Day 5: August 19, 2007 Pampas to Salta

  Salta, Argentina
Sunday, August 19, 2007

Day 5: August 19, 2007 Somewhere on the Pampas to Salta

We slept fairly well, awakening briefly at each of several stops. When we opened the curtains in the morning we were in the eastern Sierras Pampeanas south of Tucumán: Elena's first view of the Andes. The day was overcast but with a high ceiling so we had good long views over the drab winter face of the Chaco vegetation. We crossed into Salta province before 10:00 and saw the Cordillera Oriental and the Sistema de Santa Barbara ranges as we cruised north the rotary south of Guemes. From there it was a quick shot into Salta. Elena was surprised to see how big the city is when we got our first view of it from the pass. With the help of another porter, we got our bags into the terminal. I called Claudia and she arrived about 15 minutes later. It was great to see her again, as always.

We loaded our luggage into her truck and she drove us over to the home of her parents, on Zuviria, where we had an excellent lunch of meat and vegetables. Elena said her first words in Spanish. She is still quite shy about it but that will pass.

After lunch, Claudia took us up to Tuity's new XR office in Grand Bourg, which has an apartment with it where we will stay until we can find more permanent housing. To my delight, my old friend, Bernardo Pozo, from La Plata, was also staying there. We first worked together in Río Iruya and Río Metán in 1989 but hadn't seen each other since a chance meeting in Salta in 1995 or 1996. It turns out that Teresa Jordan, from Cornell, had been there until just the day before. I'm sorry we didn't cross paths. Elena and I were beat and both of us took a much-needed siesta.

When we awoke, I took a shower before I walked out into the living room. The apartment has a beautiful view across of Salta and the Valle de Lerma on one side and the high Andes of the Cordillera Oriental on the other. The apartment is just one building in the XR compound, which just opened in July. Bernardo gave us a tour of the elegant office complex. It is most impressive. My good friend and research colleague, Roberto Hernández, a.k.a. Tuity, the president of XR Geomap, is doing very well! He is in La Plata until next weekend.

Bernardo Pozo

We chatted for awhile and then called a cab to take us down to El Centro where we had dinner at La Posta, my favorite restaurant. I felt like I was home. Our waiter was a guy I remember from many times in the past. He said he had worked there for 22 years.

Night View of Salta from Grand Bourg

I acquiesced to Elena's desire for more steak with the condition that she try flan con dulce de leche for dessert, even though she is not a flan fan. The meal was great, as always, and Elena loved the dessert. I was happy to see that prices in Salta are about 2/3 those that we had in Buenos Aires. Cabs are even cheaper. We returned to the apartment. Elena went to read while Bernardo and I chatted over a glass of whiskey. I turned in about 1:00.