Argentina Photo Gallery

Río Pilcomayo National Park, one of the great pearls of Argentina’s national park system.

2012-01-28T02:24:00.006-06:00

On the south shore of Río Pilcomayo, in the northeast corner of Formosa Province is Parque Nacional Río Pilcomayo, one of the great pearls of Argentina’s national park system. This reserve protecting a 52,800-hectare (130,472-acre) swatch of Wet Chaco ecosystem has been a Ramsar site since 1992.

Its Q’om name is Satalik-Lateday, Mirror of Clear Waters. Three estuaries, or esteros, lace its interior: Zanjita, which drains into the Rio Pilcomayo, and Poí and Von Sastrow, which flow into Laguna Blanca.

These waterways are carpetted with camalotales (waterlily fields) and giant bullrush sedge (totora). The land is also marked with glens, savannahs mottled with carnauba wax palm (caranday), and hardwood forests.

Parque Nacional Rio Pilcomayo’s flora and fauna are adapted to this environment of flooding and prolonged dry spells. Some adaptions are bahavioral, such as bird migrations, whereas others are physical, such as the South American lungfish (pez pulmonada) which can breathe air.

In the forests reside black howler (carayá) and southern owl (mirikiná) monkeys. Five types of big cats call the reserve home, including the jaguarundi (gato moro), jaguar (yaguareté) and puma. Other mammals present include tapir (anta), grey brocket deer (guazuncho), giant anteater (oso hormiguero), and maned wolf (agaurá guazú). Serpents include the yellow anaconda (curiyú) and the false water cobra (ñacaniná).

Near estuaries and lagoons are found capybara (carpincho), long-tailed otter (lobito del río), crab-eating fox (zorro de monte) and crab-eating raccoon (aguará popé), as well as many native fishes, including palometas, kin to the piranha. (The park has instituted a don’t-feed-the-fish policy, which has ended incidences of swimmers getting unwanted nibbles.) Both species of caiman, the southern spectacled (yacaré negro) and the short-snouted caiman (yacaré ñato or overo) hang out at Laguna Blanca and other bodies of water.

The avifauna is equally impressive, with almost 300 species recorded in the park. Among them are Slaty-breasted Woodrail (Saracura), Monk Parakeet (Cotorra), South American Stilt (Tero real), and Great Egret (Garza Blanca). A trio of storks may be spotted and three types of Argentina’s resident kingfishes are present. Cormorants, toucans, woodpeckers, blackbirds, spinetails and other species are also represented.

The best time for viewing wildlife is before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m., when temperatures are more moderate. The best sector for land beasts is Estero Poí.

Parque Nacional Río Pilcomayo has two main ranger stations. The most popular sector is Laguna Blanca, named after the 700-hectare (1,730-acre) lagoon that is favorite swimming hole on blistering days. This lake, only three meters (10 ft) deep, is fed purely by the rain-fed Poí and Van Sastrow estuaries.

The Sendero a Laguna Blanca is a boardwalk cutting across marshlands to a series of docks and lookout towers (Distance: 400 m / 1,312 ft, Difficulty: easy, Duration: 15 min).

Sailboats and row boats are allowed on the lagoon. The reserve’s human neighbors rent canoes. This sector has an information center with a small display of skins and skulls of various animals found in the park, and jars of pickled snakes.

Near the guardaparque is a camping area. Here starts the Sendero Carayá Caaguy, a self-guided trail through a forest inhabited by black howler monkeys (Distance: 200 m / 656 ft, Difficulty: easy, Duration: 20 min). Ask the rangers for the pamphlet (Spanish only).

Sector Estero Poí is closer to Laguna Blanca village. The road from Ruta Nacional 86 goes to the ranger station and continues to the banks of the Río Pilcomayo. At the guardaparque is a campground.

This part of the park has two interpretive loop trails. Sendero Secretos del Monte is near the station (Distance: 600 m / 1,969 ft, Difficulty: easy, Duration: 45 min). Three kilometers (1.8 mi) north of the ranger station, down the road to the river, is Sendero de Caraguatá Caaguy, also called Karaguatá Guatahá.

This trail traverses areas of the vase plant (caraguatá), a wild cousin of the pineapple, and palm groves (Distance: 900 m / 0.5 mi, Difficulty: easy, Duration: 45 min). Six kilometers (3.6 mi) past this sendero is a bird observation post. Five kilometers (3 mi) further on is the Río Pilcomayo. To transit the river road, you need to report in to the rangers, to check on road conditions. (Recent rains may make stretches impassable.)

Camping is free in the park. Facilities include bathhouses, tables, grills and electricity. At the Laguna Blanca site, keep your items well protected from the monkeys’ reach. None of the sectors have provision shops or food services, so bring all supplies.

Water is potable, though some people may have problems drinking it. At Laguna Blanca, entry is charged on Sundays only (Argentines $1.15, foreigners $7; people under 16 or over 60 years old free). No fee is charged at Sector Estero Poí. The administrative office, Informes Administración de Parque Nacional Río Pilcomayo, is in Laguna Blanca village (Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Pueyrredón s/n and Ruta Nacional 86, Laguna Blanca, Tel: 47-0045, E-mail: riopilcomayo@apn.gov.ar). The center also has an excellent, bilingual research library.

The best time to visit Parque Nacional Río Pilcomayo is during the winter months (June-September) when it is fresher, dryer and there are fewer insects. Rains begin in September. The rainy season runs from December through March. Temperatures during these months reach 47ºC (117ºF).

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The Andes mountain range shows its beauty in the Patagonian provinces.

2012-01-26T16:57:00.007-06:00

The Andes mountain range shows its beauty in the Patagonian provinces. Millennial silent forests with native vegetable species are extended along the shores of glistening waters.

On top of the mountains, nature overflows with granite peaks and ice fields spreading their glacier tongues into lakes of unsurpassable beauty.

Imposing mammals and sea birds, half-way between real life and fantasy, spend certain seasons on the rough coasts of Patagonia where they complete part of their life cycle. Seals colonies play on the islets and sandbanks.

The world’s most important southern elephant seal continental colony is located in Peninsula Valdés.

Every year, southern right whales come to Nuevo and San José gulfs to breed.

Patagonian hares, “ñandúes” (South American ostrich) and “guanacos” run about the steppes, and the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world is located in Punta Tombo.

This life cycle repeated since time immemorial, unfolds itself in front of the astonished visitors’ eyes.

In the south, Tierra del Fuego and the World’s southernmost city, Ushuaia, are the gateway towards the vast and mysterious Antarctica.

The Andes range has many active volcanoes, which are distributed in four volcanic zones separated by areas of inactivity.

The Andean volcanism is a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic zones that are separated from each other by volcanic gaps.

The volcanoes of the belt are diverse in terms of activity style, products and morphology. While some differences can be explained by which volcanic zone a volcano belongs to, there are significant differences inside volcanic zones and even between neighboring volcanoes.

