Ischigualasto - Walking on the Moon

Maybe Sting was looking at the Ischigualasto Provincial Park when he was writing the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by The Police¹, Walking on the Moon².

This area in Argentina is so remote and the landscape is so surreal, that the bus ride is more like a ride in a space ship. The very dry climate produces this extreme nature, high temperatures of up to 45°C in the summer (with the Zonda even more) and during the night freezing down to -10°C. The name supposedly originates from the Quechua, meaning "place where the moon sets". Up to now it is also called Valle de la Luna, meaning Valley of the Moon. The rock formations are amazing and feature unique names like "Cancha de bochas" (perfectly round rocks), "La Esfinge" (looks like a Sphynx) or "El Hongo" (looks like a mushroom). The park also features a rather good museum about the dinosaur remains (Herrerasaurus, Eoraptor and others) which were found in that area.

All in all a very otherworldly experience with a lot of sweat! But let's not talk about the organization of the park, which was disastrous.