Ischigualasto
or Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)
This
national Reserve is located in San Juan Province, in a valley between
two mountain ranges. It is an internationally-renowned park thanks
to the studies carried out by paleontologists, geologists and naturalists,
and has allowed the reconstruction of part of the history of the Earth.
Observing
the aridity that nowadays prevails in the place, where only cactus
and thorny thickets grow, it is difficult to imagine that 225 millions
years ago this area was covered with a tropical garden and an exuberant
geography of lakes and swamps, all of which constituted the habitat
of unimaginable creatures. Those were the times of the Triassic,
the oldest period of the Mesozoic Era, previous to the Jurassic.
Here
wandered the dinosaurs, the Lagosuchus Talampayensis, the Eoraptor
(only one meter long) and the colossal Riojasaurus Incertus (12 meters
long). But time, apart from the evolutionary changes, brought about
tremendous movements on the earth's surface such as the Andes, which
drastically modified the favorable life conditions that reigned during
the previous 180 million years. Later, during millenniums, the sediments
buried this park some hundred meters away. The gradual accumulation
of rocks and sculptural effects of erosion have modeled different
shapes: mushrooms, the parrot, the pigeon, etc. more....
Talampaya
Canyon
It
is also a first-class palaeontological reserve located in La Rioja
province, close to Ischigualasto. This is a canyon with particular
characteristics and with the same formation as the Valle de la Luna.
Its red walls are over 180 m high and, eroded by the wind, have acquired
curious shapes: El Fraile, El Rey Mago, Las Catedrales, Las Agujas,
El Pesebre and El Castillo among others. Its name is due to the shape
of its stucture, similar to a riverbed, that some ancient river gave
it. The access to the park is through a place called La Puerta (The
Door), 90 meters wide and which takes the visitors directly along
the dry riverbed of Talampaya River. more...
Tours
Our
regular package tour departs from San Juan city every Saturday and
includes 2 nights accommodation (one in Valle Fertil, the village
closest to Ischigualasto; and one in San Juan) with a city tour of
San Juan city. |
