Escuela de Lenguas UNLP/About Argentina/Tourist Attractions/Catamarca

Catamarca is a province in Argentina, located in the north-west of the country. The capital is San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. It is 70 per cent mountains. This makes Catamarca a great place for adventure tourism. Catamarca has important tourist attractions: the snowy peaks of the Andes, well-known and promoted under the name of “six thousand” and its chain of lakes. The Antofagasta de la Sierra department has beautiful landscapes. Another attraction is the bath of Fiambala.

Campo de piedra pomez

This fascinating tour is located 63 km. from the town of Antofagasta and 10 km. from the town of El Peñon. It presents large size fields of pumice, which resemble a sea of white rock with pink ridges. Here, the strong wind descending from the Andes has carved into the rocks creating the most diverse forms, corridors or "avenues" and all kinds of fascinating sculptures. Witness of the intense volcanic activity in the region since immemorial time, Golf Pumice is a unique landscape, like another planet. It is irresistible to anyone who enters the attractive territory of “La Puna”. The minimum height of these circuits is 3,000 meters, and rises to more than 4,000 m, so it is essential to drive in appropriate vehicles (you can reach the town of El Penon in common vehicles, but then you must arrange excursions and experienced guides with 4 × 4 trucks). Pumice is purely igneous in origin and is produced from an imposing explosion of volcanic strata, known geologically as the Plinian type. A pumice field looks like a glaciar, and is originated from the silica white powder ash coming from volcanic eruption.