La Payunia

La Payunia is a reserve of some four hundred and fifty thousand hectares of volcanic country south of Malargüe, and the statistic usually quoted about it is the density of its cones: several hundred volcanoes across the field, among the highest concentrations recorded anywhere in the world. The ground is black with lava and scoria, in places running in flows that reach far across the plain, in others heaped into cones of red and black cinder such as Payún Matrú and Santa María. Between them are stretches of pale pumice, guanaco herds numbering in the thousands, and enormous silence. There are no settlements, no signal and few tracks, and visits are made by four-wheel drive with local guides.

What you actually see

• The volcanic cones - hundreds of craters across the plain.
• The lava fields - black flows and scoria stretching to the horizon.
• The coloured cinder - red and black cones such as Payún Matrú.
• The guanaco herds - thousands of animals grazing the volcanic steppe.

When to go

October to April; winter brings snow and cold that make the tracks impassable. Summer days are hot but bearable with an early start. Wind and dust are constant, and rain turns the tracks to trouble.

Honest expectations

This is a full-day trip covering long distances on rough tracks, and going independently is genuinely risky: no fuel, no water, no signal and easy to get lost. Guided tours are the practical option and are not cheap. The landscape is monotone and austere, which is either the appeal or the disappointment.

Nearby

Malargüe is the base town; Laguna Llancanelo lies north of the reserve.