Despite being a type location for calc-alkalic and subduction volcanism, the Andean Volcanic Belt has a large range of volcano-tectonic settings, such as rift systems and extrensional zones, transpressional faults, subduction of mid-ocean ridges and seamount chains apart from a large range on crustal thicknesses and magma ascent paths, and different amount of crustal assimilations.

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Cuyo in the Indian language is the region of the high peaks.

2012-01-19T16:40:00.009-06:00

Cuyo - “desert country” in the Indian language - is the region of the high peaks, the snow-covered volcanoes, and the large wilderness spreading from the Andes mountain range and foothills to the steppe.

The visit to Ischigualasto - Talampaya Natural Parks, is a true journey to the dinosaurs era. Ischigualasto, also known as “Valle de la Luna” (Moon Valley) because of the amazing diversity of forms and colours of its landscape shaped by erosion, is one of the world’s most important paleontologic sites. The Talampaya River Canyon reveals amazing multi-shaped layers in its high red walls.

Pink flamingos, Andean ducks, “vicuñas” and “guanacos” cohabit freely in parks and natural reserves, while condors fly over the area.

The region displays the full splendour of the Central Andean Range. The Aconcagua (6.959 m) is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, and its steep slopes are renown and respected by mountain climbers from all over the world.

In the valleys of La Rioja, Mendoza and San Juan, among leaves of grapevines, farms and wineries, visitors can go along the Wine Road, an attraction of international renown.

Cuyo has some of the most popular tourist attractions in Argentina and the highest mountains in the Andes, including Aconcagua itself, the highest peak outside Asia, and the Ischigualasto Provincial Park.

The soil is arid and reddish, crossed by few rivers. Most of the rivers are fed by the thawing of snow on the peaks, and their volume of water increases considerably in spring. The Desaguadero River is the main collector, receiving waters from the Bermejo, Vinchina and Salado before reaching the Colorado River.

Viticulture is one of the main activities of the area. The wine production of the region represents almost 80% of national production, and the wines are highly considered in the world. Olives, potatoes, tomatoes and some fruits are also cultivated, and there is production of sweets and preserved foodstuffs. Quarrying and oil exploitation are other important industries.

The cities and towns in the region are characterised by colonial low houses and churches, and narrow streets, contrasting in the principal cities with the modern parts. The Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, founded in 1939, is the most important within these provinces, and has its campus in Mendoza, but has faculties as far as Río Negro.

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The site in Salinas Grandes Hidalgo (Macachín) represent the largest deposit of sodium chloride in La Pampa.

2012-01-12T16:24:00.002-06:00

Geotourism allows access to the knowledge of the natural resources of the region of the guided tours of the salt deposits that are located at La Pampa as the first producer of salt.

Prestigious brands like Celusal ¨ ¨ and ¨ Two Anchors "in the neighboring towns of industrialising Jacinto Arauz.

The big stage is the bountiful nature that is provided in the Salinas La Pampa.

Even before the discovery of America, the Indians were looking for salt in the Salinas Grandes

Lagoon located a few kilometers from the town of Macachín.

Long road caravans pulled by oxen made several trips a year in search of salt.

The topography is undulating plain with elongated depressions from west to east as the valley that are available to fans.

Salinas

The average of these depressions is 100 km. long by 5 to 10 drops km.de width and order of 100 meters. 40mts high and below sea level.

The wind in the fund accumulated significant volumes of sand that make up the picturesque peak acute cords.

It is here where the salt is placed in the lowest part true to form pockets hydrographic end. The evaporation of water for centuries have deposited salt crystals in the depressions to produce layers.

To the south, the relief is more marked with flat and undulating plateaus separating depressions and steep slopes into the salt.

The vegetation of the region is represented by the Pampean hill formed by the forest caldenes, shrubs and grasslands.

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National parks, nature reserves and protected areas.

2012-01-04T00:09:00.006-06:00

Argentina counts on an extensive system of national parks destined to protect the natural and cultural patrimony of the country.

The first parks were the Nahuel Huapi and the Iguazú, both created in 1934.

Between the last ones they are San Guillermo (1998), the Flake (2000) and the Leoncito (2002).

Altogether there are 27 national parks (in addition to reserves and monuments).

They occupy 4 % of the Argentine territory almost, about 3 million hectares, taken care of by 200 guardaparques approximately.

The Administration of National Parks, regulated by Law 22,351 of 1980, has its seat in avenue Santa Fe 960, in Buenos Aires.

Its management is decentralized and it is in the orbit of the Secretariat of Tourism of the Nation.

Listing of National Parks of Argentina.

National Park Baritú (Salta)

National Park Calilegua (Jujuy).

National Park Pilcomayo (Formosa)
National Park Formosa (Formosa)

National Park Iguazú (Misiones).

Nature Reserve San Antonio (Misiones)

National Park El Rey (Salta)
National Park Los Cardones (Salta)
National Park El Impenetrable (Chaco)
National ParkCopo (Santiago del Estero)
National Park Chaco (Chaco)
Nature Reserve Colonia Benítez (Chaco)
National Park Mburucuyá (Corrientes)
National Park Campo de Los Alisos (Tucumán)
National Park Estricta Aconquija (Tucumán)
National Park San Guillermo (San Juan)
National Park San Guillermo (San Juan)
National Park El Leoncito (San Juan)
National Park Quebrada del Condorito (Córdoba)
National Park Predelta-Diamante (Entre Ríos)
National Park Sierra de Las Quijadas (San Luis)
National Park Los Venados (San Luis)
National Park Otamendi (Buenos Aires)
National Park Lihué Calel (La Pampa)
National Park Laguna Blanca (Neuquén)
National Park Lanín (Neuquén)

National Park Nahuel Huapi (Neuquén-Río Negro).

National Park Lago Puelo (Chubut)
National Park Los Alerces (Chubut)
National Park Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo (Santa Cruz)
National Park Perito Moreno (Santa Cruz)

National Park Los Glaciares (Santa Cruz).

National Park Monte León (Santa Cruz).

National ParkTierra del Fuego (Tierra del Fuego).

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The Ricardo Güiraldes Gaucho Museum and Criollo Park is in the City of San Antonio de Areco.

2011-12-27T11:45:00.000-06:00

The Ricardo Güiraldes Gaucho Museum and Criollo Park is in the City of San Antonio de Areco. It was founded and built by the government of the province and it opened in 1938.

It takes the name of Ricardo Güiraldes to honor the novel Don Segundo Sombra, published in 1926.

The museum is separated into rooms that have different names. Some of them are Room Ricardo Güiraldes, Room Ricardo Güiraldes II, and the Gaucho’s Room, the Estanciero’s Room, the Writers’ Room, Room Alberto Güiraldes and Room Adelina del Carril, apart from the pulpería (local store), the little chapel and the park that can also be visited when touring the museum.

The Gaucho’s Room, the Estancieros’ Room and the Writers’ Room get applauses from visitors at once. Different objects, items of clothing, silverware and period books including the complete collection of texts by Güiraldes can be found in the venue.

