Monday, November 19, 2007

El Impenetrable



In northern Argentina, there's over 15,000 sq miles of cactus-filled, spine-riddled forest known as El Impenetrable. It's hot as hell up here, and when people talk about the place or about the indigenous Toba who live here, the one word that inevitably comes up is "forgotten".



We hired a guide to take us into the forest (there's no way someone unfamiliar with the area could navigate the labyrinth of dirt roads on their own), and found an Argentina entirely different than the one most visitors see.




No tango, no Patagonia, no Iguazu Falls, no swanky shopping centers. Just trees, cacti, gauchos and a lot of people living really hard lives, despite Argentina's economic gains.

For more photos of the Impenetrable, visit travelburro.com.