Jujuy & Salta

 

We have been in Yala in the Jujuy (Hoo-hoo-ie) district for a couple of days and San Lorenzo in Salta Province.  Here are some things I have seen in the random order the computer has deigned to present them.


Religion is everywhere here - Catholicism and superstition.  This little shrine was in the corner of a road side cafe.  There are roadside memorials everywhere too, some where loved ones have died, others just asking various saints for good fortune.  Often there are offerings - empty beer cans seem quite popular and plastic flowers.


There has been unusually heavy rain in the district and roads are washing away.  We're travelling in a HiLux at the moment so have been able to get through where others have turned around.  The roads in the mountains are covered in soil and littered with rocks in places because of land slides and there are streams that look like liquid mud.


It's lovely to see lantana growing where it's supposed to be.  We only know it as an environmental pest - an invasive weed - in Australia and East Africa, but my mum rather liked it and we had a lantana bush in our front yard in Wodonga from a plant smuggled into Victoria illegally.


This little fungus fruiting body was growing on a cowpat.  There are cowpats and cows and horses and dogs everywhere on roads and roadsides.  The animals wandering everywhere is one of the things (among very many) that remind me of Arusha.


We look at small things too.  These are leaf cutter ants taking pieces of leaf twice their size back to the nest.  We saw a tarantula crossing the road but couldn't stop to get a photo.  It would have been at least 15 cm across.


The rainforest trees are covered in ferns, bromeliads orchids and even an epiphytic cactus.


Lots of the mountain streams are clear but many are full of silt and contribute to rivers like that shown below.  It's at least 100m wide and quite shallow and full of mountain soil.  The city behind it is Jujuy, capital of the province with the same name.  The wisp of 'smoke' behind the hill is condensation from a gas fired power station.  Gisele, the bird guide we're travelling with, told us most of Argentina's electricity is from hydropower stations 



This sculpture of an armadillo is on a roundabout near Salta.  It is the only one I'm likely to see.


Birding doesn't stop when the sun goes down.  Gisele took us to find owls last night and 4 new species for Steve.


Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 10, 2024 at 11:37 PM

    Love all the random stories. But you can keep the tarantula 😳. R

    ReplyDelete

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