 Previous Day |
Patquía → Marayes → Córdoba 438.7 mi (706.0 km) |
 More 2019 Adventures |
¡Oscuros días, todos!
Today is a day of great risk! After witnessing my first total solar eclipse two years ago, I’ve flown down to the desert of Argentina in the hopes that I might catch a second! This morning sure looks promising, with crystal blue skies and no signs of clouds anywhere!
 |
With the eclipse not scheduled until 5:40 PM, I figured I may as well spend this gorgeous winter’s day cruising Ruta 150, also known as the Camino International a Chile! Kilometer 0 starts right here in Patquía, and I think I’m going to add a few more kilometers before the day is done! Vamos!
 |
There was very little traffic this morning, which gave me hope that it would be a quiet day watching the eclipse. I cruised west through the semi-arid forests, minus at least one muddy river running across the road with local tunes playing on the radio!
 |
Along the way, I stopped to check out a giant cardón, a relative of the saguaro that rivals its Arizonan cousin for size records! These huge cacti can grow more than 60 feet in height, and have dozens of arms holding it steady! Out here, they tower over the rest of the plant growth like botanical shepherds!
 |
I thought about visiting the newly designated El Chiflón Provincial Park, but I was worried about running out of time. Instead, I pulled over to marvel at the strangest shrine I’d ever seen: a huge pile of plastic bottles and jugs! This, folks, was a shrine to La Difunta Correa, a folk saint who’s very popular across La Rioja and San Juan Provinces!
 |
In 1840, María Antonia Deolinda Correa set off to find her husband, who had been arrested during the Argentine civil war and fallen sick! As she crossed the deserts of San Juan Province with her newborn baby, she ran out of supplies and died! When a group of gauchos happened upon them days later, her baby was still miraculously nursing! Folk tradition holds that she has all the powers of a saint, but isn’t officially recognized by the Catholic church. Nevertheless, locals have set up shrines in her honor, piled high with water bottles to calm her eternal thirst!
 |
 |
Passing the side road leading to Ischigualasto Provincial Park, I spotted the first sign welcoming visitors to San Juan Province for the eclipse! Based on what I knew of crowds from the previous eclipse, I hoped this would be one of the few signs of activity I’d see out here in the desert.
 |
Not so! About an hour south, I reached the town of Chucuma, which was having a festival to celebrate the eclipse’s arrival! Not a huge festival, it nevertheless had a stage set up for a band, as well as empanadas and artisans! I picked up some eclipse glasses, which were going to come in very handy!
 |
From here, I just had to figure out where to watch the eclipse! After the one in Wyoming, I wanted a place with neat foreground textures that were high enough to catch the eclipse in the same frame! I spotted some mysterious ruins that were close to the path of totality, but they were too crowded by thorny bushes to spend much time there.
 |
 |
I also found a historical marker for miner Don Antonio Ergilio Zeballos, but I could not find any other information on him anywhere, even on the internet! With a Don title, he must have owned quite a bit of land in this area!
 |
After exploring some hills near Marayes that ended up being too steep and also full of thorny plants, I found the perfect place: a huge salt flat, uncrowded, unobstructed, and with all kinds of neat textures!
 |
Right away, I started exploring the weathered, wooden fences zig-zagging across the Lago Salina de Mascasín. With almost two hours before the eclipse, I’d have plenty of time to scope, angle, frame, and perfect!
 |
I set up the tripod, hopped atop one of the fences, and waited and waited!
 |
At exactly 5:40, the moon passed in front of the sun! I snapped the photo as quick as I could, reframed, and shot again!
 |
Before I could set up a third shot, forgetting just how short these things last, the sun appeared again, and it was all over! Nevertheless, I did take at least thirty seconds of the two total minutes to just gaze at this miraculous site in the Argentina sky! It was a lot of time and a lot of distance for two minutes of magic, but it was still worth it. I stand by that claim, despite what happened after the eclipse!
 |
The ten other people watching on the salt flat turned into a massive, dead-stopped line of cars and trucks just down the road toward Mascasin! We sat still for about an hour as the sun went down, which made me nervous since I had to drive all the way back to Capilla del Monte for the night! From here, traffic crawled like a caracól to Chepes, before finally, after two hours of “driving,” I hit open road and zipped out of there!
Three hours later, I reached Capilla del Monte and wove my way through the dirt roads to get to the hotel for the night, only to find that the hotel did not exist! I checked the listing online and found that it now read “Business closed!” That was a big problem at 10:00 at night!
All other hotels in Capilla del Monte were closed, so I had two options: park at the airport and sleep in the car overnight, or find a place in Córdoba. Either option meant driving over a mountain on the winding Camino del Cuadrado with a flashing gas light and coasting back into Córdoba to fill up and find a place to sleep. Luckily, there was space at the Yrigoyen 111 Hotel with the catch that I had to be out of my parking spot by 7:00 AM. Even though it was close to 1:00 AM, I didn’t argue. I was just glad to not be sleeping in the car at the airport! I got cleaned off, admired the glamorous room, and fell asleep on another grand adventure!
¡Hasta el verano!
Previous Day |
Total Ground Covered: 1,008.5 mi (1,623.0 km) |
More 2019 Adventures |