Cariló (from the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

word meaning "Green Dune") is an upscale beach resort town in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. It is situated in a man made forest on the Atlantic coast of the

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, approximately 360 km south of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

city in the administrative division of

Pinamar Partido Pinamar Partido is a partido on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It limits with La Costa Partido to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the route 11/Interbalnearia to the west, and Villa Gesell Partido to the s ...

. Until a few years ago, access to the town was strictly controlled by the ruling authority. Today Cariló is publicly accessible, but comparatively high prices ensure that it remains the preserve of the ''well-heeled''. Cariló offers a lot of activities to individuals of all ages. The beach town offers

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

that attract many tourists for four wheeling. Many hotels and lodges in the area either have

All-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is strad ...

, or quads, to rent or are associated with a company on the beach that does it.

Dune bashing Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...

is a local favorite in the area for tourists and year-round inhabitants.

History

The Cariló area was transformed from large desert dunes close to the sea to a huge forest and a beach. In the early 1920s, Mr. Héctor Manuel Guerrero started the

forestation Forestation is either growing existing forests ( proforestation) or establishing forest growth on areas that either had forest or lacked it naturally. In the first case, the process is called reforestation, or reafforestation while the second is ...

of the farm called "Dos Montes". This farm included a cattle ranch called "Médanos" (Spanish for "Dunes") that has a surface of 1.700 ha. Several problems were faced as the lack of transportation and accesses were combined with almost no experience regarding on-sand forestation. Guerrero family decided to keep the forestation up to the sea shore, and included some

fruit trees A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usag ...

that brought local bird species. In 1935, this newly-forested area was named "Cariló". In 1938, the forestation nurseries were moved to the "Dos Montes" farm. In 1947, more than 660,000 trees were ready to be planted. In 1948, an estate house called "Divisadero" (also known as "Casa Grande") was built over a dune by the sea with the forest behind. During the 1970s, all of the forestation nurseries were decommissioned when the forestland of the total private property of the Guerrero family was completed. The sons of the founder decided to name all the streets of Cariló, using wild plants/trees - for those streets running perpendicular to the sea - and local bird names - for those that are in parallel to the sea - in alphabetical order.

Tourist attractions

Cariló is a beach town that offers many hotels, lodges, cabins, and summer homes to tourists both from

and elsewhere, rather than having yearlong residents. Since it is a ''hotspot'' amongst tourists it offers several activities to visitors. File:Carilo Beach.jpg, Quiet seashore File:Downtown Carilo.jpg, Paseo Epuyen File:Carilo Streets.jpg, Street view File:Carilo Forest to enjoy.jpg, Forest view File:Carilo Birds.jpg, Local birds

References

External links

Sociedad de Fomento de Cariló
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carilo Populated places in Buenos Aires Province Populated coastal places in Argentina Seaside resorts in Argentina Populated places established in 1970