TREVELIN & WELSH COLONY ROUTE
Located 25 km away from Esquel, Trevelin is a peaceful Andean town with a marked presence of Welsh culture. The story begins with the arrival of the first settlers in 1985 and settled in the valley to develop productive activities mainly the wheat with the installation of the mills, thus taking the name that today characterizes Trevelin "Village of the Mill". History is kept alive in museums and stories. The beautiful valley also gave rise to different undertakings such as vineyards, Trout farms or Tulip plantations. We will visit the Nant & Fall Waterfall, the Nant Fach Flour Mill Museum and Nant & Fall vineyards. The tour ends in Trevellin, enjoying a typical Wales tea (optional).
The first strategic point when travelling by the Los Alerces National Park is Villa Futalaufquen, located 50 km away from Esquel and bounded on the west by the majestic Andes Mountain Range. It occupies a total area of 263,000 hectares that place it fourth in size among the national parks of Argentina. Its proximity to the mountain range allows the development of a dense Andean Patagonian forest and in the area of higher rainfall a Valdivian forest grows where the Alerce or Lahuan stands out. This millennial tree is slow growing and its specimens can live between 3000 and 4000 years of age and measure more than 70 meters high. We also visit the Museum of Interpretation, Rock Paintings - 2.5 km from Villa Futalaufquen -, Hotel Futalaufquen and Puerto Limonao. We continue to the north to see the Irigoyen waterfall and then we skirt the Futalaufquen lake; we can see the Arrayanes River that starts in the Verde Lake, cross a bridge and walk approximately 1 hour between the Patagonian forest and the Valdivian jungle. Here we will have time to have lunch (not included) before going back to Esquel, passing through Trevelin.
Day 1: departure from Salta city towards south, through Route 68 along Lerma Valley whose points of interest are Chicoana, Quebrada del Escoipe, Cuesta del Obispo (road with abundant curves), Piedra del Molino (highest point of the route at 3384 m.s.), Los Cardones National Park and Tin-Tin straight. Arrival to Cachi: there you will have time for lunch (not included). The trip continues down Route 40 to admire mountainous landscapes with towns of great enchantment. Bordering the Calchaquí River, we can observe historical towns such as Seclantas, Molinos, Angastaco, San Carlos and Animana. By the end of the afternoon we arrive to Cafayate. Overnight. Day 2: breakfast and then we visit a winery; after lunch we return to Salta through Quebrada de las Conchas (Shells’ ravine) visiting the peculiar rock formations caused by rain and wind, such as The Amphitheatre or The Devil´s Throat. We arrive to Salta after crossing the Lerma Valley.