We travelled to Ischigualasto National Park, 72km from our hotel in St Agustin. Mario, the owner, had told us the Park opened at 9 am and the first tour would start around 10am when they had enough cars to organise a Ranger led excursion around the Valle de la Luna trail. We arrived at 9.40 and, of course, the first trip had already left, although as we purchased our ticket we were told to drive 1km down the track and catch them up. This is a self-drive tour. The cars follow the Ranger in a long, snaking, caravan, that at times resembled a procession following a hearse at a funeral! There are 5 stops along the route where the Ranger explains the particular features of the geology (in Spanish) and you are able to walk around and take photos. The landscape was formed between 230million and 180 million years ago in the Jurassic and Triassic Ages. Many dinosaur skeletons have been found. The experience was at times surreal. It was like walking on the surface of the moon. The rocks were twisted into fantastic formations, and the colours, from grey, through orange, and into reds were astounding. We saw the Sphinx, we saw mushrooms, we saw a submarine, and a field of perfectly spherical rocks strewn across the ground like footballs. The total tour was around 40 km and lasted over 3 hours. Like all the National Parks there was one set of charges for the locals, and another higher rate for foreigners. This one, at $50US for two, was perhaps a bit on the expensive side, although if we had had a good understanding of Spanish then I am sure we would have found the Ranger's talk excellent. As it was he managed a brief summary at each stop in English for us, the only foreigners present.
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