The Ricardo Güiraldes Rooms reflect how the first silversmith settled in Buenos Aires at the end of the XVI century.

A similar handicraft to the one in Upper Peru was developed in this area in the XVII and XVIII centuries. There were many Spanish and Portuguese silversmiths.

When Argentina was organizing itself as an independent nation, cattle breeding began to be intensified. Thus, the symbols of the Argentinian country appeared, one of them is the gaucho.

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The Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio is a science research and exhibition center in Trelew city, Patagonia.

2011-12-23T10:50:00.001-06:00

Expositor of paleontology in Patagonia, the Egidio Feruglio Museum (EFM) is located in the center of Trelew and works in a modern building inaugurated in 1999 that houses a series of findings of highly important scientific value.

Javier García Díaz from the EFM was expecting me to comment on the history and the projects of this institution which emerged and is maintained as a result of the initiative of the Feruglio Foundation and the Municipality of Trelew.

Since 2004, the EFM has belonged to the category of unit associated to the Conicet – (Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) Council of Scientific and Technical Research.

All the EFM's heritage, which has been acummulated, studied and preserved, is displayed with the aim of telling the history of the planet within the context of Patagonia.

Under the contemporary museologic conception, the exhibition area has been designed from the present geologic period to the Paleozoic Era with its ancient fossil records. More than 1,700 fossil pieces and 30 specimens of dinosaurs displayed in the halls are accompanied by scale models and explanatory posters, as well as a video projection narrating the beginnings of life on this planet.

We toured the first sections of the hall represent everything from the first human settlements in Patagonia to the primitive microorganisms, where some of the milestones of natural history are marked.

In the main area, the Mesozoic Era is illustrated with som dinosaur specimens from the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic periods. The most outstanding carnivore is the Carnotaurus sastrei, which belongs to the group of the abelisaurids -the most spectacular South American carnivores. Likewise, the herbivorous Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis and the Titanosaurus australis, along with fossilized eggs, are displayed at the Museum.

On the first floor, the photographs reflect the various paleontological campaigns carried out in Patagonia and the achievements obtained as a result of the effort made by countless scientists.

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The Juan Manuel Fangio Museum is a museum of motor racing cars, located in Balcarce, Buenos Aires Province.

2011-12-17T13:43:00.000-06:00

The Museo Juan Manuel Fangio (Juan Manuel Fangio Museum), is a museum of motor racing cars, dedicated to Formula One driver Juan Manuel Fangio and located in Balcarce, Buenos Aires Province.

The museum opened in 1986, in the presence of 5-time Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio.

Located just a few blocks from where Fangio was born, the museum houses a collection of cars, trophies, photographs and other memorabilia.

The museum occupies a total surface of 4,600 square metres (50,000 sq ft) and is divided into six levels.

The car collection has over 50 cars.

Notable racing cars:

McLaren Honda MP4/3B

Brabham BT 36

Toyota Eagle MK II

Renault RE 30B

McLaren MP4/10

Sauber Mercedes-Benz C9

Penske PC-23 Mercedes-Benz

Alfa Romeo 308

Mercedes-Benz W196

Maserati 250F

Lancia-Ferrari D50

Simca Gordini T15

Simca-Gordini T15S Compresseur

Arrows A21

Maserati 300S

Lola T96/20

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The Museo Regional Mario Brozoski displays relics of the English corvette Swift, sunk off the coast of Deseado in 1776.

2011-12-06T15:29:00.000-06:00

The banks of the Puerto Deseado ria witnessed the misadventures of the English war corvette HMS Swift, which shipwrecked off shore until it completely sank on March 13, 1770.

Nowadays, the large amount of elements contained by this vessel are displayed at the Mario Brozoski Municipal Museum after being discovered by enthusiastic scuba divers in the troubled waters of the ria in 1982. The museum was named after Mario Brozoski, one of the young divers who took part in the search and passed away some time after the finding.

According to various chronicles, the English corvette set sail from Port Egmont on the Malvinas Islands on March 7, 1770 in order to explore the Patagonian coastline. On March 13, it was hit by a strong tempest and Captain George Farmer decided to take shelter in Ria Deseado, where it ran aground twice and then sank 50 meters off shore.

Thanks to one of the 88 survivors of the shipwreck, the very spot where the episode had occurred could be estimated and some uneasy local scuba divers took charge of finding it and recovering many of the elements today displayed at the museum.

This finding has a very important potential of knowledge for disciplines such as bioanthropology, whose analysis can determine social aspects such as diets, diseases or pathologies related with the labor done by the crew of this vessel.

Upon entering the venue, visitors may observe countless objects like bottles, dishes, an hourglass, glasses, ceramic items, wooden boxes, buttons and wools, among other elements, all of them are displayed in boxes made of glass. Information and data about the features of the corvette is displayed in signposts.

That is how we learned that the HMS Swift was in fact a sloop-of-war, equivalent to the “corbeta” in the Spanish nautical classification. HMS stands for His Majesty's Ship, as it was part of the British Royal Navy.

The sloops were light small boats easily maneuvered. They turned out to be particularly suitable for patrolling and coast recognition tasks. They were equipped with iron cannons mounted on wooden carriages and their caliber corresponded to the weight of the balls they shot.

Also touring around the museum, we learned about some of the habits and lifestyle of the Swift crew. It seems that the sailors had to eat and sleep in the same area. The tables were removable and some hammocks known as “coys” would be used to sleep. Then they were rolled up and kept to take advantage of the space.

At the moment of the shipwreck, the Swift had a crew of 91 men. Only 3 of them died in the shipwreck. Years later, some members of the crew appeared before a court-martial when they returned to England.

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Luján is best known for its large neo-gothic Basilica, built in honor of the Virgin of Luján, the patron saint of Argentina.

2011-08-06T09:24:00.000-05:00

Luján is best known for its large neo-gothic Basilica, built in honor of the Virgin of Luján, the patron saint of Argentina.

Every year, more than six million people make pilgrimages to the Basilica, many walking there from Buenos Aires. The city is known as 'La Capital de la Fe' (Capital of the Faith).

It is popular day-trip for non-believers too, with abundant grill restaurants (like most places in Argentina) and souvenir shops with kitsch religious memorabilia.

The church was designed by the French architect Ulderico Courtois and started in 1889, completed by 1937. Its towers stand 106m high and it has a copper roof and bronze doors.

The huge church towers over the surrounding flat country and houses the tiny 38 cm high statue of the Virgin. A large and important organ by French builder Cavaille-Coll stands in the gallery in a state of deterioration, although efforts are underway to see to its restoration.

Luján is also home to the Enrique Udaondo museum complex, housing exhibitions of colonial life in the house of the Viceroy and old town hall, with art, uniforms, silverware and transport with many antique vehicles including Plus Ultra the first hydroplane to cross from Europe to Argentina and La Porteña, Argentina's first steam locomotive operated by Ferrocarril Oeste. Also on display are the prison cells where Colonel William Carr Beresford, commander of the 1806 British invading forces, and General Cornelio Saavedra, president of the first national government (Primera Junta) in 1810, were held.

