Super Patagonia, Australis Cruise & Capitals

ITINERARY

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 for two nights at Hotel Intersur Recoleta or similar .

DAY 2: BUENOS AIRES
Day at leisure to enjoy the city on your own. In the evening you will enjoy a tango show and dinner at the traditional Esquina Homero Manzi.  Lodging. (B, D)

DAY 3: BUENOS AIRES / LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK. El CHALTEN
Transfer to the airport to take your flight to El Calafate (private transfer). Arrival and private transfer to your hotel in El Chalten (about 3 hours drive – Car/driver).  Lodging at Hosteria Infinito Sur, Hotel Poincenot or similar for three nights. (B)

DAY 4: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN/FITZ ROY
Breakfast. Today you will enjoy a full day private trekking excursion to Laguna de Los Tres including Piedras Blancas Glacier and base camp Fitz Roy. It is about 4 hours one way(7 miles each way). Moderate. Level difference: 700 mts or 2,100 feet. Maximum height is 3,400 feet above sea level. You will enjoy unique views!. You may also reach Laguna Capri and return if you prefer a short hike and will still have a great experience and marvelous panoramic views. Picnic lunch during the excursion. Lodging in El Chalten. (B,L). NOTE: This is a private excursion with mountain guide so you may adapt it to your preferences.

ANOTHER OPTION Breakfast. Full  day visit to Lago del Desierto.During this excursion first you will drive along the Rio de las Vueltas and will have time to make stops for photography.  Once you reach the South shore of the lake (Punta Sur) you may decide if you prefer to do a hiking to Huemul Glacier that is a 2 hour hike to get imposing views of the Lago del Desierto and Mt. Fitz Roy.  It’s a short hike but uphill. (600ft altitude gain)

The other option once you reach the lake would be to take the boat excursion on the lake (One departure in the morning and one in the afternoon) and disembark for a short walk to Centinela Viewpoint where you will also get great sights of the Lake and North face of Mt. Fitz Roy. Lodging in El Chalten. (B,L).

DAY 5: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN/FITZ ROY
Breakfast. In the morning, you will enjoy a private trekking excursion along the Fitz Roy River valley to Mirador del Torre (about 3 hours both ways).  On a clear day you’ll be able to see Cerro Torre, its glaciers and the Adelas Cord. Return to El Chalten, and afternoon and evening at leisure to explore on your own. Lodging in El Chalten. Meals: Breakfast (B)

DAY 6: LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK: EL CHALTEN – EL CALAFATE
Breakfast. In the morning, group transfer from your hotel in El Chalten to El Calafate.  Rest of the afternoon and evening to relax and enjoy the area on your own. Dinner and lodging at Estancia El Galpon del Glaciar  OR if you prefer to be in town you would stay at Hotel Mirador del Lago  (B, D)

DAY 7: 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 8: ELCALAFATE / USHUAIA
Breakfast. Transfer to the airport to take your Flight to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego.  Arrival and transfer to your hotel.  Lodging at Hotel Tolkeyen, Hotel Mil810 or similar for two nights.  (B)

DAY 9: USHUAIA- TIERRA DEL FUEGO
Today you will go west for a hiking excursion to Tierra del Fuego National Park. You will visit Ensenada and Lapataia Bay and be able to see two remarkably different ecosystems: the seashore and the sub-Antarctic forest which occur together only in a few places on earth and are unique in Argentina. Lunch in the park. Lodging in Ushuaia. (B,L)

DAY 10: USHUAIA / AUSTRALIS CRUISE 
Morning at leisure. In the afternoon, private transfer to the office in town to check in for your AUSTRALIS CRUISE (• Check-in of passengers at 409 San Martin Street, Ushuaia until 5:00 p.m.)

Private transfer to the port to embark at 6:00pm.  Welcome cocktails aboard and departure through the Beagle Channel and cross the Strait of Magellan. (B, D)

DAY 11 – CAPE HORN – WULAIA BAY                                                                      Sail through the Murray Channel and Nasssu Bay and disembark at the Cabo de Hornos National Park (if weather conditions permit), a place where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans merge . In the afternoon, disembark at Wulaia Bay, a historical site and an ancient indigenous settlement. (B,L,D)

DAY 12 – PIA GLACIER– PORTER  GLACIER

In the morning you’ll arrive to Pia Fjord and board the Zodiacs for a shore excursion to Pía Glacier.  After disembarking you may take a short hike to gain a panoramic view of the spectacular glacier which extends from the mountaintops down to the sea, or if you prefer you may take a longer and more difficult walk up a lateral moraine of the old Pía Glacier. In the afternoon, navigate on Zodiac boats between high rocky walls until reaching Porter Glacier. (B,L,D)

