my new daughter.

They say that once you've been to Jujuy you'll always come back. I think I understand why.
That's all for now.