The nearby city of Mercedes is seat of the Bishop of Mercedes and Luján. Luján is the principal settlement of the Lujan Partido or municipality. The city has a railway and bus station and is easily reached from Buenos Aires.

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The Andes mountain range shows its beauty in the Patagonian provinces.

2011-06-26T13:16:00.000-05:00

The Andes mountain range shows its beauty in the Patagonian provinces. Millennial silent forests with native vegetable species are extended along the shores of glistening waters.

On top of the mountains, nature overflows with granite peaks and ice fields spreading their glacier tongues into lakes of unsurpassable beauty.

Imposing mammals and sea birds, half-way between real life and fantasy, spend certain seasons on the rough coasts of Patagonia where they complete part of their life cycle.

Seals colonies play on the islets and sandbanks.

The world’s most important southern elephant seal continental colony is located in Peninsula Valdés.

Every year, southern right whales come to Nuevo and San José gulfs to breed.

Patagonian hares, “ñandúes” (South American ostrich) and “guanacos” run about the steppes, and the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world is located in Punta Tombo.

This life cycle repeated since time immemorial, unfolds itself in front of the astonished visitors’ eyes.

In the south, Tierra del Fuego and the World’s southernmost city, Ushuaia, are the gateway towards the vast and mysterious Antarctica.

The Andes can be divided into three sections:
I. The Southern Andes in Argentina and Chile;
II. The Central Andes, including the Chilean and Peruvian cordilleras and parts of Bolivia;
III. The Northern Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador that consists of two parallel ranges, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental. In Colombia, north its the border with Ecuador, the Andes split in three parallel ranges, the western, central, and eastern ranges. (The cordillera occidental, central, and oriental).

In the northern part of the Andes, the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range is often considered to be part of the Andes. The eastern range of Colombia is the only one that extends to Venezuela.

The term cordillera comes from the Spanish word meaning "cuerda", meaning "rope".

The Andes range is about 200 km (124 mi) wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is about 640 kilometres (398 mi) wide.

The islands of the Dutch Caribbean Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, which lie in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, were thought to represent the submerged peaks of the extreme northern edge of the Andes range, but ongoing geological studies indicate that such a simplification does not do justice to the complex tectonic boundary between the South-American and Caribbean plates.

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The Iberá Wetlands are a mix of swamps, bogs, stagnant lakes, lagoons, natural slough and courses of water.

2011-05-15T09:42:00.000-05:00

The Ibera natural Reserve is located in the province of Correintes, in the northeast of the Argentine Republic, the known ecosystem as Esteros del Iberá must to their name to the Ibera lagoon located in the zone Eastern center of this immense system of humedals.

The Iberá word is formed by two words of the guaraní language: ¨Î¨, water, that put in front to ¨berá¨, brilliant, in its Castilian translation to express to the site like ¨el the water that shines or brilla¨, name that supposedly gave to their original guaraníes settlers when observing the chispeante brightness him of their surface.

This peculiarity is visible in its water mirrors during the aurora or anocher, when the own calm of a closed system, without fluvial currents, bankruptcy with the breeze produced by the change of temperature between the surrounding terrestrial surface and the water of the matting or lagoons, causing itself a superficial movement that reflects with very particular effects the solar light to crepuscular.

Certain objection exists nevertheless on this origin of the denomination, because between the settlers the belief that still lasts the name must to heroic princess Iberá, the daughter of the guaraní cacique who submerged in the matting to protect the dignity of his culture .

In fact this name has been evolving with happening of the time, since registries exist that they originally identify to the site like Matting of Expensive Face, because in this place the emigrated natives lived on the Mission of Santa Ana by committed crimes, knew by “Caracará”, name also given to a bird of rotten prey: the “owl”.

Esteros Del Ibera Province of Corrientes Slideshow: TravelPod Attractions’s trip to Province of Corrientes, Argentina was created by TripAdvisor. See another Province of Corrientes slideshow. Take your travel photos and make a slideshow for free.

The Natural Reserve is known for its biodiversity, including four species that have been declared "provincial natural monuments": the neotropical river otter, the maned wolf, the pampas deer, and the marsh deer. It is also home to the two Argentine species of alligator, the Yacare caiman (yacaré negro) and the broad-snouted caiman (yacaré overo), as well as the capybara (the world's largest rodent) and about 350 bird species.

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Maimará, multiplicity of tones and meandering paths contribute to a fascinating landscape.

2011-04-30T02:58:00.000-05:00

Maimará isn’t the most well known destination in the province of Jujuy, but in my opinion still worth a (short) visit. Just leave the main road through the Quebrada de Humahuaca and drive to the center of town.

Maimará is, at least during our first visit on a cloudy and gloomy day, a little bit dusty town with adobe houses in the same colour - reddish brown - as the surrounding mountains.

There are a couple of shops, a market and also street vendors. We hardly could find a café, but in ‘La Casa del Tata’, along the main road, the waitress did her utmost to make a nice ‘cafe cortado’, which we had together with a couple of ‘medias lunas’.

In the Turist Information Center a very helpful (and proud) staff member gave us a brochure with a small map and told us how to come as close as possible to ‘La Paleta del Pintor’. This ‘Painter’s Palette’ is by far the most interesting sight in/nearby Maimará and for me one of the most beautiful parts of the Humahuaca Gorge.

We walked along unpaved streets, passed the abandoned railway station and reached the Rio Grande through a narrow footpath nearby a collapsed bridge.

But the view of Painter’s Palette was magnificent: the wild streaming brown coloured water of the river in the foreground and the stunning multi-coloured patterns of the mountain in the background.

Another must see is the cemetery of Maimará, situated along the main road. This is one of the many hilltop cemeteries in the northwest of Argentina. (The custom of burying the dead on hilltops comes from both Incan and pre-Incan civilisations. The idea is to have a final resting place closer to God. Many villages in the Northwest of Argentina do have such a hillside cemetery.)

Although a cemetery isn’t very inviting to visit, we walked around and saw the curious architecture of vaults, sculptures and many crosses decorated with flowers. Some of them were plastic garlands, but others seemed to be dried, but still looked fresh.

When visiting the cemetery walk (at the outside) along the wall to a kind of lookout with great views over the valley with its plots of vegetables, flowers and orchards.

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The Camino de los 7 lagos and the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi.

2011-02-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

Known as the “Seven Lakes Route”, we will go along the section of National Route 234 that joins the districts of San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura.

We will look at the main tourist corridor in the area, known world-wide for the matchless beauty of its landscapes, with panoramic natural vantage points, lakes, rivers and countless attractions opening up in front of those who are willing to discover, together with us, the real seven lakes route.

Rather than seven, we can see eight lakes along the road without taking any detour into lateral paths and going directly from San Martín to La Angostura. From North to South, the first one is Lake Lácar and next are the Machónico, Falkner, Villarino, Escondido, Correntoso, Espejo and Nahuel Huapi.