DAY 13 – CONDOR GLACIER – AGUILA GLACIER 
Sail through Brecknock, Ocasión, Cockburn, and Magdalena Channels to enter the spectacular De Agostini Sound, in the heart of Darwin Mountain Range. In this area you will see glaciers descending the mountainside all the way down to the sea. In the afternoon, onboard Zodiac boats, you will route to Águila Glacier where you will take an easy walk all the way the base of the glacier. You will experience the beauty of Patagonia’s cold rainforest and see how the power of nature molded the area’s landscape. In the afternoon, you will approach Condor Glacier by Zodiac, and hopefully be able to see Andean Condors. (B,L,D)

DAY 14 – MAGDALENA ISLAND – PUNTA ARENAS – PUERTO NATALES   

Early in the morning, weather permitting, disembark at the Magdalena Island, home to a big colony of Magellan penguins and walk to the lighthouse. Note: In September and April this excursion is replaced by a Zodiac boat ride to Isla Marta to observe sea lions. You’ll arrive in Punta Arenas, a picturesque town overlooking the Strait of Magellan, and disembark at 11:30 a.m. Reception and private city tour visiting the town plaza, cathedral and see the mansions built at the beginning of the century by the big cattle ranchers.  After time for lunch (on your own), you will continue to Puerto Natales, a quaint town located on the shores of Ultima Esperanza  Sound.  Lodging for one night at Weskar Lodge, or Hotel Indigo Patagonia, or similar . (B)

DAY 14: PUNTA ARENAS – TORRES DEL PAINE NP
Departure in the morning to Torres del Paine National Park (private car with bilingual guide).  Torres del Paine is a large park (450,000 acres) declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. Today 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. You will arrive at your hotel in the evening. Picnic lunch during the excursion.  Lodging for two nights at Hotel Las Torres, Hosteria Rio Serrano or similar inside the park.  (B,L)

DAY 15: TORRES DEL PAINE:
Breakfast. Day at leisure to enjoy the park on your own.  We recommend hiking to Las Torres. (B)

Description: About 4 hours one way. Going to campamento Torres, you will walk on dirt, rocks, sheep trails along Ascencio River.

The Hosteria Las Torres, your place of departure, is at 180 meters and the Campamento Base is at 700 meters from which point you will still have one more hour of ascension to the base of Las Torres.  However, you may choose to do some other hiking or another driving excursion that you may arrange at the hotel in the park at an additional cost.  Today is a day at leisure, and so this is the hiking we suggest as a “must do” for those who like hiking, but since you will not have a guide today, you may enjoy any activity you want.  Not guided.

DAY 16: TORRES DEL PAINE / PUNTA ARENAS – SANTIAGO
Breakfast. You will drive back to Punta Arenas and the airport to take your flight to Santiago.  Arrival and private transfer to your hotel.  Lodging at Hotel Fundador or similar for two nights. (B)

DAY 17: SANTIAGO
In the afternoon, you will enjoy a tour of the city including Santa Lucía Hill (the city founding site), the picturesque neighborhoods of Paris and Londres , modern business centers of Providencia and El Bosque and elegant Vitacura and Los Condes residential neighborhoods.  You’ll visit the City Civic Center where you’ll find the “Palacio Presidencial de La Moneda”, nearby you’ll find “Palacio de Justicia”, “Plaza de Armas”, the old Post Office building, and by the Mapocho River the Cultural Center “Estacion Mapocho” and the Museum of Fine Arts by the “Parque Forestal”. (B)

DAY 18: SANTIAGO                                                                                              After breakfast, you will depart towards the Pacific Ocean on a full day private excursion to the coastal towns of Viña del Mar & Valparaiso.  On your way you’ll be able to enjoy beautiful views of the wine valleys of Curacaví and Casablanca.

You will visit several attractions, enter the elevators, and walk following the narrow streets past the Cordillera Hill, through the bohemian quarter of the old town, past the Congress building, to Anibal Pinto Square. The excursion includes a visit to the famous Novel Prize-winning author Pablo Neruda’s House Museum “La Sebastiana”.

Later you will visit Viña del Mar, also known as the “Garden City”.  You will see the Flowers Clock, and its beautiful beaches.  Return to your hotel in Santiago in the evening. (B)

DAY 19: SANTIAGO                                                                                            Morning at leisure to enjoy the city on your own or take an optional excursions to the wineries in Maipo Valley.  In the evening, transfer to International Airport to take your flight back to USA. (B)