Practical Information for visiting Sierras of Cordoba

Coverage for mobile networks is good in Córdoba city and the valley towns, with 4G throughout the populated areas.

It drops away on the Pampa de Achala and in the Quebrada del Condorito, where there is effectively no signal — relevant if you are walking there.

Local SIMs are cheap; a passport is required.

Wi-Fi is standard in hotels, cabanas and cafes. Córdoba has a large student and technology sector and good connectivity generally.

Download offline maps before the high road and the national park.

The sierras are safe and family-oriented, and crime affecting visitors is uncommon. The hazards are natural.

• Flash floods in the mountain rivers are the serious one. Storms over the sierras send water down the valleys within minutes, and the rivers that people swim in can rise metres with no rain falling where they are standing. People drown this way most summers. Watch the sky upstream, and get out if the water discolours.
• 
  
• Fire between August and November; open fires are banned and access closes.
• 
  
• The Pampa de Achala: exposed, cold, and prone to sudden fog and storms. Walkers get caught out.
• 
  
• Hail in summer storms can be very large.
• 
  
• Yarara snakes in the hills; wear boots off-path.
• 
  
• Petty theft in Córdoba city centre and at the bus terminal.

Córdoba city has excellent hospitals and a large private sector — it is a regional medical centre for the whole of central Argentina. The hill towns have clinics.

Vaccinations: routine cover. No malaria or yellow fever risk here.

The dry air is genuinely therapeutic for respiratory conditions and has been used as such for over a century, which is why the sanatoria were built here.

Dehydration and sun: the combination of altitude, dryness and strong sunshine catches people out, and the cool breeze disguises it.

Water: tap water is safe in the towns; river water should not be drunk untreated.

Snakebite from the yarara is rare and treatable; antivenom is held at the provincial hospitals.

Cold nights catch out anyone who packed only for a summer day.

Fire: no open fires in the sierras outside designated areas, and none at all during the fire season. This is enforced and the reason is obvious in any dry August.

Rivers: do not use soap or shampoo in them; they are drinking water downstream.

Mate: passed by one person, drunk fully, handed back; gracias means you have finished.

Greetings: a single cheek kiss, including between men, and it is universal.

Meal times are Argentine, with dinner from nine or later.

At the Jesuit sites, several are working churches and one estancia is a private home; follow the guide and respect the areas that are closed.

Fernet is mixed by the drinker, and pouring it for someone else in the wrong proportion is a minor social crime.

Emergency numbers: 911, or 107 for ambulance, 101 for police, 100 for fire.

Medical. Córdoba city’s hospitals are among the best in the country and serve the whole central region; from the hill towns it is an hour or two.

Flash floods: if you are in or beside a river and the water rises or discolours, get out and up immediately. Do not wait to see how bad it gets, and do not try to cross a flowing ford.

Fire: report any smoke, and follow evacuation instructions without argument during the season.

On the Achala plateau, there is no signal and no shelter. Tell someone your route, carry warm and windproof layers whatever the valley weather is doing, and turn back in fog.

Consulates are in Buenos Aires; Córdoba has a few honorary ones.