Rio Pilcomayo National Park
The park's rainforests provide habitat for three monkey species. The endangered aguara guazu fox with red fur and black legs, the raccoon-like oso malero (honey bear) and the coati also inhabit the park. Other species you might see in the park on Argentina tours include the endangered caiman, the semi-aquatic carpincho (capybara) and the small yacare alligator. Among the park's bird species are herons and three types of storks including the flamboyant Yaribu with distinctive white plumage and red and black neck. The indigenous people who inhabit the area today are Tobas.
For visitors on Argentina tours, there are camping facilities near the park with tables, toilets and fireplaces. Boating and hiking are allowed. The closest town is Laguna Blanca.
Chaco National Park
The park is teeming with wildlife including caiman, deer, and the black howler monkey. The thorny leaves of the chaguar provide protection to several species including the puma. Among the park's 340 species of birds you might see on your Argentina tours are the rhea, stork and cormorant.
Once inhabited by numerous nomadic tribes, the nearby indigenous communities include the Mocovies and the Tobas.
The park contains a large camping area with campsites, electricity and potable water for visitors on Argentina tours. The climate is warm with thirty to fifty inches of rain in summer. The best time to travel to Argentina if you intend to visit Chaco National Park is from April to October. Bring mosquito repellant. The nearest town is Capitan Solari.
Mburucuya National Park
Land for the park was donated by Dr. Troels M. Pederson who owned an estancia here. Some 5000 years before him, indigenous hunter and agricultural communities inhabited the region, cultivating yerba mate, vegetables, tobacco and tapioca.
The park has marked trails for hiking, a visitors' center and camping facilities with toilets and potable water for those who wish to camp out when they travel to Argentina. The closest cities are Mburucuya and Palmer Grande.
Iguazu National Park
What is called Izuazu Falls is actually a collection of 275 separate falls that stretch one and a half miles. The 163,000-acre park includes one of the country’s most important natural reserves, a 14,826-acre sub-tropical rainforest. It extends to the border where it meets Brazil's park of the same name that protects the other side of the falls and its surrounding forests, making Iguazu a destination for both Argentina tours and tours of Brazil. In 1984, both parks were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Two-thirds of the falls are located in Argentina. Beyond their sheer magnitude and the falls' dramatic plunge of 230 feet, the experience is made all the more memorable for visitors on Argentina tours by the rising mists that create multiple rainbows. Many people choose to visit both sides since a close-up view can only be had from Argentina, and the massive expanse of falls can only be seen from Brazil.
The Park's lush forests are comprised of 2,000 plant species including orchids, bromeliads, begonias, vines, ferns and soaring humidity-loving trees such as palms and bamboos, a treat for nature lovers on Argentina tours. The 30-ft flowering ceibo (the cockspur coral), the national tree of Argentina and Uruguay, grows along waterways and in wetlands here. The tree's bright red blossoms bloom from October to April. Yerba mate, from which the popular South American tea is made, grows in the heavy canopied areas.
The park is populated by 448 bird species including parakeets, parrots and red-breasted toucans. Among its eighty mammal species are the fruit-eating tufted capuchin monkey, the tapir, ocelot, anteater, puma, snow leopard, caiman and jaguar.
Though Europeans first "discovered" the falls in 1542, indigenous groups have inhabited the area for 10,000 years, and you'll see members of some of these groups on your Argentina tours here.
Today, the Guaranies are the most prominent of these cultures in the region.
The falls are open to the public year-round. The weather is always humid with temperatures averaging 77F in December and January and 59F in June and July. Drought conditions can diminish the falls.
The nearest town on the Argentine side is Puerto Iguazu. Admission includes some excursions, and an interpretive center is located at the entrance to the park. For information about passport requirements before you travel to Argentina, see "Traveling to Argentina" in our Argentina Trips section.
Pre-Delta National Park
Indigenous Gueranies, related to the Tehuelches, came south and co-existed with the Guaranies who still live in the region.
The best way to see the park's sights on Argentina tours is by boat. There is camping just outside the park boundaries. The closest town is Diamante.
El Palmar National Park
With its distinctive yellow tufts, the Yatay reaches up to sixty-six feet and has leaves up to eight feet long. Most trees in the park are no older than 200 years old. The park also contains gallery forests and bank jungles along the Rio Uruguay for travelers on Argentina tours who wish to explore.
Between the jungles and pastures are forests inhabited by the boisterous rufous cacholote, a bird that builds huge intricate nests with prickly branches, and monk parakeets, a species of woodpecker that builds large shared nests spanning six feet.
Lizards frequent the park by day and chinchilla-like vizcachas by night. The river is home to the capybara, caiman and the highly venomous yarara pit viper. Visitors on Argentina tours may also observe the large rhea, cormorant, egret, heron and stork as well as smaller bird species in some areas of the park. Non-native species such as the European wild boar have damaged areas of the park, destroying bird nests and eating Yatay seeds.
El Palmar contains archeological sites of the area’s first inhabitants, a hunter group that lived here 1,000 years ago. From 1650 to 1767, a lime quarry operated on this land, using the river to get its product to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Today the ruins of the Calera Barquin factory are a historic site in the park and an interesting place to visit on Argentina tours.
The park's Paseo Arroyo Los Loros offers hikers and bicyclists the best place to observe wildlife, and there are plenty of places along the Rio Uruguay for swimming. For those who wish to camp out on their Argentina tours, camping is allowed at Los Loros, where you'll find a campground with showers, public telephones, grocery store, cafe and bicycle services with a visitors' interpretive center nearby.
Weather here is warm and humid in the north and mild and dry in the southwest. The park is located midway between the cities of Colon and Concordia. The nearest town is Ubajay.
