FANTASTIC PATAGONIA & Australis Cruise

Duration: 17 days/ 16 nights
Date: AS REQUESTED October through April.

Group Size: Minimum 2 people
Accommodation: First Class hotels and hosterías (Inns) + Cruise accommodation
Price: $4,186  per person double occupancy+ AUSTRALIS CRUISE COST that will vary according to cabin category.

NOTE: Domestic flights in Argentina are NOT included in the price). 

AUSTRALIS CRUISE PUNTA ARENAS – USHUAIA (4 NIGHTS) (Departures from Punta Arenas are on Tuesdays and Saturdays from October through April 10th, 2012)

Single rate applies to B or A cabin.

DAY 1:  BUENOS AIRES
Welcome at the airport and transfer to your hotel.  In the afternoon you will enjoy a private tour visiting four distinct neighborhoods and plazas of Buenos Aires (Plaza de Mayo, Parque Lezama and La Boca, Plaza San Martin and Recoleta) to learn about the city and its people, commonly called “porteños”. Lodging at Hotel Pulitzer or Hotel Moreno Buenos Aires or similar for one night.  

DAY 2:  LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN/FITZ ROY Private transfer to the airport to take your flight to El Calafate. Reception at the airport and private transfer to your hotel in El Chalten (about 3 hours drive – Car/driver).  Lodging at Posada Lunajuim, Hosteria Senderos  or similar for three nights. (B)

DAY 3: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN/FITZ ROY Today you will enjoy a full day trekking excursion to Laguna de Los Tres including Piedras Blancas Glacier and base camp Fitz Roy. Picnic lunch during the excursion. Lodging in El Chalten. (B,L).

 DAY 4: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN/FITZ ROY Breakfast. Today you will enjoy a full day boat excursion on the Viedma Lake to view the spectacular Viedma Glacier.  It is one the largest glaciers in South America with a surface of 978 square kilometers (though it is receding like most other glaciers).  The excursion includes transfer to Bahia Tunel; sailing Lake Viedma, disembarking at the rock promontory in front of the ice and a short trekking on the glacier with crampons visiting the ablation areas and ice caves. The total duration of this excursion is about 6 hours. Picnic lunch during the excursion.  Lodging in El Chalten. (B,L).
NOTE: We may change today excursion due to weather conditions, and you would visit other area.

DAY 5: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN - EL CALAFATE Breakfast. In the morning, you will drive back to El Calafate and your hotel: Private transfer with driver (no guide). Lodging at Estancia Alice.  If you stay at Estancia Alice, you will enjoy a visit of the ranch, sheep shearing demonstration, and dinner and folk show. If you prefer to be in town you would stay at Hotel Esplendor or similar.  (B, D)

DAY 6: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK  After breakfast you will depart to visit Los Glaciares National Park.  This park of 600.000 hectares (2,300 square miles) has thirteen glaciers that flow into the Argentino and Viedma lakes.  Perito Moreno Glacier, is one of the few glaciers in the world that is still progressing.  It is only 500 ft above sea level, which makes it very accessible, allowing one to stand in front of a mountain of ice that measures 60 m (180 ft) by 5 km (2.5 miles).  The constant fall of huge towers of ice from its walls and into the lake is an unforgettable spectacle.  Picnic lunch at the park.  In the evening, return to your hotel in El Calafate.  Dinner at the hotel. (B,L,D)

DAY 7: EL CALAFATE - TORRES DEL PAINE:   Today, you will take a bus OR have a private transfer (car/driver) from your hotel to the border with Chile (Cancha Carrera/Cerro Castillo) where your Chilean guide will be waiting for you and drive to Torres del Paine National Park. Torres del Paine is a large park (450,000 acres) declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. You will visit Sarmiento, Nordenskjold and Pehoe Lakes. You may enjoy a short hiking to Grey lake to view part of the glacier. The park is particularly rich in fauna, and you'll be likely to see guanacos, lesser rheas, black-necked swans, geese, flamingos, Magellanic woodpeckers, and peregrine falcons and condors on the mountain slopes. Lunch during the excursion. You will arrive at the hotel late in the evening. Lodging at Hosteria Las Torres, Hosteria Serrano or similar in the park (B, L)

 NOTE: For a group of 2 passengers:  you will take a bus (transfer to bus station in El Calafate and bus tickets included) to the Chilean Border.  If you prefer a private transfer to the border please add $109 per person to the tour cost.

DAY 8: TORRES DEL PAINE:  Breakfast. Day at leisure to enjoy the park on your own.  We recommend hiking to Las Torres. (B) 

 Beautiful Torres del Paine National Park.

