Some 115 km northwest of the city of Resistencia is the Parque Nacional Chaco created in the 1950s to protect 15,000 hectares of wet and semi-dry humid Chaco around the banks of the meandering Rio Negro. The park includes gallery forests, marshes, grasslands, some covered in caranday and pindo palms, scrub, lakes and montes of quebracho colorado and blanco, lapacho, guayacan and algarrobo trees.

Chaco is abundant in flora and fauna, particularly birdlife of which there are over 300 species. It’s not so easy to spot the shy felines such as the puma or jaguar or the maned wolf (aguara guazu). But in Laguna Panza de Cabra you might spot the yacare crocodile or the semi-aquatic carpincho, the largest rodent in the world. The black howler monkey (alouatta caraya) takes refuge here as does the loro hablador (lorius garrulus), both sought after by illegal animal traders.

Within the park there are a couple of trails: the three-kilometre Sendero a las Lagunas Carpincho y Yacare from which you will be able to take a quick detour to see the grandfather (El Abuelo) of quebracho trees estimated to be some 500 years old; and the one-and-a-half kilometre-long Sendero de Flora. There is also a camino vehicular which arrives to viewpoints overlooking Lagunas Carpincho y Yacare or south to Laguna Panza de Cabra, where there’s a campsite without facilities. Alternatively it’s possible to camp near the park entrance.

Parque Nacional Chaco is just 5 km from the small village of Capitan Solari. For more details, visit www.parquesnacionales.com.ar, email chaco@apn.gov.ar or tel: +54 (0) 3725 499161.