Gateway to the Andes in Chubut
By Gustavo Vera
The city of Esquel is located on the Andes region of the province of Chubut, 300 kilometers to the south of Bariloche, and to 650 to the west of Trelew.
It is the most important in the Chubut mountain towns and its geographic location allows it to concentrate the economic activity and the infrastructure of services in the region.
Founded on 1906, with the arrival of the telegraph, Esquel owes its name to a Tehuelche wordmeaning "abrojal" (a place with thorny plants that cling to your clothes).
The first mention of "Esquel", as "Esguel-kaik", is in the memories of the trip of the English sailor George Chartown Musters, ("My Life between the Patagones") who between 1870 and 1871 made an expedition from Punta Arenas (Chile) to
Carmen de Patagones, following the route of by a tribe of tehuelches.
 |
| Aerial view of the city of Esquel |
The city is located in a depression of the hills that surround it, 550 meters above sea level, and the foothills form an amphitheatre aspect to it. Around it rise the Nahuel Pan hill (2.240 meters) and the Esquel Cord (2.145 meters) and the Hill La Hoya (2.100 meters), where the ski center is.
With grat variety of floods, lodging, gastronomical services and an important tourist infrastructure, the city has begun a remarkable change. Although it continues offering services to the rural sector - and in fact this daily activity also offers its attractiveness to the visitor and has a high index of public use, Esquel looks to define its tourist profile, integrating destinations like Trevelin , Tecka, Corcovado and Cholila. In additionit includes the regions of the Andes at Parallel 42.
| 
Tell a Friend