QUEBRADA
DEL CONDORITO NATIONAL PARK
Province of Córdoba
This national park is on the rolling
top of Pampa de Achala in the Sierras Grandes in Córdoba province.
Its 37,000 ha are the nucleus of a protected area of some 150,000 ha,
the rest corresponding to a provincial park created to protect the headwaters
of streams and rivers feeding the various dams in the vicinity. It was
created in 1996.
ITS NATURAL ASPECTS
Though difficult to place in the accepted biomes of Argentina, it is included
in the hill chaco district in spite of its similarity to andean uplands.
The dominant vegetation is rolling upland grasslands with occasional patches
of Polylepis woods.
One of the special aspects is the number of endemisms - exclusive species
and subspecies - examples of which are two batracians, a green lizard
and a striped snake and a race of the "red" fox, all of which
are restricted to Achala. There are also several birds recognised as distinct
forms.
The feature which gives its name to the park is the canyon from the rims
of which one can observe, at eye level and below, the great andean condors.
Though typical of the Andes proper, this apparently isolated eastern population
is holding its own after years of persecution by cattle ranchers.
CULTURAL ASPECTS
Pampa de Achala was occupied in prehistoric times by groups of hunter-gatherers.
Their cultural achievements are seen expressed in the artefacts and rock
paintings left by them in the rock shelters they once occupied. Arrowheads
and morters in the bed-rock are common and seem to indicate that the area
was a hunting-ground, associated with an abundance of guanacos and their
young in due season. At the time of the europeans' arrival it was frequented
by Comechingones who undoubtedly used the area as a refuge against the
abuses by the Spaniards. At the end of the XIXth century waves of colonisers
arrived, after the construction of the first chapel by Franciscan friars.
Estancias were established at that time. At present the europeans display
cultural mores which differentiate them enough to merit a name: Achalenses
or "del alto". These small landowners live off the produce of
the land in family groups. Their homes are built of local materials, somewhat
dispersed in the area. Theirs is an isolation from the market economy
and modern technical advances. Their handicrafts are an important part
of the auto-economy, with pottery, primitive weaving and practical leatherwork.
Theirs is a social structure within their own strict sense of values and
beliefs.
How to get there
The area is reached along route 14 known as the "altas cumbres road"
between Villa Carlos Paz and Mina Clavero. The entrance is about half
way along this route, just at the end of the climb from the east.
OF INTEREST TO THE VISITOR
Because of its recent creation there are but incipient facilities for
the visitor. A trail leads to the north rim overlook and there are others
less well defined. A visitor centre is projected for the not-too-distant
future. Information is to be obtained from the information service of
National Parks at Santa Fe 690 (Buenos Aires) or by 'phone: 4311-0303
Thanks to APN - Administración
de Parques Nacionales
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