Lauca National Park
Lauca National Park in the North of Chile.
Lauca National Park is located near the town of Parinacota, 19 km from the Chungara Lake and 46 km from Putre, in the North of Chile. With a surface of 137,883 hectares, comprehends the Andean foothills and the High Plateau to the northwest of the Tarapacá region. It is located within the 3,200 and 6,342 meters height.
The weather is dry, with an average of 280 mm of annual precipitations. It rains in summer and snows in winter. The average temperature oscillates between 12ºC and 20ºC at day and -3ºC and -10ºC at night.
From the Park it is possible to watch the Parinacota Volcano (6,342 m), the Pomerape Volcano (6,282 m), the Guallatire Volcano (6,060 m) and the Acotango Volcano (6,050m). In the park area which comprehends a significant territory of the Lauca National Park, exist volcanic boilers such as the Ajoya and the Tejene and lava fields such as the Cotacotani.
The waterflows of the Lauca National Park mainly consists on the Lauca River (Río Lauca), which rises from the wetland of Parinacota (Bofedal de Parinacota), of which waters filters underground from the Cotacotant Lagoons (Lagunas Cotacotant) and the Chungará Lake (Lago Chungará), one of the highest lakes in the world (altitude of 4,517 m and a surface of 21,5 km).
There are more than 130 species between mammals and birds which can be easily sighted. The typical mammals are guanacos, vicuñas, llamas, alpacas, tarucas, vizcachas and foxes (zorros). The most common birds are the common rhea (ñandú), the red-winged tinamou (perdiz), the chilean flamingo (flamenco chileno), the guallata, the brown pintail (pato jergón), the puna teal (pato puna) and the condor.
The Park is populated and most of its inhabitants has Aymara origins and still keeps cultural traditions such as the llamas and alpazas shepherding, the music and religious festivities.
The main access to the Lauca National Park is on the International Road CH-11, which unites Arica and Tambo Quemado, cuts the Park by half. We offer an Arica-Chungará Lake tour to the area, which allows you to safely visit the park.
This Park was declared National Park in 1970 and in 1981 was declared Biosphere World Reserve by UNESCO. The entrance is free.
** Information related to Hours, Rates and Dates might change without any previous notice **
February 12th, 2009 at 21:13
The good thing here is that there is a well-defined change in the climatic variations of day and night.
This brings with itself a package of great culture along with the history. The park has beautiful flora and fauna… I fulled like three 2GB memory sticks.