DAY 9: TORRES DEL PAINE/ PUERTO NATALES:  After breakfast, you will depart in Zodiac boats down Serrano River. You will enjoy a short hike to Glaciar Serrano. Then you will sail through Ultima Esperanza Fjord to a ranch overlooking the fjord.  Lunch at the ranch.  Later you will continue by boat to Puerto Natales, a charming town on the shores of Ultima Esperanza Sound.  Arrival and transfer to your hotel.  Lodging in Puerto Natales at Hotel Indigo (overlooking the Sound) or similar.  (B, L)  Note: We’ll take your luggage from your hotel in Torres del Paine to Puerto Natales.

DAY 10: TORRES DEL PAINE / PUNTA ARENAS:  Breakfast. Private transfer to Punta Arenas, a picturesque town overlooking the Strait of Magellan. You will enjoy a private city tour and visit its plaza, cathedral and see the mansions built at the beginning of the century by the big cattle ranchers.  Lodging at Hotel Diego de Almagro or similar. (B)

 DAY 11 (TUESDAY OR SATURDAY) Punta Arenas/ CRUCEROS AUSTRALIS:  Transfer to the port.  Cruise ship boarding starts at 6:00 p.m. The Captain and crew give a welcome cocktail reception on board. Immediately afterward, the ship departs for “the uttermost part of the earth”.  The excursion will take you through the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel to explore one of the most breathtaking wilderness regions in the world:  Southern Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego.  You have just embarked on a Great Adventure! (B,D)

DAY 12: CRUCEROS AUSTRALIS: Ainsworth Bay – Tucket Islet :   At dawn, you’ll continue navigating through Almirantazgo Sound until finally arriving near Marinelli Glacier in Ainsworth Bay, where you’ll enjoy a walk to discover a beaver dam in the midst of a marvelous Magellanic forest. On the beach you’ll observe a colony of elephant seals. Later you’ll visit Tucker Islet, where you’ll view colonies of Magellanic Penguins and Cormorants from the Zodiac boats. The islet’s penguins migrate in April; as a replacement you may visit Brookes Bay, for a short walk to see a glacier. (B,L,D)

 DAY 13: CRUCEROS AUSTRALIS: Pia Glacier – Glacier Alley :  You’ll navigate through the main part of Beagle Channel to reach Pia Bay, where you’ll disembark near Pia Glacier. You’ll take a short hike to a lookout point with a spectacular view of the entire glacier tongue, stretching from high in the mountains all the way to the sea. After this unforgettable experience, you’ll sail again along the northwest arm of Beagle Channel through majestic “Glacier Alley”: Spain, Romanche, Germany, Italy, France and Holland glaciers. (B,L,D)

DAY 14: CRUCEROS AUSTRALIS: Cape Horn – Wulaia Bay :  You’ll sail through Beagle and Murray channels to reach and disembark in Cape Horn National Park (weather permitting). Cape Horn, on Hornos Island, is a sheer, 425-meter (1,394-foot) high rocky promontory at the point where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans merge. This mythical place is known as the “End of the Earth”; a visit is a singular privilege. The park was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in June 2005. In the afternoon, you’ll go ashore in historic Wulaia Bay, once the site of one of the region’s largest aboriginal settlements. This area is also renowned for the mesmerizing beauty of its vegetation and geography. You’ll walk through a Magellanic forest of Lengas, Coigües, Canelos, ferns and other native vegetation to reach a lookout point. (B,L,D)

DAY 15: USHUAIA/ TIERRA DEL FUEGO - ARGENTINA :  Arrival in Ushuaia.  You’ll disembark at around 8:00 and welcome to Ushuaia!,  Private transfer to your hotel and rest of the day at leisure.  Lodging at Hotel Los Ñires  or similar for two nights.  (B)

DAY 16: USHUAIA- TIERRA DEL FUEGO:  Today you will go west for a hiking excursion to Tierra del Fuego National Park. You will visit different areas of the park such as Ensenada Bay and Lapataia Bay, and you’ll be able to see two remarkably different ecosystems: the sea-shore and the sub-Antarctic forest which occur together only in a few places on earth and are unique in Argentina.  Lunch in the park. (B,L)
 

DAY 17: USHUAIA/ BUENOS AIRES / … Transfer to the airport and flight to Buenos Aires. (B)

END OF OUR SERVICES

INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE

*Single Supplement: $958 for tour + Single supplement Cruise

SERVICES NOT INCLUDED IN TOUR PRICE

 All rates in US DOLLARS