During my 2 month language course in Cordoba I had the chance to travel to many fascinating natural sights, like the Iguazu waterfalls on the border to Brasil or the Lake area in Patagonia. But the most spectacular experience for me was visiting the breathtaking Talampaya National Park in the La Rioja Province and Ischigualasto Provincial Park, also called Valle de la Luna (signifying valley of the moon) in the province of San Juan in Argentina on the border to Chile. Valle de la Luna is adjoint to Talampaya National Park and both parks were declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2000.

Ischigualasto and Talampaya are renowned for their fabulous red sandstone rock formations and the huge amount of well preserved dinosaur fossils which can be found in the area. This rugged region owes its appearance to the hot-dry climate, erosion by water and strong winds which carve odd shapes into the sandstone.

Therefore I was anxious to visit this magnificent place and very excited when my Spanish School in Cordoba organized a trip to Valle de la Luna and Talampaya. From Cordoba it takes about 7 hours to get to La Rioja Province. We met at my Spanish School on a Friday morning, so we would have the whole Saturday to drive through Talampaya and the whole Sunday for Valle de la Luna.

It was really advantageous to have a tour guide who could give us very interesting and useful background information. In Valle de la Luna we went on a 4 hour round trip, passing impressive rock formations such as the Cancha de Bochas (the Ball Court), El Submarino (the submarine) and El Gusano (the worm). I find it really amazing that some of these formations date back more than 228 million years.

Talampaya and Valle de la Luna were definitely worth a visit and I would urgently recommend anyone to include these miracles of nature in his travels.
photo