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PATAGONIA EXPEDITIONSmall Group Escorted Tour
FEB 10, Peninsula Valdes, Patagonia. Your tour leader will welcome you at the airport of Trelew, a city 1,200 km south of Buenos Aires, and welcome to Patagonia!. Drive to Puerto Madryn, a charming coastal city on the Golfo Nuevo shores. Here we will enjoy a panoramic tour and lunch. In the afternoon we will drive to Isthmus Carlos Ameghino which marks the entrance to the Peninsula Valdes Nature Reserve. Peninsula Valdes is a paradise for nature lovers. During our visit we’ll be able to see some of its rich wildlife that includes guanacos, Patagonian gray foxes, armadillos (piches and peludos), lesser rheas (choiques), and Patagonian cavies (maras). In the evening, we will arrive at a quaint guest ranch/hotel in the Península. Dinner. (BL,D)
FEB 12, Puerto Madryn - Bahia Bustamante. Breakfast. We will depart in the morning to Bahia Bustamante, a remote seaside village located on the northern arch of San Jose Gulf. It is an area with a rich variety of seabirds, marine mammals and other wildlife. The history of the region is very interesting as well:
Since 1952, the village has been exclusively devoted to the seaweed harvest.
At the beginning, 500 people lived there who then used wagons pulled by horses
to collect the crops. Today some 40 inhabitants live in Bahía Bustamante who
are all devoted to the seaweed production, which makes this place a “world’s
unique seaweed village”.
There, (weather permitting), we'll have the opportunity of a boat trip to the
seaweed fields and observe vessels harvesting seaweed, and to the Vernacci
Islands to see Sea Lion colonies, penguins and Marine Bird colonies. OR we
may hike to the Peninsula Gravina to enjoy the protected white sand
beaches surrounded by walls of red rocks, and visit archeological sites
Lunch, dinner and lodging. (B,L,D) FEB 13, Bahia Bustamante – Petrified Forest - Patagonia Steppes (Santa Cruz Province) Breakfast. Today we will visit the Petrified Forest. Later we'll continue our trip southwest, and finding ourselves immersed in the vast landscape, until reaching the legendary Route 40. We’ll arrive in the evening to a traditional Patagonian "estancia" (ranch) in the Santa Cruz Province, where we’ll be staying for one night. Lunch and Dinner included. (B, L, D) FEB 14, Rio Pinturas - Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands). In the morning we’ll have time to enjoy a delicious country breakfast. Then, we’ll visit Rio Pinturas, an area well known for its impressive cave paintings. In the Cueva de Las Manos we will be greeted by hundred of handprints, hunting scenes, and abstract symbols in a variety of colors. The artistry legacy of the Tehuelches, the early inhabitants of Patagonia, still remains in this caves. Some dating back to 8,000 BC. In the evening, we will arrive at a rustic Patagonian estancia where we'll stay for two nights. Lunch and dinner included. (B,L,D)
FEB 15, Patagonian Steppes and Ranch. Breakfast. Today we can hike, ride horses, or just relax and enjoy the magnificent scenery and wildlife that surround us. Lunch and dinner included. (B,L,D) FEB 16, Los Glaciares National Park. El Chalten and Mount Fitz Roy. After breakfast, we will continue our journey until entering Los Glaciares National Park, an area filled with immense glaciers, majestic mountains, and pristine lakes. We'll arrive at El Chalten, a small settlement at the foot of the Fitz Roy chain of peaks and have the rest of the evening to explore. Lodging at a local hosteria in El Chalten. Lunch and dinner. (B,L,D)
FEB 18, Los Glaciares Natl. Park. El Calafate. Perito Moreno Glacier. Morning at leisure to explore or relax. Today, we will drive to El Calafate, a small village at the shores of the Argentino Lake. Hotel lodging for two nights. Dinner. (B,D) FEB 19, Los Glaciares Natl. Park. El Calafate. Breakfast. Full day excursion to Perito Moreno Glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is only 500 ft. above the sea level. This impressive mountain of ice measures 160 ft. by 2.5 miles, and sometimes advances as fast as 10 inches a day. We will cross Argentino Lake aboard a boat, and land on an isolated beach from where we will start our trekking expedition on the glacier with crampons. Lunch and dinner included. (B,L,D)
