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Stage 2022/16 [SA016] | ||
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San Carlos - Cafayate |
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| 22 km / 14 mi | |||
| 100 Hm (garmin edge 1000) max. Altitude: 1690m | |||
Cycling on Argentina's Ruta 40 from San Carlos to Cafayate. |
 Today is the last stage of the remote part of Ruta 40: the part of Ruta 40 that we have been cycling on for the last few days is located in the valley of the Rio Calchaqui and leads over the Abra del Acay to San Antonio de los Cobres. The traffic on this stretch is manageable, the route is a bit off the main routes. In Cafayate, Ruta 68 coming from Salta joins Ruta 40 and the traffic load increases. Reason enough to enjoy todays ride even more. |
 Large parts of the road lead straight ahead, but instead of curves there is an undulating road course for variety. |
 While in recent days the colored rocks have characterized the landscape, today it is the vegetation that provides the color. With 360 days of sunshine a year, the region around Cafayate has an extremely pleasant climate and so is the vegetation. |
 Cafayate. Right at the entrance to the town we find a bus stop with the name of the town painted on it, ideal for a photo stop. The painted motif in the bus stop represents pretty much everything that Cafayate is known for: sun, mountains and wine. These are the things that I wanted for our stay in Cafayate. For the clay pot on the far left I habe no use. |
 There are a large number of parrots around Cafayate. I believe they are parakeets. Research by the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology has found that the ancestors of the rock parrots found in Argentina once lived on the Pacific coast in what is now Chile. Around 120,000 years ago, individual birds crossed the Andes and settled on the eastern side of the mountain range. The researchers are certain that no further birds have crossed the Andes since then. |
 Second photo stop in Cafayate. |
 In Cafayate we first stroll through the city and visit the cathedral build from 1885 to 1895. Around the market square there is a large choice of restaurants and cafes where we enjoy the pleasant weather, before we organize accommodation. |
 The most important industry in Cafayate is wine-growing. The areas under cultivation around Cafayate are gigantic, and the soil and climate are ideal for grapes. What is lacking is water, but this can be compensated for by an irrigation system. It is therefore not surprising that locally produced wine is also a big topic in the restaurants. |