San Juan - Argentina

In search of some of the oldest bones in the world, I head north on highway 40, moving from Mendoza's famed vineyards into the parched deserts of San Juan province, the high mountains towering to the West.

Grapevines spring miraculously from the near-desert conditions. Families picnic along the shaded banks of giant canals that channel life-giving water from the mountains.

With the last vineyards passing from sight in the rear-view mirror, I enter a driver's paradise with long stretches of open road that flow like a roller-coaster. The blazing wind from the open window blasts me with its scorched breath.

Somewhere in these dry desert hills, there's supposed to be a mysterious pilgrimage site, a place of miracles. I find no obvious signs of this religious shrine and continue on my solo journey.

As the final light falls behind a small cluster of hills, I arrive in San Agustín in the Fertile Valley, an ideal springboard to visit the dinosaur park of Ischigualasto.

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