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The “La Campana” National Park is located in the coastal “cordillera” mountain range in Quillota province, around 1 ½ hours journey time from Viña or Valparaíso. The Park is dominated, from far off or close at hand, by the “La Campana” and “El Roble” mountains, both over 2000m above sea level and the second being the highest on the coastal cordillera with a height of 2200m above sea level.
The National Park was created in 1967 and declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO (United Nations Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication) in 1985. The creation of the park was to help preserve one of the most important ecosystems of the region; Mediterranean Esclerophic Scrub. The area was also made famous by the English naturalist Charles Darwin who visited “Cerro” (Mount) Campana on several occasions including the summit where he was taken aback by the views towards the central valleys of Chile. On clear days it’s possible to see the whole width of Chile from the coast to the high Andes around Aconcagua.
The Park’s vegetation is predominantly made up of native esclerophic woods (Peumo, Quillay, Boldo, Litre, etc.) from which appear wonderful examples of native Oaks – the densest and largest in central Chile – and the endemic Jubaea Chilensis or Chilean Palm. Also in the Park are various small animals such as Foxes, Skunks, and Vizcachas. The birdlife of the Park consists of the Giant Hummingbird (a world record), Finches, Crown Sparrows, Mockingbirds, “Turcas”, “Tapaculos”, Owls, Quails, Falcons, Eagles, and Partridges, and even on occasions Condors.
We will visit the “Palmar de Ocoa” sector of the Park to see the exuberant flora and fauna together with the esclerophic and Oak woods as well as the clusters of Chilean Palm. In the afternoon we continue to Santiago Airport or hotel.
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