Parque Nacional Chaco and a weekend at Corrientes

After visiting Ischigualasto, we headed for the Parque Nacional Chaco, a park known for its exceptional biodiversity and its extraordinary bird life (it is estimated they have 340 different bird species in the park). In the Chaco, you can find the quebracho tree, which produces hardwood and locals use to make furniture from. We saw many on the side of the road as we were entering the park. The park also protects swamp, palm savanna and a forest next to the river.

While setting up camp, there was birdlife all around us. As we had our back's turned, one of the cheeky little birds picked up a bag of our bread, tipped it on the floor, and began to feast on it, but gave the bare-faced curassow its share.

On our first morning, we went for an early morning drive to explore the park and its wildlife. We reached a viewpoint by the marshy Rio Negro and stopped to have breakfast. We spotted a black collared hawk on the other side of the river. It was big but remained unmoving while we were there. On the way back to camp, Ioanna spotted two small dear called guazuncho, our first mammal spotting in the park. 

For the next couple of days, we went on walks and drives spotting many birds but no other mammals. We even spotted a bird which was unique to the Chaco called the giant tree creeper. That was cool!

On the last night, Ioanna and Dan saw a zorro (fox) after me and Ismene had gone to bed. They said they looked small but ravenously hungry. I wish I had been there to see it too.

But, on the last morning, we were packing the tents when we heard howler monkeys calling in the forest across the river that run at the edge of the campsite. We rushed down to see them but for a long time, we saw nothing until I spotted a monkey swinging through the trees. It was a magical moment but all in sudden, they were gone. The loud noises continued but we saw no more.

PS. We are now at a beautiful town called Corrientes which is by the Rio Negro or the black river. It is an old town with a very laid-back feel to it. Our apartment has a balcony that overlooks at the long river that catches every glint of the sun and its water looks golden. 

We went to an amazing patisserie for cakes and coffee (Argentinias love their cakes!), ice-cream (which Ismene said was one of the best she had) and a traditional parilla (barbecue grilled meat). 

The town has a beautiful selection of graffiti like this:

We are leaving tomorrow morning for a week of camping at Mburucuya and Ibera national parks hoping to see more exciting wildlife. It might be a while until we get internet access and I am not sure when I will be able to post again, but I promise I will be back and with lots of new posts.

PPS. We have now reached 2000kms!