A lot of things
occurred over my holiday break that I do want to mention, however, I will leave
some of that for future blogs. Some stories will include a bus journey with my
brother, big differences between Mendoza & Cafayate, and the meaning of
family. Today, I wanted to discuss what makes Cafayate alive—DAKAR!
Dakar occurs every
year. It is an off-road race with a combination of motocross, car, truck, and
quadra-cycles that runs through Peru, Chile, and Argentina. Originally, it was
a race that ran from Paris to Dakar (Senegal). Due to terrorist threats in
2008, they had to cancel the race and decided to commence the annual race in
2009, but in South America. Since then, they have done the rally here. They
slightly change the course every year so there is always an element of
surprise. Yet, the main towns/cities have stayed the same. Cafayate is one of
those main towns, since we kind of live in the middle of the desert—perfect for
off-road racing. Therefore, when passing through Cafayate, the racers go at an
easy speed, to take a short break, before they begin again.
Before I left for the
holiday break, Cafayate seemed like a ghost town. Granted, there is a great population
of foreigners due to La Estancia, but generally it is a very calm town. When I
returned from my holiday break, the town was booming with tourists. Apparently,
this is a great place to vacation if you are an Argentine or a backpacker. The
town is calm, secure, and an easy place to pass through in just a few days.
When I say booming, I literally mean booming. Every restaurant was full. Every
hotel, hostel, boutique was packed. Even La Estancia had some unexpected
guests. I was quite surprised.
Why do people continually
say they like Cafayate? Because they only visit Cafayate when there are a ton
of people here! It is fun when there are people to look at, to people-watch, to
have conversations with, and to talk about. During the Dakar, it is even more
so…and the people are good-looking as well.
It is a neat
experience. Everyone is sitting outside their homes or at a café sipping on a café
con leche watching the racers go by. Since the competitors are going at an easy
pace, they can wave, give people high-fives, take pictures, and smile. I did
not realize how many competitors there were and I most certainly did not
realize how many Europeans participate in the rally. I guess it makes sense,
when the price to enter the race is around 1000 euros…not many Argentines can
afford that.
Anyway, if you plan to
visit Cafayate at a specific time during the year, come mid-January. You will
actually have things to do. I am sure even the two bars that exist in this town
actual function in mid-January as well.
K bye.
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