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Home > Travel South America > South America Destinations > Puente del Inca
Puente del Inca
South America is thefourth largest continent of the Western Hemisphere. It is divided politically into 12 independent countries namely Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela and the overseas department of French Guiana. The continent extends to 7,640 kilometers from Punta Gallinas, Colombia, in the north to Cape Horn, Chile, in the south. At its broadest point, near where it is crossed by the equator, the continent extends to 5,300 kilometers from east to west.
South America is connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama. It is washed on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Topographically the continent is divided into three sections namely the South American cordillera, the interior lowlands, and the continental shield. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion and Portuguese and Spanish are the primary languages of the continent.
Puente del Inca, is a natural arch that forms a bridge over the Vacas River, the name of the origin of the Mendoza River. It is located in Mendoza Province, Argentina near the border with Chile, between Las Cuevas and Punta de Vacas. Puente del Inca is also the name of the nearby hot springs. Scientists speculate that interaction of extreme elements like ice and hot springs was involved in the origin of the formation. They suppose that in ancient times ice covered the river and acted as support for avalanches of snow, dust and rocks. So the dust over the ice over the river would have served as a path for the sulfurous water and petrified the surface, so when the snow melted, the bridge remained by itself. Charles Darwin was one of the visitors to this natural marvel, and made some drawings of the bridge with great stalactites.
In the early twentieth century there was a big Thermal Resort and Spa that used the hot springs to cure some illneses. There was a train station that is still standing there, and tourists arrived by train to the resort. Puente del Inca, justifiably so, enjoys a very positive reputation with worldwide travelers, and is one of the most visited place. It is also said the place of best geographical environment and can trace its origin back to prehistoric times.
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