subject: Discover Lavalle and Its Surroundings [print this page] Discover Lavalle and Its Surroundings Discover Lavalle and Its Surroundings
If you are staying at any Mendoza's 5 Stars Hotel, you cannot miss the chance to visit the town of Lavalle and its surroundings. This lovely town and its surroundings offer a natural and cutural show of infinite splendor.
The Huarpes communities of the province of Mendoza are settled in Lavalle, one of the major departments of Cuyo region. These tribes still retain many of their native customs. That makes the town of Lavalle worlwide known for its cultural tourism, traditions and religious festivals.
Year after year, this village holds celebrations like the Fiesta de la Asuncin (Feast of the Assumption), in August and the famous festival of Lagunas Del Rosario (Rosario's Lagoons) in October. These festivities are specially enjoyed by the attendants, who witness religious ceremonies and artistic performances. Regional meals and the most exquisite wines are the perfect hostfor the party. In your tour over Lavalle you can visit the Historic Chapel, the Regional Museum and the House of the Beekeeper.
Not far away from the town, in the convergence of San Juan and Mendoza Rivers, you can reach the Lagunas de Huanacache (Huanacaches Lagoons) and the Bosque Telteca (Telteca Woods). The landscape is dominated by desert sands that make it difficult to think that they actually existed for a millennium, in a balanced ecosystem of ponds and wetlands, with abundant fish, waterfowl, guanacos and rheas, where lived a huge native population.
The flow of the lakes decreased simultaneously with the growth of the cultivated land. In fact, the environment was deeply modified until the lakes finally dried up in 1960. It was the arrival of immigrants and the innovation in the irrigation systems what caused that alteration. Today the native fauna has completely vanished, as well as the ancient forests of carob, leading to large undulating dunes, which occupy the land between the rivers that were once abundant.
That is the reason why the Telteca Woods is a protected area that covers 20,400 hectares, dedicated to protect the flora and fauna of the part. It is a forest of ancient carobs, symbols of an ecosystem that occupied large tracts of territory in the province. The main purpose of this protected area is to preserve the lives of some animal and plant species that are currently in danger. Its characteristic fauna are parrots, parakeets, plovers, vizacachas, cougars and foxes.
Only a day is necessary to go to Lavalle and discover the Telteca Woods and the Rosario's Lagoons. Just a few kilometers away from Mendoza and the 5 Stars Hotel, this natural paradise is waiting for you.
