VISTA - SOUTH AMERICA PART FIVE

41. Los Glaciares National Park (Argentina)

Iceberg carved by weather and water [ Photo by Calyponte / CC BY-SA 3.0 ]

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Spanish: The Glaciers) is a national park in the Santa Cruz Province, in Argentine Patagonia. It comprises an area of 4459 km². In 1981 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Between the two halves is a non-touristic zone without lakes called Zona Centro. The national park, created in 1937, is the second largest in Argentina. Its name refers to the giant ice cap in the Andes range that feeds 47 large glaciers, of which only 13 flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. The ice cap is the largest outside of Antarctica and Greenland. In other parts of the world, glaciers start at a height of at least 2,500 meters above mean sea level, but due to the size of the ice cap, these glaciers begin at only 1,500m, sliding down to 200m AMSL, eroding the surface of the mountains that support them. (based on awikipedia article / cc by-sa)

42. Monte León National Park (Argentina)

Monte Leon National Park, Santa Cruz, Argentina [ Photo by Andarin2 / CC BY-SA 3.0 ]

Monte León National Park (Parque Nacional Monte León) is a national park in Argentina, in Santa Cruz Province. It was established in 2004. The park is home to thousands of penguins and cormorants, as well as pumas, large, flightless birds known as rheas and roaming herds of Guanacos. (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)

43. Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina)

Panoramic landscape from Cerro Campanario, lakes Moreno and El Trébol, mountains cerro Goye, cerro López and cerro Capilla. Argentina [ Photo byXmort / public domain ]

Nahuel Huapi National Park, the oldest Argentine national park, covers up the land around Nahuel Huapi Lake in the foothills of the Patagonian Andes. It was established in 1934, but the nucleus of the park is the land donated to the federal government by Perito Moreno in 1903. The park covers approximately 7050 km² and is located in the southwest of the Neuquén and northwest of the Río Negro provinces bordering with Chile. The largest city within the park and a base for tourism is the city of San Carlos de Bariloche. Villa La Angostura is another lakeside resort also within the boundaries of the park. The park is famous for its rich wildlife and it covers many biotopes, due to altitudes ranging from 700 to 3,000 m and precipitation ranging from rain forests with 4,000 mm/yr on the western slopes to steppes with less than 300 mm/yr on the eastern side. (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)

44. Sierra de las Quijadas National Park (Argentina)

Sierra de las Quijadas, Provincia de San Luis. Argentina [ Photo by Pxy274 / public domain ]

Sierra de las Quijadas National Park (Parque Nacional Sierra de las Quijadas) is a national park in Argentina, in San Luis Province. It was established in 1991. (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)

45. Talampaya National Park (Argentina)

Talampaya [ Photo by Gino Lucas T. HANNAN / CC BY-SA 2.5 ]

Talampaya National Park is a national park located in the east/centre of La Rioja Province, Argentina. It was designated a provincial reserve in 1975, a national park in 1997, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The park covers an area of 2,150km², at an altitude of 1,500m above mean sea level. Its purpose is to protect important archaeological and palaeontological sites found in the area. It has landscapes of great beauty, with flora and fauna typical of the mountain biome. The park is in a basin between the Cerro Los Colorados to the west and the Sierra de Sañagasta to the east. The landscape is the result of erosion by water and wind in a desert climate, with large ranges in temperature – high heat by day and low temperature at night, with torrential rain in summer and strong wind in spring. (based on a wikipedia article /cc by-sa)

46. Valdes Peninsula (Argentina)

Sea lions (also of South American sea lion – Otaria flavescens), Peninsula de Valdes [ Photo by Reinhard Jahn, Mannheim / CC BY-SA 2.0 DE ]

The Valdes Peninsula (Spanish: Península Valdés) is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast in the Viedma Department in the north east of Chubut Province, Argentina. About 3,625 km2 (896,000 acres; 1,400 sq mi) in size, it is an important nature reserve which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. The nearest large town is Puerto Madryn. The only town on the peninsula is the small settlement of Puerto Piramides. There are also a number of estancias, where sheep are raised. Most of the peninsula is barren land with some salt lakes. The largest of these lakes is at an elevation of about 40 m below sea level (see extremes on Earth), until recently thought to be the lowest elevation in Argentina and South America. (The lowest point being Laguna del Carbón, Argentina). (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)

47. Los Estoraques Unique Natural Area (Colombia)

Eroded rock columns that make up the area, found 200 meters from La Playa de Belén [ Photo by chilangoco / CC BY-SA 2.0 ]

The Los Estoraques Unique Natural Area (Spanish: Área Natural Única Los Estoraques) is one of the smaller national parks, covering only 6 km2 (2.3 sq mi), located in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia in the Norte de Santander Department. The landscape is shaped by large brownstone pedestals and columns formed by thousands of years of erosion. The area is part of the Catatumbo River basin and elevation range from 1,450 to 1,900 meters above mean sea level. It was declared a Área Natural Única (Unique Natural Area) in 1998. The climate is warm and predominantly dry. The average temperature is 22°C and the average yearly rainfall is 870 mm, with a dry season from January to March. The evapotranspiration is twice that of precipitation, causing a water deficit. (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)

48. Los Nevados National Natural Park (Colombia)

Parque Nacional Los Nevados [ Photo by Mauricioagudelo / CC BY-SA 3.0 ]

Los Nevados National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados) is a national park located in the Cordillera Central of the Colombian Andes. The 5,300-meter high volcano Nevado del Ruiz is dominating Los Nevados. Out of the 55 protected areas in Colombia, Los Nevados National Natural Park was the third most visited in 2009, with 50,045 visitors. The most visited was the Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park followed by the Tayrona National Natural Park. In addition to Nevado del Ruiz, seven other volcanoes are located in the area, Nevado del Tolima, Santa Isabel, Nevado del Quindío, Páramo de Santa Rosa, Cerro Bravo, Cerro Machín and Nevado El Cisne. Glacial activity has shaped the landscape 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above mean sea level, leaving U-shaped valleys and moraines behind. (based on awikipedia article / cc by-sa)

49. Munchique National Natural Park (Colombia)

El Tambo, Cauca, Colombia [ Photo by Car710 / public domain ]

The Munchique National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Munchique) is a national park located in the Cauca Department in the Cordillera Occidental range in the Andean Region of Colombia. There are 30 streams and rivers, and 40 waterfalls in the area. The diversity of thermal levels makes the park a paradise for birds, especially hummingbirds. It is located in El Tambo, on the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental, 61 km from the city of Popayán. It shares borders with the municipalities of Lopez, and Morales Cajibio. It was declared a national park in May 1977 and covers and area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi). The park takes its name from the Munchique Mountain, located in the southeast part of the area. (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)

50. Puracé National Natural Park (Colombia)

Puracé National Natural Park [ Photo by Leonardo Pupiales / CC BY-SA 3.0 ]

The Puracé National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Puracé) is a national park located in the Andean Region of Colombia, southeast of the city of Popayán in the Cordillera Central range. Its main feature is the active stratovolcano Puracé, one of Colombia's most active volcanoes. Four of the country's most important rivers originate within the area: Magdalena River, Cauca River, Japurá River and Patía River. It was established in 1961 as the first national park in the Cauca Department. During the 1990s the FARC guerrilla used the park as a base camp, but it has been cleaned of the forces since 2002 after the President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe's campaign against the movement. The only active volcano in the area is Puracé at 4,580 metres (15,030 ft) above mean sea level. (based on a wikipedia article / cc by-sa)