Valley of the Moon and Triassic Park

Sound like the names of a couple of movies? Not so, that’s what the mesmerizing places we visited yesterday are actually called.

Our day started with Rodrigo bringing us breakfast and recounting for us some of the local legends. He later invited us to go with him to feed his horses and his donkey. Along the way he gave us much information pertaining to the native flora and its culinary and medicinal uses. He runs an organic farm, but several acres of his land are dedicated only to retain (and reestablish) native species.

Jefa and Mistery

Claudia, Rodrigo's wife.

Abya Yala, our favorite restaurant in town

The main church in San Agustin de Valle Fertil

Our entire afternoon was spent at the provincial park by the exotic name of Ischigualasto. There is where you’ll find the two localities named above. This was dinosaur heaven during the Triassic period, and many fossils have been, and continue to be, found here. We learned the difference between Triassic and Jurassic, where the latter happened millions of years later. Triassic dinosaurs were the original, and smaller of the species, they lived approx. 250 million years ago. A Jurassic park, with fossils of the large variety is also found in Argentina, and is the most renown such park in the world. The Jurassic period dates back about 115 million years.

The Valley of the Moon is very appropriately named. The rock formations and their colors continue to astound us. You’d think we’ve had enough of mountains and rocks, but every day we experience several new Wow moments. As little as pictures can provide in the way of experiencing a place, hopefully these will make clear what I’m saying.

See you tomorrow!!