Condorito National Park: birthplace of the Andean Condor

The highlight of our Cordoba stay was a day trip out to Condorito National Park. Just under two hours out of Coroba by bus, this park was an un planned trip just to escape the city for a day, and it was amazing! We were almost 3000 meters above sea level, so it was icy cold, but luckily we had sun to take the edge of that a little. It was such an amazing landscape, and as it is not one of the heavily promoted parks, there was no one else there. We had it all to ourselves, which was blissful. Golden flecked pampa vegetation, under a huge blue sky, with 360 degree views of the Sierras and Coroba mountain ranges. Our walk ended at a steep gorge, which is an important breeding ground for the Andean Condor. This magnificent bird (largest flying bird in the Western hemisphere with a wingspan of up to 4 or 5 meters) is the national symbol of Argentina and a species that is apparently under threat in the last decade due to illegal poaching, slaughtering, habitat loss and second hand poisoning from eating carcasses killed by hunters. Such a shame... atleast Argentines don´t eat their National emblem though, like we Aussies do!

Watching ten or more of these creatures diving, swooping, gliding and playing about was awe inspiring. Sometimes you get to see them at eye level from the view point, as they fly over the steep gorge just five to ten meters away. Amazing! At one stage, I was crouched behind a bush going to the toilet and one came flying right past my face, only about five meters away! I did not know whether to be scared or amazed. I was mainly scared until it started flying away, because, crouched down as I was I thought I could easily have been mistaken as a tasty lunch.

Our day ended with a power walk back to catch the bus, and avoid waiting for over an hour in the rapidly descending temperatures. I think that night they were expecting minus 10 to 15 degree temperatures in the park. Lucky for us, we had a hostel to go back to. Though maybe not so luck, because it had filled up with another 20 something party crowd over the day, and we did not get too much sleep that night. But atleast we were not cold.

---

---