We leave from San Martín de los Andes, bordering Lake Lácar while we behold all its impressiveness. As we advance along a bendy road, we see how we leave the mountain village behind.

Having gone along approximately five kilometers, we come to a detour to the right which signpost reads "Playa Catritre" (Catritre beach), a heavenly site with a beach and suitable for camping with all services available.

There are 80 parcels available, a building with washrooms, showers and wash basins, grocery and a coffee-shop.

At kilometer 6 (always considering San Martín as kilometer 0), another detour into the right leads to Villa Quila Quina, a summer village which represents one of the best natural bathing resorts in the region. With a special micro climate, it is nestled in the very heart of the Mapuche Curruhinca community lands.

All this stretch of the road is paved and presents mild ascending bends.

15 kilometers ahead, the road leading to Mount Chapelco starts on the left. Kilometer 20 lodges the vantage point looking into the Arroyo Partido (split-up stream), a natural phenomenon. This stream opens up into two branches: the one on the right ends into the Pacific Ocean through the Lake Lácar basin, and the one on the left ends into the Atlantic Ocean through the Collón Curá, Limay and Negro Rivers basin.

Resuming our way, we get to an area known as "Las Taguas", where there are camping sites and cabins, on the river bank, near the park ranger house.

We continue our way till we cross the bridge over the Hermoso River. There, we get to a crossroads: the road on the left leads to Bariloche along the so-called Paso Córdoba, the shortest route to get to that city from San Martín but with abrupt ascents.

We choose the road on the right, which continues to our 7 lakes road. Shortly after leaving the bridge over the Hermoso River, among the trees on the right, we can see the Laguna Fría (cold lagoon), which sometimes gets frozen in the winter. It is not convenient to go down to its shores, as it is low and easily flooded. Some 500 meters ahead, the second lake appears: Lake Machónico, with its spectacular natural vantage point.

When we get to kilometer 35, there is another detour on the right leading to the Pudú – Pucú Lagoon and to Lake Hermoso.

This lake may not be seen from the road, as it is located four kilometers inland to the right. It is worth visiting. The rainforest frame that covers the slopes of nearby mounts and the deep blue of its waters quickly justify the choice for its name. There is a very good site for camping.

Back on the main road, for kilometers ahead, we cross the signpost signaling the border between the Lanín and the Nahuel Huapi National Parks, two of the wild protected areas that this corridor joins. The other National Park is Los Arrayanes, lying on the shores of Villa La Angostura.

It is convenient to slow down when approaching kilometer 43 and watch down to the right. As many visitors pass by at high speed, they miss the tremendous sight of the Vuliñanco Cascade, with its 35-meter high fall, dropping into two vertiginous arms because of an enormous rock that divides the waters.

Seven Lakes Route.

A few kilometers ahead, Lake Falkner comes into sight. At this point, it is convenient to watch the mount located on the southern bank. It has impressive black rock towers in its summit. It is Mount Buque. Condors make their nest there, therefore, it is possible to see them flying around. They are easily identified by their wingspan, their perfect hovering, their white spot on their neck and the almost vertical position of the feathers at the end of their wings.

On the shores of Lake Falkner, there is a wild area for camping on the sandy beaches, with bathrooms, fire sites, grocery, and it is open from November to April.

Connected with Lake Falkner, it opens before our eyes to the right of Lake Villarino, and to the left, the inn bearing the same name. When you leave it behind, you should draw your attention to the right, as at about 3 kilometers you can make out a small lake with emerald green waters among the vegetation: Lake Escondido with a small vantage point from where you may take pictures. Take into account that once you climb up by Lake Villarino and just before getting to Lake Escondido, the pavement ends and the rubble road begins.

After crossing the bridge over the Pichi Traful River, another minor path opens to the left. If you follow it, you can access Lake Pichi Traful after two kilometers, where there is a camping area and a spectacular sandy beach surrounded by exuberant vegetation. Farther on, following the route, the signposts on the left indicate the access to Lake Traful and to beautiful Villa Traful, along Provincial Route 65.

The next lake we find in our way is the Correntoso, which we cross again over the homonymous river, a few kilometers before reaching Villa La Angostura; 400 meters before getting to the bridge over the Ruca Malén stream, another access leading to Lake Espejo Chico is seen. After 2 kilometers among the forest, we find an ecological camping area.

Back on National Route 234, and once we cross the bridge over the Ruca Malén Stream, we can make a stop and watch the crystal clear green waters, the sunken logs and the ancient bridge over which the former road would pass and which today is part of the history of this seven lakes road.

After a steep climb along the road, to the right we see the small quiet Lake Bailey Willis (the ninth lake for many people), and 3 kilometers ahead on the left, an area of the old tract of the route. If we feel like hiking, we can walk along this route avoiding some logs and, after about 300 meters, reach the "Los Huillines" Lagoon.

Two kilometers ahead, we find one of the vantage points of Lake Espejo and some kilometers ahead, to our right, a road climbing towards another arm of Lake Espejo. A hotel resort with all the facilities by a beautiful beach and a camping area offers a choice to have a rest and make a stop on the way.

We get to kilometer 100 and to National Route 231, leading to the Cardenal Samoré international pass, which connects the area with the Puyehue zone and with the Carretera Panamericana de Chile level with the city of Osorno. If we take this road and go along about 1000 meters, we get to the spectacular vantage point over Lake Espejo. One photograph and we retrace our steps.

Resuming our way along the route, some kilometers ahead, a spectacular sight opens up before us overlooking the northern area of Lake Nahuel Huapi, the sixth lake in size in our country and the last lake in the circuit.

Shortly before getting to Villa la Angostura, another curiosity awaits on the road: the particular Correntoso River. This river joins the homonymous lake with the Nahuel Huapi, and due to its small size, it is the shortest river in the world, and one Mecca of sport salmon anglers par excellence.

Thus, we get to our final destination: Villa La Angostura, a typical mountain village offering all the services and where we can practice several activities: navigation, hiking, horse riding, mountain bikini or fishing from November to April. All this, within a frame of full nature.

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The "El Impenetrable" forest, four million hectares in northern Argentina.

2010-09-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

The Humid Chaco stretches across the myriad landscapes of southeastern South America, creating a transition zone between the Arid Chaco ecoregion to the west and the humid tropical forests to the east.

Parts of this ecoregion are so thick with vegetation that locals have dubbed it El Impenetrable.

The region encompasses the northern Paraná River and its Flooded Savannas ecoregion and extends north into central Paraguay.

Bogs and other wetlands, grasslands, savannas, and gallery forests come together here in a mosaic of habitats.

Special Features Special Features.

In this ecoregion, moist and flooded grassy savannas dotted with palm trees and thorny thickets grow alongside gallery forests, which line the numerous riverbanks. The great variety in habitat type combines with a humid tropical/subtropical climate to produce a wealth of plants and animals. This is the southern limit for many tropical species, including certain species of macaws and monkeys. It remains a haven for wildlife because of its sheer impenetrability by humans.

