Argentina Tour

Most of the park has a clearly arid climate with very little annual rainfall.

Continuing with our tour through the National Parks of Argentina, today we stop to visit Los Cardones National Park in the province of Salta.

Salta is the province with the most national parks. We have already referred to the El Rey National Park enclosed by mountain ranges that gradually descend to the central valley, forming an immense amphitheater of singular beauty and to the Baritú National Parkdedicated to preserving a sector of Cloud Forest that has remained practically virgin due to its inaccessibility and its relief, since the rugged landscape made logging difficult.

Los Cardones National Park.

Its beautiful and high cardonal stands on the slopes of the hills.

They tell the legends of the ancient settlers, who are indigenous people who watch over the valleys and mountains in the presence of strangers.

Precisely these specimens of Cardones (Trichocereus pasacana), beautiful desert lookouts, give the National Park its name.

The cardon.

In the representative plant of the park, And from it takes the name. Huge amounts of cardons everywhere.

A route winds between cardons and amancay flowers. It is the path that anticipates the rugged simplicity of the Los Cardones National Park, in the Calchaquí Valleys.

There, erect cardons guard the roads of the ancient Inca Empire and the unique Enchanted Valley, which keep the vestiges of its rich past.

The predominant plant species in the area, and which gives its name to the park, has adult specimens that can reach 3 meters in length, between 250 and 300 years old.

They were in danger of extinction due to the irrational exploitation that was made of their wood, now the National Park Law protects them, since 1996, in this magnificent area that encompasses four different natural environments.

Between 4,500 and 3,500 meters, there is a cold and dry climate with a great thermal amplitude and poor soils in terms of organic matter, stony and sandy soils with high content of salts and sulfur. Small shrubs and lots of bare ground space. Among the herbaceous species, there are plants with thorny branches and some yellowish flowers.

Flora and fauna.

The flora and fauna show characteristics as unique and rugged as the landscape that shelters them. In addition to touring the desert beauty of the National Park along a route in good condition, you can take photographs, go hiking, hike and observe flora and fauna.

The cardons in their arid silence, impress with their firm bearing on the ground.

Different legends and popular beliefs have told the origin of the immense colonies of cardones that are found throughout the whole of northern Argentina. There has even been talk of the character of these plants, adding the nickname of sad, simply because they remain static, immobile.

hey will always be there, to delight the view in a different landscape. Although its felling is prohibited, it is possible to have a souvenir of its wood, because the park guards collect the dried specimens and give them to the artisans in the area, so they can make real works of art.

A diverse and austere flora can be seen throughout the Los Cardones Park, distributed in four distinct environments.

The first environment of the reserve is that of the Puna, whose height of between 3500 and 4500 meters above sea level distinguishes it with almost zero humidity and temperatures that make it shiver with cold at night.

The typical species are tola, añagua, rica-rica, cortdera, muña-muña and grasses. In the prepuna the heights drop to 2200, here the churquis reign, forming small forests known as "El Churcal".

Low-spiny plants. The presence of cacti or cardons is only beginning to be noticed as we gain height on the ground.

The third of the environments is the western forest, where the cardons abound, the jarillas -of great importance, since the cardons are born and grow under the protection of this shrub until reaching a suitable size- and the yellow flowers of the amancay, which onl.

They grow in rainy seasons and cluster at the foot of the slopes of the Tin Tin hill and the Quebrada de Cajoncillo. In more open and desert sectors are the typical breas and we challenge, which are bushes that do not exceed one meter in height, with green stems and yellow flowers.

The last of the environments is the high Andean foggy grassland, with an average annual rainfall of less than 200 millimeters, in this area grasses and legumes, and some species of fungi predominate.

Guanacos, red foxes, gray foxes, chinchillones, pumas, Andean pericotes and the small quirquinchos walk through the vast territory.

