Patagonian Expedition Race
Location Guide - Parque Karukinka
Will Gray (PER) / 15.02.2012
Now the teams are in Tierra del Fuego, find out more about the wild forest of the Karukinka reserve they are racing through ...
This is a remote wilderness park like no other – a place where the only marks on the ground the teams will come across are animal footprints.
In 2010, when the race last travelled through here, the teams spotted some of Patagonia’s most iconic wildlife. One even used guanaco footprints to find their way – following the markings to reach an animal they spotted on a distant hill.
The private natural park is owned by the Wildlife Conservation Society (thanks to a donation from Goldman Sachs) and it protects 416 different plant species and 99 species of animal. Rare inhabitants include tuco-tucos, Magellan parakeets and the intriguingly named Patagonian tyrant.
Its terrain includes some of the world’s most pristine forests, glacial lakes, snow capped mountains and turba meadows – and it’s now home to a new trail, built by race organisers NIGSA, that will open to the public next month.
The park aims to build eco tourism value in its natural land, helping to conserve the region and protect the wider lands from potential future mining exploration.
[Click here to learn more about Karukinka.]
SleepMonsters
