That’s the problem with small towns: the lack of choice. The long, enthralling drive from Salta had left us peckish, but a lack of options meant we had to wait for the curiously named ‘Los 3 Chinos’ restaurant to open at who-knows-what hour. No choice but to watch the handful of village kids spill onto the dirt football pitch. No choice but to watch lightning flash innocuously above the vast mountains. No choice but to place our beer on the jagged mud wall and amble onto the arena for a kick of the ball.

In the far northwest of Argentina’s vast territory lies the sparsely populated, seldom visited province of Catamarca. Remote Antofagasta de la Sierra, 500km north of the provincial capital, is about as far from Buenos Aires, literally and figuratively, as you can get.

2008 marked the 26th anniversary of the Falklands/Malvinas conflict. The war, although short-lived, continues to weigh heavily on the Argentine conscience. However, the dispute over the islands did not begin in 1982. The territory has been a source of bitter tension since its first sighting by Europeans 500 years ago.

Setting aside the jingoistic proclamations of both sides, what is the true story behind the islands? Who discovered the archipelago and who settled there?