Page 207 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

C ÓRDOBA AND THE ANDEAN NOR THWEST  205

Towering peaks covered in verdant yunga forest, Parque Nacional Calilegua
Tojo, still stands and is h Parque Nacional j Parque Nacional
now an interesting museum Calilegua El Rey
exhibiting some of the ruling
dynasty’s memo rabilia. Road map B1. 75 miles (120 km) NE Road map C1. 155 miles (250 km) SE
Standing next to it is a of Jujuy. Tel (03886) 422-046. @ of Jujuy. Tel (03487) 4312-683. @
17th-century church, Iglesia Open 9am−6pm daily. 8  Open 9am−dusk Mon–Sat. 
de Nuestra Señora del Rosario ∑ parquesnacionales.gob.ar ∑ parquesnacionales.gob.ar
y San Francisco. Behind its
whitewashed façade are the Comprising over 290 sq miles Created in 1948, Parque
region’s best-preserved colonial (763 sq km) of subtropical Nacional El Rey is one of three
interiors, complete with a yunga forests, lakes, and rivers, cloud forest parks in northwest
wonderfully ornate Baroque Parque Nacional Calilegua is the Argentina, the others being
pulpit. The interior would be largest of the national parks in Calilegua and Baritú to the
even more impressive had not northwest Argentina. Thanks to north. It rises to an average of
some of the church’s treasures its easy accessibility, it is also the 2,950 ft (900 m) above
been looted during the border most visited. The park is the sea level and the
disputes with Chile in the late setting for Gerald Durrell’s peaks are usually
1970s. The windows are popular 1960s book The enveloped in thick
perhaps the most unusual Whispering Land. cloud, keeping most of the
feature, as their panes are made Parque Nacional plant life lush and green even
of wafer-thin onyx, casting a Calilegua is easy to in the drier months. Pre viously
surreal, yellow-orange glow navigate with many a private estate, the park
over the nave. trails that weave now pro tects 155 sq miles
through dense (408 sq km) of yunga forests.
and tangled Strikingly diverse in both flora
cloud forest, Toucan in Parque and fauna, El Rey is home
often leading Nacional El Rey to a number of endangered
above the tree mammals includ ing jaguars
line and to the drier prairies of and pumas.
the high puna. As well as The avian population,
diverse flora, which changes totalling over 150 species, is
according to the altitude and more visible and includes the
humidity, brown eagles, condors, emblematic giant toucan and
and northern huemul deer can several species of parrot and
also be seen. Jaguars and pumas eagle. Numerous footpaths
roam the forests, though both and one major vehicle trail
species have a well-founded snake around the park from
fear of humans. Mornings and the visitor center. The best trail
evenings are the best times to for bird-watchers is the 8-mile
see these animals. Visitors can (13-km) Senda Pozo Verde,
hire guides and also find useful which climbs through the
The 18th-century Casa del Marqués de Tojo, maps and information at the bird-filled forest to a small,
now a museum park’s entrance. beautiful lake.

204-205_EW_Argentina.indd 205 05/08/16 10:41 am