That is why the sandy soil left after land in the forest is cleared is only good for producing one or two harvests of soy, the star crop that has displaced other crops, like cotton, which used to provide local indigenous people with seasonal employment.

"But the soil is so poor that only two harvests are possible," the head of Greenpeace Argentina’s forest campaign, Hernán Giardini, told IPS.

Satellite images show areas that have been turned into desert, as well as slashes in the forest where the trees have been felled for makeshift airstrips, some of which are still littered by the remains of abandoned broken-down aircraft. The landing strips are used for smuggling drugs and contraband cigarettes, say local residents.

The destruction of the forest has not only caused harm to the environment, but to local inhabitants as well, according to both human rights groups and the Chaco provincial government of Jorge Capitanich, who took office in December and has declared a health, food, educational and environmental emergency.

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The Isla de los Pájaros Provincial Reserve protects various species of water birds nestling on the Valdés Peninsula all year round.

2010-07-09T08:01:00.001-05:00

On the Carlos Ameghino Isthmus, through which the Valdés Peninsula is reached, lies the Isla de los Pájaros Provincial Reserve.

Situated 800 meters from the San José Gulf, this protected area has been created with the aim of sheltering the colonies of sea and shore birds dwelling the island.

The San José Fort, founded by Juan de la Piedra in 1779 and destroyed by the Indians in 1810, used to be nestled in this area.

The quiet waters and the large tides, which present a 12-meter-high difference between the high and the low tide, join the island with solid ground.

When the sea recedes, a narrow passage of sea bed becomes exposed.

Access to the island through this passage was permitted until recently, but at present it may not be used due to the damage caused to the habitat.

The interpretation center has a glass dome with a very powerful telescope that enables visitors to observe the Nuevo and the San José Gulfs, and also offers a wide range of information about the diversity of wildlife in the peninsula.

From this point, a great variety of sea birds that inhabit the islet may be appreciated in the spring and the summer.

In the winter instead, it is usual to see the whales that chose the San José Gulf or the flamingo flocks.

The low tide uncovers sandbars that shelter several water species, such as little fish, octopus, crabs, anemones and starfish, as well as countless seaweed. Plenty of bird specimens nestle on the island every year, mainly kelp gulls, cormorants and terns.

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Los Arrayanes National Park was created in order to preserve a singular forest area composed of arrayanes.

2010-06-27T08:50:00.000-05:00

Los Arrayanes National Park is a national park of Argentina with an area of 17.53 square kilometres. It covers the Quetrihué Peninsula on the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake in the province of Neuquén, 3 km from Villa la Angostura.

Even though arrayán trees (Luma apiculata) can be seen on the way to the end of the peninsula, the forest of 300 year old arrayanes covers 0.2 km² of the southern point, with individuals of over 600 years. The forest can be reached by boat from different points of the Nahuel Huapi lake, or a 12 km path from the beginning of the park at the port of Villa La Angostura. This path, full of ups and downs, is also popularly done by mountain bike.

There are a few pudú and huemul deer, guanacos, monitos de monte and small foxes. Among the birds, condors, eagles, hawks and woodpeckers can be found here.

Even though it was already part of the Nahuel Huapi National Park, Los Arrayanes was created in 1971 to protect its forest of rare arrayán trees. To protect the soil and the roots of these fragile trees, a wooden path has been made for the tourist to enjoy the view of the cinnamon-coloured trees.

Characteristics: The park, which has 1.753 hectares, covers all the Quetrihué Peninsula that is ubicated in the north side of Nahuel Huapi Lake. In the south side of the Quetrihué Peninsula there is the most singular formation: the purest arrayanes forest, white flowers and cinnamon bark trees with irregular whitish spots.

PN Los Arrayanes (Los Arrayanes National Park) preserves a sample of the patagonic forest eco-region, which has wet and cold warm climate, with winter snowfalls and rains. During almost all the year there are frosts and strong winds from the West.

This eco-region has high mountains, with glaciery valleys. “Semideciduos” forest, which is high represented in the north but not too much in the southern part, dominates the area and alternates with “turberas” in the southern part.

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The Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus), colloquially Tatou, Ocarro, Tatu-canastra or Tatú Carreta, is the largest living species of armadillo.

2010-05-21T02:04:00.000-05:00

The Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus), colloquially Tatou, Ocarro, Tatu-canastra or Tatú Carreta, is the largest living species of armadillo.

It was once found widely throughout the tropical forests of eastern South America and now ranges throughout varied habitat as far south as northern Argentina.

This species is considered vulnerable to extinction.

These armadillos typically weigh around 28 kilograms (62 lb) when fully grown, but a 32 kilograms (71 lb) specimen has been weighed in the wild. A typical length is 89 cm (35 in), of which a third to two-fifths is likely to be accounted for by the tail.

The Giant Armadillo prefers termites and some ants as prey, and often consumes the entire population of a termite mound. It has been known to also prey upon larger creatures, sometimes consuming small mammals such as mice and rats.

The Giant Armadillo was classified as Endangered (EN — A1cd) on the World Conservation Union's Red List in 2002, and is listed under Appendix I (threatened with extinction) of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)

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Wind and water have eroded sedimentary rocks in a part of Argentina’s San Juan Province known as Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon).

2010-05-02T02:26:00.000-05:00

Finally much later, perhaps some ninety million years ago, the movements geologically known as ‘orogenesis andina’, or mountain formation, actually began.

These movements in turn, produced balancing movements, fractures, folds, landslides, and the ascension and descension of ancient crystal blocks, forming the hills that today surround the region and the most recent layers of sediments.

Since the large reptiles had already disappeared in the Holocene era, some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, the valley was populated by pumas, guanacos, Creole hares, and a new type of animal--the birds. Descendants of the dinosaurs-the most spectacular birds of this valley are the condors and the South American ostrich. On the contrary, of the ‘true reptiles’, only the small lizards and some poisonous snakes (the coral and yarara) remain.

Man arrived here only a few million years ago and decorated the zone with his rock-paintings or petroglyphs and scattered his arrowheads in the area. Bear in mind that the first scientists only appeared in the valley in the second half of the last century whereas, approximately one decade ago, the recording of the last mutation of fauna coincided with the arrival of the first tourists, who came to see this mysterious ‘Valley of the Moon’.

The existing infrastructure consists of nothing more than a small house for the park rangers and an onsite museum. Travelers may, and it is strongly suggested they bring their own provisions, beverages, sunblock, etc. or whatever they feel necessary.. The tour around the park (40 km). Visitors are accompanied by a park ranger in their own vehicle, in a caravan with other cars, taking about four hours. Travelers can find lodgings in the charming village of San Agustin of Valle´ Fertil, or Pataquia, and Villa Union.

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The Ventana System lies on a precambrian base formed around 2.2 billion years ago.

2010-04-04T02:45:00.001-05:00

The Ventana System (Sierras de la Ventana) is one of two mountain ranges in Buenos Aires Province, and one of the only two located within the Pampas ecosystem.