Owners of the desolately beautiful environment of Los Cardones, birds such as the Andean gull and the cardon woodpecker also live in this extensive region, but the first mention is taken by the condor, whose sighting at first sight provides pleasure and admiration.

Los Cardones with its clearly arid climate, with precipitations that do not exceed 200 millimeters a year and average temperatures of 11 ° in winter and 18 ° in summer, protect endangered species such as vicuña and taruca or huemul from the north.

In the heart of Los Cardones National Park, the enchanting sensation of this singular landscape that draws the largest cactus on the continent multiplies to infinity.

They say that if you remain silent in the middle of the cardonal and wait for a few moments for the wind to blow, you can listen to music, or at least a piping sound like a deep, eternal whistle, which floods the space and reaches the sky.

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The Impenetrable is a must-see for lovers of hiking and nature.

It is one of the little explored places in the country, but it is worth knowing. The new park, of 128 thousand hectares, now represents the largest reserve in northern Argentina.

It is very difficult to find a degree of biodiversity as pure as that seen in El Impenetrable National Park.

The national park is part of what Estancia La Fidelidad used to be and extends between the provinces of Chaco and Formosa, covering an area of 250,000 hectares, divided by the Bermejo river.

The origin of its name lies in the difficulty of entering the area. Nature is diverse.

Lush forests. Ancient trees and mammals of exuberant beauty form the recent El Impenetrable National Park, the largest in northern Argentina.

Under the premise of preserving the Chaco forest and the diverse species of flora and fauna that inhabit it, National Parks protects its 130,000 hectares from times prior to its creation, in 2017.

Why should we know this place?

The Impenetrable today constitutes one of the few, best preserved and largest green lungs in Latin America.

For many years, the site was used as a sports hunting ground. Domestic animals, indiscriminate logging and hunting put their biodiversity and ecological sustainability in check, causing the extinction of many species and the decrease of others, such as the jaguar, anteater, tapir and crowned eagle, among others.

Entering the park implies observing the life of the forest and the interaction between its inhabitants, as well as finding out about the importance of its preservation, both for the species and for the health of the planet.

Location.

The Impenetrable is located within the Gran Chaco ecoregion, which also extends to the Northwest of Córdoba and in the countries of Bolivia and Paraguay.

It is the third largest forest area in South America, after the Amazon and the Cerrado, in Brazil.

The brand new National Park protects the last redoubt of virgin forest, the third in importance in South America.

Tourist promotion of the park is presented as an alternative to traditional economic activities in the area. An example is the replacement of livestock with the sustainable creation of non-wood products, such as bush honey, carob flour and crafts in chaguar.

It is very clear that preserving and producing is possible.

The National Parks constitute the most important protected natural areas in Argentina.

They conserve biodiversity and ecosystems; they protect paleontological and archaeological sites; they promote environmental education, scientific research and nature tourism.

Fauna.

The Impenetrable, thanks to its recovery, became the ideal habitat for many critically endangered species and others threatened with extinction, such as the yaguareté, the carreta tatú, three types of peccaries, the anteater, the crowned eagle and the boa rainbow.

The yarará is a poisonous snake native to South America.

The high biodiversity and native forest of this nature reserve, which is in a very good state of conservation, is home to hundreds of species of birds, including the yabiré, the talking parrot, the black woodpecker, the charata, the rayador and the espinero fron reddish.

The Impenetrable houses endangered fauna such as the jaguar, the anteater, the tapir.

Flora.

In the El Impenetrable National Park there are carob forests. The quebrachos white and red from Santiago stand out.

Other species of the tree canopy are the palo santo, mistol, viraró, itín, moradillo, saucillo, molle, talas, chañar, Capparis, the drunk palo de flor blanca or yuchán and large cactus.

A specimen of drunk stick round tree top and beautiful flowers.

The albardones that border the Bermejo river abound with forests of river alder, Creole willow, and yellowwood. Somewhat farther from the river there are examples of soap stick and stone stick.