19-23 October: Salta and Don Otto

Well, the work in Salta has gone well. The seminar group was about 10 people and whilst they did not all have great English language skills the two days have been very good workwise. The questions were good and fast and furious at times but there were plenty of helpers for translation in both directions. It was a great group to work with. After work, which was usually about 6PM, we went back to the hotel and went for a wander around the centre of town before eating. Everywhere we went seemed to be past this spectacular church ...by day .........

and .....

...by night.

..............and then to the main square................

..where they have another fine church

The choices of food were extensive but we avoided the fast food and posh places sticking to generally local styles with empanadas and similar snacks interspersed with the local dark beer “Salta”.

One evening we went across town to the new tourist trap area near the refurbished railway station. We found a whole heap of pavement cafes and traditional bars. We picked one with live local music and had a very good evening with local food, great red wine and plenty of local folk type music.

Another time we went to an Irish pub! ......
 

Luis, Juan, me, two other local staff members

......but we ate very traditional “Bife de lomo” which is basically a fillet steak and a few chips. Very tasty meat and the red wines of the district and from Mendoza another uranium mining area to the south are excellent and we tried a few of them too!

On Wednesday we set out for the uranium mine at Don Otto. A drive of about 3-4 hours in a direct route but we stopped to look at the geology many times as the road passes up over a ridge at about 3400m (10000ft) and follows the main syncline. The variety of landforms and rock types was amazing

- as was the nature of the road at times. Much of the track was gravel but in very good condition, just a bit narrow and precarious, especially when big trucks came the other way;

A few narrow bridges

and many twists and turns.

As we climbed over the highest point, near the peak we entered the National Park

and the geology put on a splendid display which is hard to capture on film, even with a panoramic camera.

At this same point a large bird cruised overhead and everyone thought it was a condor. Sadly when we looked at my picture it was declared to be an “eagle” although I think it was a kite.

Shortly we came to the highest point on the road......

Eventually we came out onto a high plateau, not quite the “altoplano” of Chile but pretty close - Vast flat areas of tough grassland and very few signs of life.

We did see two real “gauchos” (cowboys) riding after their cattle........

........ and a few goats later on.

We left the park and had lunch at one old mine site where there were wild donkeys who watched us as much as we watched them.

By now we had descended to a mere 2800 m into a series of river valleys in a very dry basin with dunes, geology and cacti everywhere............................

Then we finally came to the former mine site at Don Otto which is being investigated for possible re-development.

The facility is a shadow of its former glory days of production but is under a care and maintenance regime and is in good condition generally. The bunkhouse is old and made of stone and is very rustic.

The meals were all taken in the old mess hall, a barn of a place with only 10 of us and then the local crew of about 6. Meals were basic but fine and still red wine to wash the meat down.

Luis drinking mate in the mess hall.

The scenery at the site was fantastic and the weather could not have been better although the sun was vicious and despite a hat and sun block my nose did get burned. The old miners had even labelled the mineralised strata they mined on the outside where they were exposed at the surface...

We looked at the old facilities and discussed the new plans. In the evening we had some presentations from the seminar members about the various aspects of their work and the new plans and how it all tied in with my work etc. Then it was off to bed as the generator was turned off and the weather was getting cool.


In the early morning the dawn light on the rocks was amazing.....

and it was still cool as we headed off for breakfast, past several of these trees,

which are endemic only to this area and have seed cases that look like plastic peanuts.

The trees are very spiky – I guess this protects them from the attacks of the goats and donkeys etc that seem to roam the area. We looked around the former processing site and discussed the new plans and then finally went to the old underground workings to look at the old decline and some of the galleries.



It was very dusty, very fine rock dust- a real nuisance hazard, so we wore masks but the tunnels were in great condition and it was very interesting. A return to camp for the last mess lunch – excellent grilled pork chops – then we began the drive back to Salta. The clouds were starting to build up but we stopped for a short while to walk up a narrow ravine to see dinosaur footprints. Sadly the very last part of the climb to the site was a bit too slippery for me but I got a very good view from the valley floor.

The drive back was marked by a few rain spots and some very impressive displays of threatening clouds. The road was still impressive on the way back.

On Thursday evening we arrived back in Salta at 1830 and after a quick shower and a change a small group of us went off to the GPO to post my cards and then to a pub to grab a few beers and a snack before heading off to the Central Theatre for a concert by the local symphony orchestra.

In true latin american style the show did not begin until 2130. The house was pretty full and the performance was very good:

Beethoven’s overture “Coriolanus” and Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” suite in part 1 and then Mendelssohn’s Symphony “The Scottish Lass” in part 2 and a great encore.

Friday morning was a rush to finish up the final questions and answers from the group, followed by a super lunch of local specialities before a mad rush to the car, a quick round of farewells and then the sprint to the airport to catch the Austral flight on an MD-83 back to Buenos Aires. The weather was grey again, but no rain. The flight was delayed and so although there was no airport change for my next flight it was a real sprint to get aboard the Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Rio. A 3 hour flight in a B737-700 and we reached Rio by about 2130 local time; someone from the host organisation was there to meet me and we set off for the hotel. Rio traffic has not lessened since February and we were some 45 minutes or more before arriving back at the Windsor Palace hotel just off the front at Copacabana beach, the same place where the team stayed in February. So finally, a long day over   and a chance to relax over the weekend before work starts again on Monday at 0800.