Driving to Salta

The kids were up late playing and Dd woke up a bit grumpy. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and headed out of town around 11. The bicyclists had already left and it was getting hot so we did not hike the 7 colored hills.

Thirty minutes later I heard a slapping sound from under the RV and pulled over and did not find anything and when I restarted the RV I realized it was the belt for the second alternator. The RVs first alternator was still generating power but our RV batteries were not getting charged. We drove slowly for the next three minutes until the flapping stopped and the belt fell off. We decided to continue driving to Salta. To swap batteries I needed to jack up the RV and remove the skid plate but since removing the 3 inch lift I am not sure my jack will fit. I used to be able to fit under the RV with jacking up with the 3 inch lift.

The road continued downhill and we passed another couple of bikepackers and honked and they waved back. 

We filled up gas at a shell gas station that was adorned with stickers.

We stopped for lunch at a bus converted to a food truck. I ordered a hamburger for the kids and a Milanese sandwich for us. It was pretty good. The family had recommended it.

We continued on to Salta. We had come down to half the elevation of Purmamarca, around 4000 ft. Everything was green.

We went to a shopping mall and went to Carrefour, a French line of hypermarkets. The prices in the mall were astronomical. A rain jacket was $550. A child bicycle was $220. Argentina had terrible inflation. 

We bought some stuff for Ellie's birthday which was tomorrow. We drove to look for a bakery or donut shop but many businesses was closed. We didn't realize why and google was not helpful. Later, we learned it was a five day weekend in the region because of a festival in Cafayate, three hours away.

Salta was big but the traffic was light. It was very clean. We drove to our campground which was at a guesthouse. There was already a Brazilian van in the driveway and I opened the gate manually and we all drove through. There was a Belgium Man truck parked in the shade and two couples in the pool. We parked and settled in. It was 86 F and felt hot. We all went into the beautiful pool. Christine met the other guests. The two couples were in the Man truck. The Brazilian couple was on a one month trial in their converted ambulance van they built themselves. They planned on going to Alaska after this trip is over. The campground was great. No more dirt. The downside was the heat and the insects. Christine cooked up the sausages we bought and the Brazilian man, Marcus, came over to offer up some empanadas his wife had made, called pasteis. They were delicious. She had fried them up in the van. We shared our sausages.

The campground owners, Martin and Elizabeth arrived and introduced themselves. They did not live here but 11 km away. They only offered this place to foreign overlanders and not to locals to keep it clean and safe. At the municipal campground in Salta there was thievery she said and iOverlander seemed to agree. They recommended a mechanic and a place to get  birthday cake tomorrow. They also told us to avoid Cafayate this weekend because of the traffic and drunkards because of the festival. They were going with their family on Sunday.

Ellie had been feeling sad about turning nine and there were all the feelings about tomorrow. We went to bed with the top and windows open and the AC fan on. It cooled down to 66 F.