Just another day at the office...Cafayate.

Wow, what a perfect mixture of activities for me to do in Cafayate today. I´d like to dedicate this posting to my good friend DVD of Greer, SC. He truely appreciates, knows the finest of wine, and has shared several from his collection with me for my edification.

I started the day out with a wine tasting tour of 2 Cafayate vineyards. My comments from the tour are listed below/

1) Domingo a)Torrentes - this wine tasted like a very bitter Chardonay. b) Merlot - great nose, but with a very dry taste

2) Vasija Secreta a) Torrentes Lacrado - dry with bitter after taste. b) Cabernet Lacrado - dry but with a fruity after taste...nice complexity. This is the best wine I´ve tried so far. I´m going to surprise Kirstin with a bottle of this wine when she gets to Arequipa. In the above picture, you see me holding the bottle.

After the wine tasting we went to a goat farm that produces goat cheese. The goats are visible in the above ment pictures. The goat cheese was extremely palatable. My hostel rommmate, Christian from Germany, and I bought a block of the goat cheese with basil in it. We picked up some bread at the local market and made a scrumptous goat cheese sandwhich for lunch. After lunch we embarked on a challenging 10km hike to an amazing waterfall. We hiked thru the center of town into a canyon aligned with tall torturous cactus trees. The scenery was like no other scenery I´ve ever seen. We found ourselves in a percarious position trying get over the top of the waterfall. Eventually we climbed to the right spot and were able to traverse over the top. Waterfalls are one of my top aesthetically pleasing subjects of nature. This waterfall was especially scenic because it was surrounded by cactus trees in gorgeous canyon.

El Balcon, my hostel in Cafayate, did a great job of providing many activities for the occupants. Later that night the hostal had a large BBQ which 30 people attended. There was a lot of meat, veggies, and of course local vino on hand.

EXCHANGE RATE IN ARGENTINA- $1 for 3.07 - 3.10 ARG pesos