For true dino-freaks, the best place to satiate the hunger for bones is the Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales, located 90km northwest of Neuquén. It was closed at the time of research, but if you're at all interested in dinosaurs, you should check the website for latest developments. When it's operating, you can actually work – as in get your hands dirty digging – on-site with paleontologists in one of the world’s only fully functioning dinosaur excavation sites open to the public.
Quickie visits include a cruise through the on-site museum and a guided tour of the site – about 1½ hours worth. But the real pleasure comes from the unique opportunity offered by sticking around. Bear in mind that this is a working archaeological site, and visits (even day trips) should be organized well in advance.
Under the supervision of renowned paleontologist and project director Jorge Calvo, volunteers spend their days dusting off Cretaceous-period bones and picking at fossils, and nights in the silence of the desert. As Calvo says, ‘when you set to work picking at the soft rock, uncovering fossilized leaves and bones that are 90 million years old, you forget about the rest of the world – some people even forget to eat.’
Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales is a little difficult to reach; contact the site for driving directions or possible transportation options (there are no buses to the site). If you drive, take RP 51, not RN 7.
