Argentina Guide
The Northwest
San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca
The wedge-shaped province of Catamarca, immediately west of Tucumán and Santiago del Estero, is one of the country's poorest and most thinly populated. Nearly half of its population of a quarter of a million live in the quiet capital, SAN FERNANDO DEL VALLE DE CATAMARCA, often just called Catamarca, the smallest of all the Northwest's provincial capitals and the youngest, founded in 1683. A little over 230km south of Tucumán along RN-38, and slightly less from Santiago del Estero along RN-64, the city lies at the end of a long, flat valley that gives it its name, loomed over by high mountains on all sides. The majestic, green-sloped Sierra de Graciana to the north climbs steeply to over 1500m; to the east, the Sierra de Anacasti, or Sierra del Alto, is higher still, while the stark, honey-brown Sierra de Ambato forms an all but impenetrable barrier to the northwest, peaking at Cerro El Manchao (4351m). With few sights of its own, Catamarca is the ideal base for exploring the province's undeservedly ignored hinterland, mostly deserted altiplano, with some of the most hauntingly dramatic scenery in the whole of Argentina. The main reason for stopping over is to get your bearings before heading for the transitional valleys around Andalgalá, Belén and Londres, to the west. From there you can climb up to the almost disturbingly remote and staggeringly authentic altiplano settlement of Antofagasta de la Sierra, and its stark surroundings, or to the fabulous Paso de San Francisco, via the charming spa village of Fiambalá.