The 80 kilometres between Santa María and Cafayate pass quickly — it is what lies beyond Cafayate that earns the day. The Quebrada de las Conchas opens north of town on Ruta Nacional 68, a 75-kilometre canyon whose formations have been named by generations of travellers who saw in the eroded sandstone what the rock suggested: castles, monks, toads, the throat of the devil.
The 8:00 am departure from Santa María heads north, fuel at La Rotonda on the edge of town before the road settles into the broad valley of the Río Santa María. The drive to Cafayate is straightforward — the valley is wide and flat, the Nevado de Aconquija visible to the east in the early morning light — and the town arrives by mid-morning. Pass through, drop laundry before heading north to the canyon, and the day begins properly on RN68.
Deleting this waypoint is permanent and cannot be undone.