(Keywords: off-road - Argentina)
Argentina
From Vinchina to Fiambala
An
epic adventure: off- road driving on top of the Andes - over 4500m above
sea level.
Along the way you will find terrain and obsticals of all kind:
big rocks, sand, streams, and even ice blocking the way.
Driving in the Andes is like driving in the desert; it is extremly easy
to get desoriented and lost without a GPS and a very well planned route.
Download this GPS map of Cristián Pittaro's route.
Click on the binoculars to see Google Earth displaying "Laguna".
GPS Map
- Download the free GPS Map in GPS eXchange (.gpx) file format, which can be read and transferred to your GPS using free GPS software. (The .gpx file will appear in a new window where you can File > Save as... on your computer)
GPS Map File Details
File:andes.gpx (961K)
Revised:5 April 2006
Data Classification: Class A1
Waypoints: 12 Points of Interest along the trail
Routes:
- Villa bustos-La falda
- La Falda-Chilecito
- Chilecito-Nonogasta-Talampaya-Vinchina
- Vinchina-Corona del Inca
- Veladeros-fiambala 1
- Veladeros-Fiambala 2
Adventure Travel Tips
For safety, travel with a minimum of 3 well prepared off road 4 wheel drive vehicles.
Please, make sure you have oxygen and first aid kit, as well as heavy clothes, spare wheels and all the gear you would normally take in an extreme off-road adventure.
Time to go is from October to February, otherwise the winter
conditions are too dangerous for travel.
Cellphones DO NOT work, if you want a phone for emergencies you need a
satellite phone.
More Info
Points of interest on this route include Monte Pissis the tallest volcano in the world and the second highest mountain in the Andes; Laguna Brava, where you can take pictrues of the pink flamingos and explore the airplane wreckage and horse skeletons; and consider a side trip to the Crater Corona del Inca (show in photo above), which is the highest navigable lake in the world, even higher than Titicaca, Corona del Inca is about 5200m (5400m at the border of the crater) above the sea level and the lake is believed to be about 300m deep.
References
Special
thanks to Cristián D. Pittaro for providing the data, photos, and
descriptive text for this GPS map of the Andes. Contact Cristián
via his web site for information regarding guided adventure in the Andes.
