Argentina is one great varied and stunning natural spectacle. Take the glaciers of Patagonia, roaring Iguazu Falls, whales and seals of the Valdès Peninsula, amazingly sculpted eroded mountains with their multi-coloured mineral strata, gigantic snow topped peaks, arid plateaux bristling with cacti and the surrealist landscape of its deserts. It is also a land of extreme contrast. On the one hand is the vast metropolis of Buenos Aires with its melancholic charm and on the other, the high mountain region of the Argentine north-west which is home to the Incas and where the present day Indians still preserve their ancestral traditions and life style.  They live in the total calm of their far-flung picturesque villages deep in the mountains.