Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Did You Know?
Most of the land for the park was do-
nated to the Argentine government by
the famed Patagonian explorer, Fran-
cisco Pascasio Moreno. When the park
was officially inaugurated in 1934, it
was called
Parque Nacional Nahuel
Huapi.
Moreno's nickname, “Perito,”
was given to the glacier and national
park in Southern Patagonia. “Perito”
means expert.
At the same time Argentina created a National
Park Service
(Servicio de Parques Nacionales),
which maintains local offices in towns through-
out the country
.
Staffed by friendly, helpful
people (but rarely English speakers), their
offices have good maps and printed materials,
though virtually none are in English. Within
the parks themselves, the park service has
guardaparques
(park rangers), who maintain
and protect the environment while helping
park visitors.
Today Argentina maintains 18 national parks
and nine natural reserves (some within the con-
fines of parks). The parks protect 1% of Argen-
tine territory. Provinces have also created
provincial parks and reserves.
Argentina's parks are naturally stunning but
are not nearly as developed as US parks. There
are far fewer visitor facilities and organized
activities are arranged in nearby towns rather
than in the parks themselves. Local clubs, such
