If you follow us, you’ll know we love our road trips, aren’t easily intimidated by going off the beaten path, and are generally pretty mellow and flexible when our travels don’t go exactly as planned.
Then came the old road to Cachi.
This story has remained in our “do not publish” pile until I pieced together that it wasn’t just the day we got utterly lost in the desert, but also the day my dengue fever symptoms started…
A bit of background – What led us to the old road to Cachi Argentina?
Years ago, our youngest daughter spent a year in Argentina as an exchange student with a wonderful family. She was keen for us all to meet and wanted to go back together. This sounded like a perfect excuse for an adventure.
So, we planned a nine-week South American adventure, unfortunately, leaving our common sense at home.
Our adventure started in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and then we tiki-toured our way to Santiago and flew to Iguazu Falls. Here, I opted for an all-natural mosquito repellent for the day. Jeff and our daughter chose DEET and avoided bites, but I wasn’t so lucky.
Then, our guide suggested a little cross-border shopping from Brazil to Paraguay. It seemed harmless enough.
After Iguazu we flew to Salta, the Argentina side of the Atacama. (Take my advice: Don’t describe it that way to an Argentinean.)
Changing the plan to include Cachi
Our plan was to spend the night and in the morning drive from Salta to Cafayate. We had chosen the direct route through the stunning Quebrada de las Conchas for both directions.
Feeling a bit adventurous in the morning, we thought we could loop through Cachi on the way there. After all, we had been in South America for a few weeks and were comfortable driving the desert roads in Argentina and Chile as long as we didn’t trust Google maps.
(Sorry Google, but you just didn’t get us to where we wanted to go in northern Argentina and Chile. We switched to the free Maps.me, which had been great until today.)
Why Cachi?
Why not? Driving to Cachi would take us through the tall cactus in Los Cardones National Park, something we wouldn’t otherwise see.
Plus, the mountain village of Cachi is known for its archeological remains, as an off-the-beaten path wine region, for its paprika, and of course, the incredibly beautiful road from Salta to Cachi.
Before leaving Salta, the concierge excitedly confirmed our plan, telling us that there was a somewhat new, well-signposted, paved road to Cachi. He said we couldn’t miss it, but gave us a paper map just in case. I don’t really think he meant that as a challenge.
The Old Road to Cachi
This was our day.
We programmed Cachi into our maps and were on our way. It started great. But soon, our app cheerfully told us to “turn right here” onto an old, unpaved road. It was nothing like the promised paved path, but we followed like lemmings.
Why did we continue, you ask? Well, I’m married to a rocket scientist who sometimes trusts technology more than human advice. The road was not in good shape, with no signage, rough terrain, and branches scratching the car, suggesting the road wasn’t well used.
Despite our doubts, we bounced our way down the road, and there were some objections from our daughter and me. Despite our doubts, Jeff was sure this was the way to Cachi.
We crossed several small fords, and at one point, Jeff decided to cross a slightly larger stream. Foolishly, my daughter and I opted for wet feet rather than to stay in the car.
By now, my headache and body aches were starting, but I thought I was just getting grumpy from wet feet and being sure we were lost.
As the narrow road began its ascent and it felt like we were climing along a uneven cliff edge with rocks slipping from beneath us, my daughter echoed my fears, stating “this is too scary, let’s go back.”
Of course, there was nowhere to turn, and backing up was more terrifying than going forward. Plus, there was still hope that this nightmare would end in Cachi.
Around a bend, and seemingly randomly, we encountered a family: mum, grandma and a little girl. Our daughter chatted with them in Spanish. I wasn’t sure what she had said, but they responded with laughter as they pointed ahead, stating “no, no Cachi adelante” (Cachi is not ahead). In fact, they continued that the road ends in 10 minutes.
It turns out this road that sucked away five hours of our day was once a road to Cachi and about 80 years ago a landslide closed it. The road to Cachi is, in fact, paved and well signposted, but we no longer had enough time for that detour.
We never made it to Cachi, but we did meet a nice police officer who confirmed that we were lost. And then we found an ice cream shop, so it was not a total loss.
Eventually we reached Cafayete, I ended up at the medical centre, where I was sent back to the hospital in Salta, before being tranferred to a hospital for tropcal diseases. My full dengue fever story is here.
Salta to Cachi map
The map shows the proper road to get from Salta to Cachi and marks off Campo Quijano where we finally stopped to talk with police, eat ice cream, and see the lovely church on our way back. The red circle is the area we think we were lost in, but we can’t be sure as we were really that lost.
A better way to get from Salta to Cachi
Should we ever find ourselves in this part of the world again, I think we will opt for a full-day tour from Salta to Cachi and Los Cardones National Park.
Save on your trip with these resources
These are our go-to companies when we travel. We believe this list to be the best in each category. You can’t go wrong using them on your trip too.
- Flights: we use Expedia for the best and cheapest flight options.
- Accommodations: we use Booking.com (hotels), VRBO (self-contained), or Hostelworld (budget).
- Cars (gas or electric): we use RentalCars to search for deals and dealer ratings.
- Motorcycles: we have heard good things about BikesBooking.
- Private guides: we often find the best option is to work with a private guide from Viator.
- Travel Insurance: while not required, we always opt for travel insurance and start at InsureMyTrip to compare coverage plans.
Check out our travel resources page for more companies that we use when you travel.
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How far would you have travelled on the old road to Cachi?
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Jenn Record
I love your sense of humor.. thanks for sharing and for your perspective on how to make the best of an awkward situation….
Alex+J.+Cavanaugh
Sorry you got so lost. I’m not as trusting with technology and wouldn’t have taken the rough road. That the day ended with you in the hospital is really awful.
Melissa
I would’ve turned around at that first water crossing!! What a great story – and at least you got ice cream!
Natalie
Wow that’s annoying. I’ve been led astray by both Google and Maps.me too, especially in South America, so I’ve learned to do some research before blindly trusting technology! At least you got ice cream at the end of the day 🙂
Sonia
This sounds like something we would have done (both taking the old road, and on my part, using the non-DEET insect repellant). Guessing we would have turned around after a few stream crossings, but that would have depended on what kind of car we were driving.