SAN FERNANDO DEL VALLE DE CATAMARCA

Okay, no photos, no maps, just a short post to let all know I have arrived at this major Argentine city after a long day on the road, which was made longer and more complex thanks to the fact that that last partiers to leave Cafayate after their annual Serenata de Cafayate drained the gas pumps dry at the only station in town...actually, the person in line in front of me got gas, but maybe it was diesel. Regardless, when the attendant tried to pump mine (with nafta, as they call the unleaded stuff here) the reservoir was all tapped out. They then told me that I would have to wait until mid-day tomorrow (yikes!) for their tanker truck to arrive...
Well, all that was just too dismal to contemplate, so I considered my options. I asked the attendant how far was the next station south of there, and she told me I could get gas at Santa María, a gritty little city about 70 km south. Well, I knew I could make 70 kilometers, so off I went. Trouble was, it was off my planned route, and once I got there I had a heck of a time locating the town´s mgas station. But at least the attendant there was able to accurately describe for me how to get back onto the highway I´d made the long detour from to buy the precious fuel.
Then for a time the drive became spectacular, going up into some impressive mountain terrain with vast stands of huge Cardón Cacti and then a surprise once I got up to the summit overlooking the valley below with its attractive town of Tafi del Valle sitting like a pearl at the bottom - but alas, the valley was socked in with a thick cloudbank, which would prove to be the leading edge of a rather nasty storm front, which meant that I had to maneuver the Toyota through a massive rainstorm for much of the afternoon. It got quite treacherous when I made the connection with Ruta Nacional 38, which rolls through north-central Argentina in a large arc and which I will be following practically all the way to Villa Dolores, my planned destination for the day after tomorrow.
But the rains subsided as I approached Catamarca (Officially named San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca), and when the clouds broke, the heat settled in. I´ve done my share of sweating in this intense subtropical heat, which is of course augmented by the humidity from all the rain...Actually, the rains started last night when I was settling in to my last night in Cafayate. It was an impressive sustained downpour, complete with all the thunder and lightning, and I do believe there has been some flooding, especially in some of the places I drove through this afternoon when the rains were filling many of the rivers.
Anyway, I made it here, safe and sound, and will be planning to get a decent start in the morning. I want to at least get to the city of La Rioja, but will probably get past there, maybe as far as Chamical, east of the Sierra de Los Llanos, or even to Castro Barros, out on the Salinas Grandes. I am not so sure that either one of those potential destinations will afford me the opportunity to report in to the blog as they are not much on the map, but they will get me well within striking distance of Villa Dolores on March 2nd.
So whenever I can, I´ll be back here, posting new stuff, and hopefully some new pics. So stay in touch, amigos.