Patagonia Ecotourism

The Patagonia and its diversity, with its parks and natural reserves, forests, lakes, glaciers, mountains, plateaus and huge sea coast, is an ideal region for ecotourism and flora and fauna watching.

Lihué Calel, Domuyo, Tromen, Copahue, Caviahue, Laguna Blanca, Lanín, Nahuel Huapi, Los Arrayanes, Lago Puelo, Los Alerces, Perito Moreno, Los Glaciares and Tierra del Fuego are not just attractive names, but in the Patagonian geography they also refer to mounts of plains and tablelands, snowcapped hills and volcanoes, geysers and fumaroles, wetlands on flat terrains, hundred-year-old and even thousand-year-old forests with native vegetation and animals, extending to the banks of emerald-green lakes, a preserved postcard landscape with delightful villages on the mountains, small hotels or even exclusive and fancy five-star ones.

Imposing mammals and sea birds live for some seasons on the rough Patagonian coasts, where they spend part of their reproductive process. On Península Valdés, killer whales, dolphins, sea lions, elephant seals, and the undisputed queen, i.e. the Southern Right Whale, can be found. These arrive in June, ready to be courted; in December, as the weather is hot, they leave their leading role to beaches and cliffs, perfect for diving and snorkeling. In Punta Tombo, thousands of Maguellanic penguins arrive in September to sit on their eggs. In Puerto Deseado there is a wonderful ría (a long, narrow, tidal inlet), a colony of Rockhopper penguins, thousands of birds and graceful Commerson’s dolphins.

In Río Negro, the huge Somuncurá plateau has a personality of its own; it is a very valuable spot, with unique flora and fauna, cave art sites, springs and petrified forests. In Chubut and Santa Cruz there are two amazing fossil sites, with gigantic Araucanian remains which for millions of years now have been covered and preserved by lava and ashes.