Argentina & Chile -- November 2008 -- Day 11-- La Quiaca to JuJuy --234km

[Mike P]

After a quick lunch in the town (involving more Coca tea which I begining to get used to) it was off south.
Just a little way south on the main N/S road we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and I managed a fleeting shot as we passed the marker.
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[Mike P]

The mountain sides were again a mix of greens, reds, purples and yellows.
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[Mike P]

The first stop was either Tumbaya or Volcan and I am not clear which this is. (Probably the Coca tea).
Anyway it was situated across a dry river bed and was a very dusty and dessicated area.
This is a typical view and contains Trichocereus pasacana, Cleistocatus hyalacanthus and (welcome back) Opuntia sulphurea. The clouds in the background suggested that the plants would not have long to wait.
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[Mike P]

Closer view of the Cleistocactus.(And associated thorny bush).
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[Mike P]

Parodia stuemeri.
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[Mike P]

Lobivia haematantha v. rebutioides I think.
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[Mike P]

And the one you have all been waiting for ......
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more Blossfeldia liliputana.

[David_L]

It was good to have you back in the bus restored to health Mike. You must have climbed further than me (as usual), I missed the Blossfeldias. I took a couple of scenery shots at Tumbaya. This is what the place looked like. It was a dry valley that looked like it had quite a substantial river in it after heavy rain. Another spectacular copper-green hillside in the background.


[attachment 19142 scenery.jpg]

[David_L]

We did finally get some rain here, in fact we were driven back to the van by a shower. As you can see the cloud was really low.


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[David_L]

There was an interesting bromeliad here which formed wide mats of silvery leaves. It was widespread in this part of Argentina and we saw lots of it over the next couple of days. I believe it is called Abrometiella lawrenciana. Here is Tito poseing with a patch of it.

Edit: I have received this helpful inforemation on the bromeliad from Alan ( Ali Baba):

Hi David
that would be Deuterocohnia lorentziana (Abromeitiella is now subsumed into Deuterocohnia thank goodness: much easier to spell!). A very nice plant, although not so silvery in cultivation.
Cheers
Alan


[attachment 19144 Abrometiella_lawrenciana.jpg]