The
climate and vegetation in Monteros is very different from what we have
seen so far: it's humid, the rivers are not dry and vegetation is dense. Monteros isn't on the road 40 that we want to join, we'll have to cross the mountain range that separates us. We'll need 2 days to climb the 2600m: 1600m today to reach a
village of a good size on a plateau, Tafi del Valle, then the rest the
next day to arrive at our Warmshower hosts place.
Very early in the morning, the inhabitants of Monteros run or walk in the municipal stadium to avoid the heat. When we wake up, it's 7am, it's already 30°C. The temperature is nevertheless bearable, surely thanks to clouds and humidity. We hit the road a little before 08:30. On the other hand, we sweat like never before, as if we had both passed under a gutter. The hill is steep and there's a lot of traffic on the road. Fortunately, it's often quite large.
The landscape is very beautiful, unusual vegetation and weird insects. We are deep into the subtropical forest. At the end of the day, we are eager to arrive, the coast is long. Approaching the plateau of Tafi, we pass without transition from the forest to the pastures. We enter the territory of several indigenous communities. Many small stalls sell local handicrafts as well as cheese and mountain salamis.
In Tafi del Valle, we settle in the municipal campsite. At around 2000m above sea level, in the evening the temperature drops a little and the night is cool, we are happy to need our sleeping bags for a good night without sweating.