Bounded approximately by the Laguna de Guaminí at its northwestern end, and the Atlantic Ocean to its southwest, the Ventana System lies on a precambrian base formed around 2.2 billion years ago, and is interspersed with granite, granodiorite, and amphibole deposits.

Characterized by its escarpments, this orography prevented the deposit of significant amounts of loess, and make the area the least propicious to agriculture with the pampas; sunflower fields are common along the foot of the range. Its soils feature a A-AC-C horizonation, not unlike those found along the Appalachian range. Its climate is rather colder and drier than that prevailing in the surrounding Humid Pampas, though the range receives more rainfall than the Semi-arid Pampas, located to the west. Sizable extensions of lacebark pines grow along the range, possibly introduced from Asia.

Peppered by caves and grottoes, the range is relatively modest in height and extension, and exceeds 1000 m (3280 ft) at only six points. These peaks are:

* Cura Malal Chico (1000 m)
* Cura Malal Grande (1037 m)
* Napostá Grande (1108 m)
* La Ventana (1184 m)
* Destierro Primero (1172 m)
* Tres Picos (1239 m)

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Peninsula Valdès, the coastline is inhabited by marine mammals, like sea lions, elephant seals and fur seals

2010-01-05T06:06:00.000-06:00

The Valdes Peninsula is a peninsula along the Atlantic coast in the Viedma Department in the north east of Chubut Province, Argentina. Its size is about 3,625 km². The nearest large town is Puerto Madryn.

The only town on the peninsula is the small settlement of Puerto Piramides. There are also a number of estancias, where sheep are raised.

Southern right whale cavorting.

Most of the peninsula is barren land with some salt lakes. The largest of these lakes is at an elevation of about 40 m below sea level, until recently thought to be the lowest elevation in Argentina and South America. (The lowest point being Laguna del Carbón, Argentina).

It is an important nature reserve which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. The coastline is inhabited by marine mammals, like sea lions, elephant seals and fur seals. Southern right whales can be found in Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José, protected bodies of water located between the peninsula and the Patagonian mainland.

These baleen whales come here between May and December, for mating and giving birth, because the water in the gulf is quieter and warmer than in the open sea. Orcas can be found off the coast, in the open sea off the peninsula. In this area, they are known to beach themselves on shore to capture sea lions and elephant seals.

The inner part of the peninsula is inhabited by rheas, guanacos and maras. A high diversity and range of birds live in the peninsula as well; at least 181 bird species, 66 of which migratory, live in the area, including the Antarctic Pigeon.

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Buenos Aires: La Boca and Calle Caminito

2009-12-24T12:44:00.000-06:00

La Boca is one of Buenos Aires' most colorful districts. Italian immigrants were the first settlers of La Boca, and the working class neighborhood was Buenos Aires' first port.

Today the buildings in the barrio are painted in bright colors.

We wandered down the famous pedestrian street of La Caminito, which was named for a popular tango song.

Many local artists were selling their wares, while others danced the tango for the many visitors.

One word of caution -- all the guidebooks caution tourists to visit La Boca during daylight hours or to be sure and stay only in the La Caminito area.

The history of Caminito is basically as follows:

The Caminito in its days as a railway lot, 1939.

The Caminito in 1960, newly restored.

* During the 1800s, a small stream flowing into the Riachuelo River ran along the same route where the Caminito is now found.

* Later that century, this area of the stream became known as the Puntin, the Genoese diminutive term for bridge (a small bridge allowed people to cross the stream here).

* When the stream dried up, tracks for the Ferrocarril Buenos Aires y Puerto de la Ensenada were installed at the site, and disused tracks remains at the end of Caminito, along Garibaldi Street.

* In 1954 the rail line was closed and the area where Caminito now is became a landfill and the neighbourhood's worst eyesore.

* Over the following three years, Argentine artist Benito Quinquela Martín, an abandoned orphan who was adopted by a Genoese immigrant couple in La Boca, painstakingly prepared the walls facing the abandoned street, applying pastel colors and, by 1960, having a stage put up at the southern end; the wooden-plank stage was replaced with a nearby theatre house in 1972. The artist was a personal friend of Argentine tango composer Juan de Dios Filiberto, who created a well-known 1926 tune by the same name. Quinquela Martín, who always maintained feeling he owed his neighbourhood the labor of love, died in 1977.

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The National Park Monte León is a representative sample of the patagonic coast

2009-12-15T14:06:00.007-06:00

The National Park Monte León is situated in the southeast side of Santa Cruz, over the National Route Nº 3, 210 kilometres far from the north side of Rio Gallegos.

The reason was that this area constitutes a representative sample of the patagonic coast in good state of conservation, with paleontological value places.

A 60.000 penguin's colony lives in PN Monte León (Monte León National Park).

It is the fourth colony in the world. It is situated in the southeast side of Santa Cruz, over the National Route Nº 3, 210 kilometres far from the north side of Rio Gallegos.

The approximately surface of the area is 61.700 hectares. The Administración de Parques Nacionales have incorporated this region as an equivalent area of the Argentino Sea, so that it is the first continental coast's national park.

These caves disseminated near Monte León give shelter to colonies of sea birds and mammals, which search for places like this one to mate and breed their offsprings.

There are Imperial and Rock Cormorants, Seagulls, Black Oyster Catchers and Biguaes among other species.

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Lago Escondido is surrounded by forests and steep mountain ranges.

2009-11-26T11:20:00.001-06:00

Lago Escondido is a village and lake in the Ushuaia department in Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina. As of 2001 it has a population of 71, growing from 46 in 1991.

The villages which thrives lives mainly on logging and tourism, is located 57 km north of Ushuaia. There is a major sawmill works and timber operation in the area.

Lago Escondido is surrounded by forests and steep mountain ranges. The lake on which the village lies (and shares the same name) tends to change color depending on the sunlight.

50km away from the city of Ushuaia, by crossing the Andes Mountains through Paso Garibaldi, we reach Hidden Lake. We begin our trip from the Petrel Inn's dock (where companions and fishermen can take shelter in case it rains) and we go in search of excellent pieces of Brook Trouts In the edges of streams and “castoreras”.

We will also have the chance to capture large-sized Brown and Rainbow Trouts.

For lunch we will have the typical Argentinean barbecue ("asado") accompanied with a “picada” (cold cuts and cheeses), wine, beer and of course, the taste of our region.

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Baritú National Park, the protected area belongs to the Yungas ecosystem

2009-11-06T11:59:00.008-06:00

With its rough profile crossed by torrential streams in the southern hemisphere summer season, green and diverse vegetation and assorted fauna, the Parque Nacional Baritú National Park is a truly natural world with its deep smell of leaves and wet soil.

An almost secluded place to the sunlight and man as well that reaches unknown magnitudes.

This is the Baritú Nacional Park, where the tropical forest goes all the way up to its highest peaks, and untouched nature rejoices itself in its unique specimens.

