Seclantás, on this remote village of the Calchaqui Valley (NW Argentina) much of the IT infrastructure of CIN2011 has been developed.

From here will start our tour to Acsibi Valley, also known as Caves Valley.

Hospital Presbítero Olmos, with 6 dependant health centers, care for the health of a population of 3300 over an area of 898 km2.
To arrive to some of the farthest homes a hiking trip of 14 hours is needed.
The staff is composed by three MDs, one nurse per health centers, seven nurses on the hospital, two dentists, two biochemist, a RX technician and 11 health agents.

The trip begins: 3 km south of Seclantás we leave the road and go on the dry bed of a summer river.

Acsibi Gate: after 14 km the trucks can not go on further, we must continue on foot.

Waterfall on the desert!

Acsibi in Ka-kan language means "fire place", due not only to the intense reds and their shapes, but also because on summer storms many rays fall there.
Also, from an anthropolgical-cultural perspective, there have been findings of very fine ceramic pipes, it's thought that the ancestral communities of Sichas and Malcachiscos tribes celebrated ritual ceremonies.

Pedestals: these formations appear because at the start the rocks were on the surface and they protected the soil from rain erosion. Rain breaks the dirt, and once it's loose wind blows it away, so these pillars stood up and isolated.

But this particular formation is very special...

It was not a tipical pedestal formation, but a micro one.

Track to the caves

Passageway to the Sun Cave

Acsibi hermit: Horacio J. Peña, from UNINET Argentina, in the Sun Cave

Acsibi has its origin as a submarine formation, the sediments are rounded or baggy. After the lake was elevated by tectonic movements, and backwards erosion broke its wall, the lake dries out and Acsibi emerges.

Acsibi has its origin as a submarine formation, the sediments are rounded or baggy. After the lake was elevated by tectonic movements, and backwards erosion broke its wall, the lake dries out and Acsibi emerges.

The cobra: many formations suggest images and have got names.

Figurative formations: on the center of the image we see the cobra again, on the upper left the Three Wise Men.

Going back: must return to the congress.

Next time: if we can come back to Seclantás again, we should go to Brealito lagoon and Condor's Crater.

Thanks and contact data: Fido Abán, our guide; La Posta de Seclantás; hospital: Florencia Ithurralde, from Jaymay NGO