Ruins of Quilmes

Overview of the Quilmes ruins outside of Cafayate

Not unlike the United States, Argentina is a country that was formed by settlers from other countries who encountered native peoples when they first arrived.  One of those native peoples in Argentina is the Quilmes.  They were native to the land around Cafayate, and there are set of ruins in the area around the city.  

The Quilmes people were native to this area, but when the Europeans came, the natives were eventually conquered and sent to live in a different part of the country, near Buenos Aires (the city of Buenos Aires has grown so much since then that the "city" of Quilmes is really better described as a neighborhood or suburb of Buenos Aires).  That city still exists and is called Quilmes.  The Quilmes people (tribe) did not thrive there and eventually abandoned it.  The settlement called Quilmes was then made into a town and subsequent waves of immigrants moved there, including a guy from Germany who started a brewery.  He named one of his beers "Quilmes," after the town in which it was brewed.  This is now a popular brand in Argentina.  So when you say that you are going to see the Quilmes site, it is reasonable that someone might ask why you want to see a brewery.  So to clarify, Anne, Mark and HBomb did not go to the city of Quilmes or the Quilmes brewery, they went to the ruins of the settlement of the Quilmes people.

Upon arrival we noticed that these ruins were old and apparently partially reconstructed.  There several people offering their services as guides, and given Anne's recent beat down by the Valle de la Luna, maybe we should have known enough to hire one.  But we were short on Argentine cash (due the fact that Cafayate was a cash-only town) and decided not to hire anyone.

Current local residents of the ruins.

The ruins had arrows pointing visitors in the direction of the recommended walking tour.  Some of the rooms were also labeled (bedroom, storage, cooking area, etc), so we had enough information to get around without a guide, anyway.

So, we hiked the ruins.  They were built on a gradually inclining hillside, which we toured and then ascended.  Eventually, HBomb got tired, so Mark and HBomb waited in the shade while Anne headed up the hill for a view (again, given the misadventure at Valle de la Luna, they probably should have known better, but....)

Anne made it up the hill and got a good view of the scale of the ruins.  If we had hired a guide we would have probably asked him why the Quilmes lived out here in the middle of a barren wasteland, or maybe if this area used to be more fertile.  But we didn't, so we may never know.

HBomb had a small misadventure while waiting for Anne to return to the base of the ruins.  HBomb decided to run around a little bit, as little boys sometimes do.  And as he sometimes does, he took a corner a little too hot and lost his balance, then instinctively reached out his hand to catch himself.  Unfortunately, he reached his hand in the wrong direction and ended up grabbing a cactus.  He got a nice little poke to the palm, which made him plenty angry, but left him no worse for the wear ultimately.

On the drive back to Cafayate, Anne, Mark and HBomb took a scenic drive through Cafayate wine country.  Apparently, the conditions in this area are unique, and uniquely suited to growing grapes that make delicious, mostly Malbec, wine.  As mentioned, and as you might gather, this area was dry by any reasonable measure.  There were cacti and sand as far as the eye could see.  We did notice the clouds/fog rolling over the mountains in the vineyards on the eastern side.

Without going too into the details (or asking anyone), Anne and Mark just decided that the fog and dry conditions combined to make for good growing conditions.  They didn't have any logical basis for this analysis, but it felt truthy, so just go with it.

Is that cactus making an obscene gesture?