In order to preserve an area were the Cloud Forest has remained practically virgin, due to its inaccessibility and uneven terrain, the National Park was created in the year 1974, and its difficult terrain has been the main motive to prevent wood extraction from that area.

With an area of 72 thousand hectares, Baritú is located in the Northwest of the Province of Salta, in the Departments of Orán and Santa Victoria, on the border to Bolivia.

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Calilegua National Park, offers a an only environment of tropical rain forest with the largest biodiversity in Argentina

2009-10-28T05:50:00.009-05:00

Calilegua National Park is located in the province of Jujuy. It comprises an area of 76.306 hectares, on the west slope of Calilegua Mountain range, with a very steep mountain relief.

The economical activities of the first inhabitants of this area, the San Francisco aboriginal group, were hunting and collecting fruit.

During the spanish occupation, the main activities were minng and cattle raising.

Sugar industry started at the begining of this century, turning the transition jungles in the flatlands into crop field.

In 1979, the Ledesma sugar company donated land for the creation of Calilegua National Park.

The purpose of this Park is to protect a representative sample of the Mountain Jungle or Yunga, and to preserve an important river basin which supplies water to the agricultural areas and populations nearby.

The Park has a great difference in height due to is location on the mountain slope. This causes a great difference in rainfalls: around 800 mm. at the lowest areas, up to 1800 mm. in the high mountain jungles.

The winters are dry and mild, with an average temperature of 17º C. It often snows on the hilltops between june and september. The summers are hot, with maximum temperatures above 40º c. The rain season is fron November to April.

This jungle goes from the mountain base, at 450 m. above sea level, to the mountain tops, above 3600 m.high. This difference in height produces great variety in the types of vegetation, which grow in noticeably different communities, although the transition from one to the other is gradual.

Calilegua offers a an only environment of tropical rain forest with the largest biodiversity in Argentina.

DISTANCES TO:

Libertador
10 Km.

Calilegua
15 Km.

San Francisco
20 Km.

Valle Grande
70 Km.

San S. de Jujuy
130 Km.

Orán
150 Km.

Salta
170 Km.

Buenos Aires
1650 km.

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Nahuel Huapi National Park is the oldest Argentine national park, in Patagonia in the foothills of the Andes mountains

2009-10-22T13:52:00.000-05:00

Nahuel Huapi National Park is the oldest Argentine national park, in Patagonia in the foothills of the Andes mountains. It was established in 1934, but the nucleus of the park is the land donated to the federal government by Perito Moreno in 1903.

The park covers approximately 7050 km² and is located in the southwest of the Neuquén and northwest of the Río Negro provinces bordering with Chile. The largest city within the park and a base for tourism is the city of San Carlos de Bariloche. Villa La Angostura is another lakeside resort also within the boundaries of the park.

The park is famous for its rich wildlife and it covers many biotopes, due to altitudes ranging from 700 to 3,000 m and precipitation ranging from rain forests with 4,000 mm/yr on the western slopes to steppes with less than 300 mm/yr on the eastern side. The alerce or Patagonian cypress is a slow-growing conifer seen in the park. Other flora seen in the park include arrayanes, coihues, ferns, the caña colihue reeds, lengas, ñires, amancayes and arvejillas. The llao llao fungus is seen as beautiful irregular growths on the trees and is a symbol of the area and the name of the Hotel Llao Llao, a famous resort. Animals include river otters, huemuls, pudus, guanacos, maras, parakeets and condors.

There are many lakes in the park, including Lago Nahuel Huapi, Lago Mascardi, Lago Gutiérrez, Lago Traful, Lago Moreno, and Lago Guillelmo. The area is known as the Argentine Lake District.

Lake Nahuel Huapi contains several islands, including Isla Huemul, which hosted the Huemul Project, the Argentinian secret research project on nuclear fusion in 1949-1952.

The Quetrihué peninsula in the north of the lake has been set aside as a separate national park, Los Arrayanes National Park. Cerro Catedral is a 2,388m high peak within the Park and an important ski resort.

Cerro Tronador, on the Chilean border, is the highest mountain in the park at 3,491m. Bordering the National Park to the north is the Lanín National Park.

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Argentinean Patagonia is wind swept scrub, with huge rock towers and glaciers that fall majestically into the huge lakes that drain the winter snows

2009-10-07T07:34:00.000-05:00

Patagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Located in Argentina and Chile, it comprises the southernmost portion of the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east.

To the east of the Andes, it lies south of the Neuquén River and Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of, excluding the Chiloé Archipelago East of the Andes.

The Argentine Patagonia includes the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, as well as the southern tips of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and La Pampa.

Argentine Patagonia is for the most part a region of vast steppe-like plains, rising in a succession of abrupt 13 terraces about 100 metres (330 ft) at a time, and covered with an enormous bed of shingle almost bare of vegetation. In the hollows of the plains are ponds or lakes of brackish and fresh water.

Towards the Andes the shingle gives place to porphyry, granite, and basalt lavas, animal life becomes more abundant and vegetation more luxuriant, acquiring the characteristics of the flora of the western coast, and consisting principally of southern beech and conifers. The high rainfall against the western Andes (Wet Andes) and the low sea surface temperatures offshore give rise to cold and humid air masses, contributing to the ice-fields and glaciers, the largest ice-fields in the Southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica.

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Watching the deer in rutting season in the Natural Reserve Park Luro

2009-09-09T07:38:00.000-05:00

The sighting of deer in rut takes place during March and April each year in the Reserve Luro Provincial Park, located 35 miles south of Santa Rosa, National Highway No. 35.

The deer rut is a kind of hoarse roar, far from the refined and pleasant to the human ear, but imperious and convener for females, which allows them to fulfill the natural laws of selection and preservation of the species.

It is a call for love of nature itself that interrupts your usual calm, the forest king prepares to join his harem and to fight to the final against rival that contested their females.

During the rut the buck "brand" of its territory and it 'tells' the opponent who is willing to defend his harem life. In this kind of competition leaves favored the strongest animal then mate with females.
In this period the attitude of the deer is really spectacular with his head up and as defiant. They are in constant motion, with an impetus that leads them to constantly move.

It is an exciting and unique show, a real adventure.

Located in the heart of the province of La Pampa Luro Park Reserve meets an important population of red deer, which were promptly incorporated by Don Pedro Luro, first owner of the Reserve is now owned by the government of La Pampa.

The magical place offers excellent opportunities for observing the flora and fauna among these possibilities excel "watching deer in heat. The practice of watching is a unique attraction for lovers of a different kind of tourism, where nature with its unfathomable mysteries is the captivating protagonist.

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Iguazu Falls was short-listed as a candidate to be one of the New7Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation

2009-08-03T05:17:00.001-05:00

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers (1.67 miles) of the Iguazu River.

Position is at latitude (DMS): 25° 40' 60 S, longitude (DMS): 54° 25' 60 W .

Some of the individual falls are up to 82 meters (269 ft) in height, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft).

The Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long (490 by 2300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil.

Two thirds of the falls are within Argentine territory.

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