Four Packs Travel

Alemanía was once a bustling town during construction of the railway to Cafayate, but progress on the railway ceased during World War I and was never resumed. Gradually people moved away, and today the town is almost completely deserted.

The Tres Cruces viewpoint in the Quebrada de las Conchas looks down the river valley and presents a striking contrast between the red desert, and the fertile river. Once, this was all an enormous inland sea!

Leaving Salta behind, we crammed into a hire car and headed south towards Cafayate. The drive down was stunning, with an evolving desert landscape of striking rock formations, lush valleys, and eventually fields of grapevines studded with cactuses!

Belonging to the Order of Friars Minor, the Basílica y Convento de San Francisco in Salta is a stunning church, in a baroque Italian style. The terracotta and ivory facade make it a striking sight, especially when it's lit up a night.

Salta is Gaucho (South American Cowboy) country, and we headed to a ranch for a day of horseback riding and BBQ. It was the kids first time on a horse, and our first time since in Cuba back in 2006, so we were all a bit rusty!

We found some amazing restaurants in Argentina, and due to the rapid inflation here during the economic crisis, the prices were very affordable 🇦🇷 This restaurant is right in town, was empty when we arrived at around 8 pm, and completely packed 45 minutes later!

We immediately felt at home in Salta 🇦🇷 It felt wonderfully welcoming and struck us as somewhere we could spend a lot of time. We visited the mercado, ate in the restaurants, spent time in the museums, and enjoyed the happy buzz of the plaza.

After the waterfall, we said goodbye to the jungle and flew across Argentina to the desert, in the foothills of The Andes 🇦🇷 Our first stop was Salta, which quickly became not only one of our favourite cities in Latin America, but in the whole world!

The Argentinian side of the falls 🇦🇷 Equally stunning, you can get a lot closer on this side. In fact, you walk along a metal boardwalk to a platform right on the edge of the main part of the falls!

Iguazu Falls - the Brazilian side 🇧🇷 One of the most breathtaking waterfalls in the world, it's also the largest in expanse, although not in height. The Brazilian side gives the best overview of the falls, whereas the Argentinan side allows you to get in closer.

The Serra Verde Express runs from Curitiba to the charming town of Morretes, and on to Paranaguá, down near the coast. It rumbles its way through the pristine Atlantic Forest Biome, and is among the most beautiful and scenic train journeys in the world.

Curitiba runs an incredibly organised bus service, for which it is known to transport enthusiasts around the world. Due to the heavy use of buses, Curitiba uses around 30% less fuel per capita than other Brazilian cities of similar size.

The Oscar Niemeyer Museum - known as The Eye Museum, or Niemeyer's Eye, for obvious reasons - certainly stands out! It is the largest museum in Latin America, and houses a wonderful collection of permanent and temporary exhibits.

Curitiba, the capital of the state of Paraná, it has the seventh most populous metropolitan area in the country. It has a low crime rate (by Brazilian standards), a pleasant climate most of the year, and is home to several museums, and lots of green spaces.

New post out now! Heading to Vietnam? - See our guide to visiting Halong Bay on a budget! fourpackstravel.com/halong-b…

Check out this interview we did with @Home_Educator on Worldschooling our kids. Thanks Nicola!

Sleepy Paranaguá is a little sea-side town in the state of Paraná, Brazil. It's a jumping off point to nearby Ilha do Mel (Island of Honey), and a pleasant little town. There's not a great deal to see or do, and that's kind of the point!

This staircase in São Paulo's Pinheiros neighbourhood is one of many tributes to Marielle Franco, not only in Brazil but around the world. She was a politician and an outspoken human rights activist, who was tragically assassinated in 2018.

Markets are usually bustling affairs, and Mercado Municipal de São Paulo is certainly no exception. 🇧🇷 It's housed in a beautiful eclectic style building, built between 1928 and 1933. We ate absolutely enormous pastrami sandwiches and checked out the goods on offer.

The São Paulo Museum of Art is housed in a striking building on Avenida Paulista, one of the cities most important avenues. It houses the finest collection of European art in South America, and arguably in the entire Southern Hemisphere.