Exploring the Andes Mountains, FROM IN THE AIR, is very impressive! In your own airplane or by commercial flight, you can witness this amazing geographic wonder and its many towering peaks and high plateaus.
Get ready for a spectacular sight… This photo is the first glimpse of the sun, rising over the Andes, almost kissing Mount Aconcagua’s peak of 22,841 feet of towering magnificence.
The Andes Mountains are the world’s highest mountain range outside of Asia, and are the longest continental mountain range in the world, spanning the western coast of South America, extending from north to south through seven countries… Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The range is about 4,300 miles long, fluctuating from 120 to 430 miles wide, with an average height of about 13,000 feet.
The highest peak in the Andes is Mount Aconcagua (ä-kōn-kä-gwä), standing at 22,841 feet above sea level (pictured). It is located in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, only 70 miles northwest of the city of Mendoza (and just nine miles from the international border with Chile). This makes for a spectacular entrance arriving Mendoza’s Wine Regions.
If you are flying an unpressurized aircraft, you might need to navigate your west to east crossing at a breathable altitude at some point in your flight. You will see on the charts that there are many good locations to cross.
The peak of Chimborazo, in the Ecuadorean Andes, claims the farthest point from Earth’s center than any other location on Earth due to the equatorial bulge resulting from Earth’s rotation.
The world’s highest volcanoes are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border which rises to 22,615 feet. Over 50 other Andean volcanoes rise above 19,685 feet!
The Altiplano Plateau, located in the very northwest of Argentina, northern Chile, western Bolivia and southern Peru, is the world’s second-highest plateau, the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth, outside of Tibet.
Get ready for an adventure and exhilarating experience flying in South America encountering the grandeur of the Andes Mountain Range. When on the ground in Argentina enjoying the vineyards and wineries, raise your glass and take a look to the west, the Andes will always be standing there as a towering sculpture of magnificence!
Exploring Wine Regions – Argentina has numerous photographs of the Andes and the wine regions of Mendoza and Salta. The book can be obtained on Amazon or at ExploringWineRegions.com