On a slope of the Sierra de Velasco, north of the province, there is a stone city, more than a thousand years old. Its walls treasure the memory of the Hualco culture. Tourists, scientists and archaeologists travel today.

The excursion to the ruins of Hualco begins directly on route 40, which serves as the main street of the handful of small towns scattered along the route and the Los Sauces river. This crystal clear river is used by farmers to plant the surrounding land with fruit and vegetables.

During the trip, the local guide Fabián Yapura takes tourists to see the different villages in the area, their picturesque churches and their adobe houses in complete harmony with nature.

In Alpasinche, one of those small towns, your old vineyards attract attention, whose fruits are ground in the family wineries where the Patero wine is made.

When you reach the town of San Blas you can see the homonymous church -data from 1732-, where every February 3 the patron saint of the gorges is worshiped in a religious festival that is a true festival of song.

Less than a kilometer the route forks and you have to leave the national route 40 to take the left and go into the mountainous landscape and the Hualco streams.

The wild road that leads to the ravines, contrasts with the dense vegetation that is seen in the valley that sleeps at your feet. The greenery gave the name to the area known as Valle Fertil or Valle Vicioso.
Trio of gorges. Further ahead is the El Rincón stream, the first of a triad that includes Hualco, where the archaeological site is located, and Andolucas.

The Andolucas stream is famous for the deep backwaters that form with the fresh waters that come down from the mountain and fall with force in the form of a jet in a great natural piletón called the Olla de Andolucas.

It also has camping and infrastructure to stay several days, like El Rincon. Three other streams complete the natural mosaic, but the access to its water pools are exclusive for adventurers who dare to climb giant rocks surrounded by flowering cacti. The postcard is worth it.

Interpretation Center. The Interpretation Center was inaugurated on January 30. It is built with materials from the area such as adobe, wood and cane.
It is the starting point where the circuit begins towards the ruins themselves.

In this place many of the objects found during the excavations are exhibited: vessels, earthen pots, arrowheads, ornaments and even a funerary urn approximately 50 centimeters in diameter with bones inside.

In addition there are gigantografías that explain from the discovery of the place in the decade of 1950 by the priest Martín Gómez until the last works of restoration.

La Rioja treasures hidden and almost anonymous places that do not integrate the massive tourist circuits. In the southern vertex, 150 kilometers from the capital city, the Quebrada del Cóndor is a clear example that there are still places to discover.

The trip to the natural reserve Quebrada de los Cóndores is done in four-wheel drive vehicles and starts from Tama, a small town that lies 180 kilometers south of the city of La Rioja, up to the Sierra de Los Quinteros. Blessed by a remote geography, these unique granite rocky outcrops, upholstered with grasslands, small streams and cactus in bloom, protect 80% of this community of Andean condors, made up of 150 specimens. A species that is on the verge of extinction throughout the continent.

The post. Reaching the rural post of Santa Cruz de la Sierra demands three hours on the way. But time is not felt, because the undulating landscape rises gently and lulls the traveler. This is the base point to reach the Quebrada de los Cóndores. José de la Vega is a tired and cordial man, and host of the centenary house where his ancestors lived. Today, his dwelling is open to visitors.

A rustic dining room is the setting to enjoy the delights of Rioja cuisine served, such as chicken stew, kid the clay oven, locro, empanadas, goat stew and wild fruits harvested "in situ" by the same visitor.

Towards the Quebrada. From the rural outpost there is a horse ride to a beautiful mountain ledge near the home of the owners of the place: the majestic condors that plan the Rioja sky. The excursion begins with a walk to the place where the horses wait, to undertake the ride that lasts almost an hour and a half, time necessary to cross the 4 kilometers to the natural viewpoint. The route, slow and precautionary, draws small streams and springs that sprout between the immense rocks, until you reach the gorge that leads to the 'Mirador de los Cóndores'. This natural platea is a gigantic boulder that protrudes from the cliff about 3 or 4 meters, at more than 1800 meters above sea level.

After traveling a narrow trail that meanders the mountain, reaching the top of this ledge that dominates the landscape, is the great secret. From there you can see rows of mountains covered with green, several streams that mark a deep line between the ravines and the road to the post. The overwhelming presence of the cliff, chosen by these kings of the air to establish their dwelling, causes a dose of impression. Perhaps for this reason, they developed the capacity to live in these hidden mountains, whose nooks and crannies are optimal to protect the nests.

The appearance of them on stage is immediate. More than forty condors plan stealthy in the presence of strangers, which does not prevent them give a synchronized flight for two hours.

The sunset marks the return, with the sun that is hidden and a light descent that seals a hypnotic encounter with the kings of the sky: the condors of the Quebrada.

A reference to paleontology in Patagonia, the Egidio Feruglio Museum (MEF), located in the center of Trelew, operates in a modern building inaugurated in 1999 and keeps findings of considerable scientific value.
Since 2004, the MEF belongs to the unit category associated with the Conicet (Council of Scientific and Technical Research), which among other actions, yields to the MEF 11 scientists for the research area.

Since 2004, the MEF belongs to the unit category associated with the Conicet (Council of Scientific and Technical Research), which among other actions, yields to the MEF 11 scientists for the research area.

All the assets of the MEF, which was accumulated, studied and preserved, is exhibited with the central objective of telling the history of the planet taking as a contextual reference to Patagonia.

Under a contemporary museological conception, the exhibition area is designed from the current geological period until the Paleozoic Era with its ancient fossil records.

More than 1,700 fossil pieces and 30 dinosaurs that show the rooms are accompanied by models and explanatory sheets, as well as a video projection that tells the beginnings of life on this planet.

We went through the first sections of the room, which represent from the first human settlements in Patagonia to the primitive microorganisms, where some milestones of natural history are marked.

In the main sector, the Mesozoic Era is concentrated with dinosaurs belonging to the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic periods. Among them, the Carnotaurus sastrei, belonging to the group of abelisaurids -the most spectacular South American carnivorous dinosaurs-, Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis, of the group of herbivores and Titanosaurus australis, with fossil eggs of this species.

On the upper floor, the photographs reflect the different paleontological campaigns carried out in Patagonia and the achievements made thanks to the efforts of numerous scientists.

The Feruglio museum building also has an auditorium that was named Germán Sopeña, as a reminder of the journalist who carried out a great task of scientific dissemination in the south.

In addition to numerous programs for adults and children, guided tours for groups of 30 people, in Spanish, English, Italian and German.

Likewise, the museum has an itinerant exhibition that travels around the world with the aim of spreading the paleontological richness of Patagonia.