NAHUEL HUAPI NATIONAL PARK

In Nahuel Huapi National Park the Andean forest flows into the steppe and forms a transitional area between the lush green forest environment and the golden undulating grassy plains.

The liberal donation of land made by Perito Francisco Pascasio Moreno on November 6, 1903 was the centre of the future Nahuel Huapi National Park, created in 1934.

That was the year that Argentina's government decided to protect this natural area with the aim of maintaining the varied wildlife of the place together with the recorded testimony of its original inhabitants for the benefit of future generations.

The park, for reasons of environmental and scenic value, preserves an improtant and representative area of the Andean region of north Patagonia.

It is in the south western part of the Neuquén Province and west of the Río Negro Province, covering an extension of 705000 hectares.

Modeled by different geological processes over a time span of millions of years, up to 10,000 years ago, it was covered by glaciers, rivers of ice that deepened and widened the valleys that existed previously.

When the weather varied, it produced increases in temperature, the snows began to melt, forming Lakes on these valley bottoms, like Nahuel Huapi, a typically glacial Lake with deep, abruptly cut off arms.

The highest peaks are in the Andean massif that create the borderline with Chile, notably Mt Tronador or "Thunder Hill" (3.554 m a s l), so called because of the thundering reports caused by the titanic snow and ice falls. Other important peaks are Mt Crespo, Cuyín Manzano, Campana, Millaqueo, Capilla, López and Catedral, with heights ranging between 1.800 and 2.400 m a s l.

Deep valleys and canyons called "passes", let one to cross over to Chile. The best known of these are Puyehue, Pérez Rosales and De los Vuriloches, the latter was used by the natives, and gives its Tehuelche tribal denomination to San Carlos de Bariloche.

Towards the west appear Mt Otto, Ventana, Cordón del Ñirihuau and others, that slowly decrease in height towards the Patagonian plateau. Encantado Valley (Enchanted Valley) shows interesting cases of rocks eroded by rain and wind into surrealistic shapes: "El Dedo de Dios" (God's Finger), "El Castillo" (The Castle), "El Penitente" (The Penitent).

The major items of this area are glacial Lakes and rushing Rivers that flow into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Of the 705,000 hectares in the Park, 55,700 are covered by the waters of Nahuel Huapi, the largest of a series of linked Lakes that, using the Limay River, empty into the Atlantic. Leaving for Anchorena port on Victoria Island from the ports of San Carlos or Pañuelo, you can enjoy a stroll across a native forest of coihues and ñires.

FEATURES OF THE PARK

The Nahuel Huapi National Park protects samples of three dissimilar natural habitats: high Andean, Andean-Patagonian Forest (including sectors of the Valdivian forest) and the Patagonian steppe.

At over 1,600 m a s l one finds the high Andean environment with its sparse vegetation, formed mainly of small herbaceous plants that have adapted to the rigors of cold weather, snow and wind.

The low areas of the mountains and the valleys in this Park are covered for the most part by huge Andean-Patagonian woods. According to the altitude, it shelters different trees, such as lengas, coihues and ñires.

During spring, these forests offer one of the most colourful wooded settings in Argentina. At that time of year, framed by mountains and Lakes, one finds native plants like the notro, with its beautiful red flowers, the mutisia vine, an orange-flowered creeper, the virreina, similar to the former but with lilac flowers, and the amancay, that blankets the wood floor with its yellow blooms.

In the Puerto Blest area, on the frontier with Chile, where rainfall averages around 4,000 mm a year, one finds the Valdivian wood, with its own Flora, such as the ciprés de las guaitecas, the maniú (male and female), and the fuinque.

To the east of the Andean-Patagonian forests extends a transitional environment taking into the Patagonian steppe. Here one can find open forests of Cordillera Cypresses together with radales, ñires and maitenes. The most impressive species here is the cypress, whose elegant conical shape is silhouetted on the rocky hillsides, as may be observed in Encantado Valley, a place of notable scenic beauty.

Continuing eastwards, the progressively diminishing rainfall produces a countryside of semi-arid canyons and plateaus, characteristic features of the Patagonian steppe. This is the kingdom of yellow and orange-hued wild pastures that are classic of the western, more humid part of the steppe. Foxes, pumas and guanacos, together with birds of prey like the cinereous harrier and the American Kestrel, are emblematic of the Fauna of this area.

NAHUEL HUAPI LAKE
The most important basin is that of Lake Nahuel Huapi, featuring Victoria Island, 31 square kms in area, and other smaller ones like Fray Menéndez, Huemul and Centinela.

Its winding shores offers chief peninsulas such as that of Quetrihué, where one finds the famous Arrayanes Forest and others like Llao Llao, San Pedro and Huemul, as well as profound Lake arms such as Ultima Esperanza, Rincón, Machete, Blest, Tristeza, Angostura and others.

From the ports of San Carlos or Pañuelo, trips arriving at Puerto Anchorena on Victoria Island will take you to an area of the native forest with specimens of coihues and ñires. Another possibility is to go visit the former forest plant nursery that contains specimens of trees from other places that were planted at the beginning of last century.

On landing in the south of Quetrihue peninsula, you arrive at Los Arrayanes National Park. The reason it was created in 1974, was to assure the preservation of a dense, almost pure forest of arrayán trees. This tree, easily discernible by its cinnamon-colored smooth bark, can reach 15 m in height.

LAKE FLORA AND FAUNA
There are many Lakes scattered among the woods. The main one is Nahuel Huapi, with a surface area of something less than 560 km2 and a depth of about 454 ms. Other smaller Lakes are Traful, Gutiérrez, Mascardi and Guillelmo.

The shores of these Lakes and the River banks are peopled by trees preferring wet environments such as myrtle and linden. On the cliffs of a few of the Nahuel Huapi islands one can find somecolonies of Imperial Cormorants. This is a rare event, since this is a species that is almost exclusively a marine one. One also frequently observes common seagulls swimming after the boats on the Lake.

One of the typical species in the area is the huillín (Chilean otter), a carnivorous mammal that has its major Argentine colonies in this Park. This is a native otter that inhabits the borders of Lakes and the banks of Rivers and Streams. Its long body is covered with a chestnut-colored and red or orange tinged coat; it has short legs and a long tail.
Another fascinating type is the tuco-tuco colonial. This is a rodent that inhabits complex underground burrows and is restricted to the Nahuel Huapi National Park area.