Museo de la Patagonia

I am glad I visited the museum at the end of my stay here as I felt in  a better position to appreciate the information. It started with the Prehistory Room in which there were a range of archeological objects, including some interesting rock art.  Next was the Native Peoples Cultural Heritage room which described the 5 different ethic groups.  The Pehuenche, who were the hunters and gatherers of Monkey Puzzle nut.

Edible nuts, know as Pinon 

Female seed cones (Pinon de Araucaria)

Canoe carved from the tree trunk of the Coihue (Nothofagus dombeyi). This was used by the Huilliche tribe.

Bongo or Huampu

The horse was a very important animal for the Mapuches and Tehuelches.

Escena de la campana al desierto

Finally there was the Natural History Room. It is evident how much they value the natural environment here and strive to find a balance between enabling people to enjoy it and to protect the balance of nature. There are many national parks in the area to protect these area, near Bariloche are the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi and the Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes. There was a display of taxidermy, that was put together between 1939 and 1978 when they were collected for study and reference.  It enabled me to appreciate the size of the Andean Condor.  I spotted the bird which I had seen when climbing Cerro Campanario but had failed to get a good photo, the Chucao Tapaculo (Scelorchilus rubecula). It is bird exclusive to the forests in Patagonia, it pokes around the dead leaves on the ground in search of insects. Another bird, the Choique (Lesser Rhea), I had manage to photograph as it was in captivity.

Choique (Pterocnemia pennata)

I noticed this large picture on the wall at the top of the stairs, it was by the same artist, Antonio Berni, who had painted the Andean Market mural I had seen in the museum in Buenos Aires.

JUJUY - 1948 - Antonio Berni