For the full complement of photos
corresponding to this blog entry, use the following address for the set of
photos in my Flickr pages:
In my recent blog on my time in
Tupiza in Bolivia, I mentioned that the south of Bolivia and the north of Argentina
is ´cowboy country´; well my photos accompanying this blog and my later one on
Cafayate demonstrate that to be true.
The coach journey from San Pedro de
Atacama in Chile to Purmamarca in Argentina was dramatic, with sweeping
desert-like plains like those found in the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve in Bolivia
giving way to wide open scrub lands and salars (salt flats) – the largest of
which being Salinas Grandes which the road traversed, with a brief coach stop
affording photos. Further into Argentina, the road passed through canyons
before making numerous sweeping bends up and down beautiful rocky valleys.
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| Salinas Grandes |
The pleasant village of Purmamarca
is famed for being right next to (literally) ´Los Cerros de los Siete Colores´ (´The
Hills of Seven Colours´); a natural feature with rocks of varying geological
history being layered dramatically in stunning contrasting hues. To appreciate
these hills, I climbed Cerro Morado (Purple Hill) on the other side of the
valley, picking my way along its rocky ridge.
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| Purmamarca & Cerros de los Siete Colores |
I found more great views by walking
and scrambling up the hills behind Cerro de los Siete Colores and the Los
Colorados track. Like the hills around Tupiza, while dramatic from a distance,
close-up they are a chaotic hotchpotch of crumbling soft sedimentary rock (more
like earth really) interspersed with stones – very unpleasant to be scrambling
on as it gave way so easily.
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| Canyons Behind Cerros de los Siete Colores |
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| ´Cowboy Country´ Near to Purmamarca |
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| Mother Nature Experimenting with Colours |
Similar colourful hills are present
in at points in the Quebrada de Humahuaca (Humahuaca Ravine, though it is a
valley), which runs to the north of Purmamarca. I did not stop for long in the
towns along this valley as they are not as pleasant at Purmamarca.
For the geology geeks amongst you,
here is a guide to the rock colours present in the hills around Purmamarca:
~ Grey, dark green, violet: Maritime
sedimentary rock, 600 million years old.
~ Purple, dark pink, whitish:
Quartzite and quartzite sandstones, 540 million years old.
~ Light grey to yellowish: Clayish
sandstones and shales, 505 million years old.
~ Red: Gravel and sandstones, 65 to
144 million years old.
~ Reddish to light pink: Recent clay
and sandstones, a mere 21 to 65 million years old.
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| Rocks of Varying Colours Found Within a Few Metres of Each Other |
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