Left the hotel at 0700 and half an hour later we were in a field helping to catch our horses. Brad rode a half Criolo half Peruvian Paso, and I was on a Peruvian Paso - both had very smooth gaits. We were on roads at first, but soon we were winding our way up a sandy dry creekbed between narrow canyons. We stopped to see a wild behive in a hole in the canyon wall and could see the honey combs. Later we stopped for a break in the shade; parrots were screaming at us overhead as we were right beside their homes - holes in the cliff above. They´re called river bank parrots here.
Once we turned back we had a vista of the valley below, the green vineyards and the mountains in the distance. We were glad to have ridden early as it was getting hot.
So hot that we spent the afternoon by the hotel pool (it was at least 38 degrees), reading in the shade and swimming; also watching the doves come down to drink from the pool, and a bird that looked a bit like a kingfisher fly over the pool and scoop up bugs floating on the water.
We will hold the memory of the hot sun, cool pool, beautiful flowers and garden in our memories when we return to the cold and wet weather at home. It will be hard to leave tomorrow, to drive back to the city of Salta.
Photo by pilarchevallier (Flickr Creative Commons)
