Ischigualasto

Hello. I am a very special place far away in a country called Argentina. The ground here is red and dusty, and the wind whispers soft songs as it blows past my amazing rocks. Some of my rocks look like giant mushrooms. Others look like round bowling balls waiting for a game. Because I look so different, people call me the Valley of the Moon. It feels like you are walking on another world. But my real name is Ischigualasto, and I have a secret story to tell you, a story from a long, long, long time ago.

Are you ready to travel back in time with me. Let’s go. Millions of years ago, I was not a red desert at all. I was warm and green. Big, tall plants grew everywhere, and shiny rivers flowed through the land. And guess who lived here. Dinosaurs. Big dinosaurs and little dinosaurs walked all over me. Stomp, stomp, stomp went their big feet. They ate the yummy green leaves and played all day long. When it was time for their forever sleep, the earth tucked them in like a soft blanket. The ground hugged their bones and kept them safe, turning them into stone treasures called fossils.

For a very long time, my dinosaur treasures were a secret. Then, in the 1950s, friendly people called scientists came to visit me. They looked very carefully and found the dinosaur bones. They were so excited. They learned so much about the first dinosaurs from my fossils. On November 30th, 2000, I became a special park for the whole world to protect. I am like a storybook made of stone. When you visit me, you can read the story of our planet’s amazing past and imagine the dinosaurs who once played right where you stand.