FEB 20, Torres del Paine National Park. Chile. After breakfast, we’ll cross the international border, and the Andes Mountains, to Chile. Our destination is Torres del Paine National Park, a spectacular park (450,000 acres) declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. We’ll be staying at a hotel in a beautiful area of the park for the following two nights. Lunch and dinner included. (B,L,D) FEB 21, Torres del Paine Natl. Park. Chile. Breakfast. We’ll have all day to hike and explore the multiple attractions of the park. Torres del Paine features accessible glaciers, impressive granite peaks, lakes and rivers. We will also be able to enjoy a great variety of fauna species like rheas (choiques), guanacos and birds such as woodpeckers, peregrine falcons, and condors, depending where we venture. Lunch and dinner included. (B,L,D)
FEB 22, Torres del Paine Natl. Park. Punta Arenas. Chile. Breakfast. We will enjoy the morning at leisure in the Park. In the afternoon we will continue our journey farther south to Punta Arenas, a picturesque town overlooking the Strait of Magellan. (B) FEB 23, Strait of Magellan. Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Argentina. After breakfast we’ll leave Punta Arenas and we’ll cross the Strait of Magellan arriving in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Our destination is Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Lunch included. Lodging in Ushuaia. (B,L) FEB 24, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Argentina. Breakfast. Today we will go west for a day long sightseeing excursion to Tierra del Fuego National Park, visiting Rio Pippo, Bahia Ensenada, Lago Roca, (a large lake surrounded by mountains and shared by Argentina and Chile). Laguna Verde, Laguna Negra and Bahia Lapataia which is the very end of the Pan American Highway. Lunch in the park.(B,L) FEB 25, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Breakfast. Morning to relax or take optional boat excursions. In the afternoon we will enjoy a city tour and visit to the museum of the end of the world, where we can see historical objects left by early European explorers and native artifacts. In the evening we will enjoy a farewell dinner. (B,D) FEB 26, Ushuaia - End of Expedition. After breakfast, we will say good-bye to our travel mates and friends, and we will go to the airport, so you can take your flight back to Buenos Aires. OR transfer to the port to embark on your cruise.(B) INCLUDED IN TOUR PRICE
*International and domestic airfares are not included (Domestic flights will cost about $400 in economy) - Single Supplement: $800.-
CRUISE TO ANTARCTICA Trip Extension aboard "MS USHUAIA" (Antarpply S.A,): 10 days/ 09 nights aboard FEB 26: Embark in Ushuaia FEB 27, 28: Drake Passage MAR 01, 02, 03, 04: South Shetland Islands & Antarctic Peninsula MAR 05, 06: At sea crossing the Drake Passage MARCH 07: Disembark in Ushuaia
CRUISE TO ANTARCTICA aboard "Ocean Nova" (Quark Expeditions) 12 days/11 nights (10 nights aboard) * We'll discount 1 hotel night in Ushuaia that is included on your Patagonia Expedition tour and add 1 additional night after your cruise in Ushuaia or Buenos Aires OR add two hotel nights after your cruise. FEB 24: In Ushuaia FEB 25: Embark in Ushuaia FEB 26, 27: Drake Passage FEB 28, MAR 01, 02, 03, 04: South Shetland Islands & Antarctic Peninsula MAR 05, 06: At sea crossing the Drake Passage MARCH 07: Disembark in Ushuaia
Please, contact us for more detailed information of the itinerary and costs. NOTE: $150 TOUR DISCOUNT if you sign up for this tour and a cruise to Antarctica. All Rates in US DOLLARS Please email us at tours@patagoniaadventures.com
Some photos of our
Tour Patagonia Expedition,
February 2005
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