Our trips do not have a strict itinerary. The days of travel are pre-determined, but the daily program is made in consultation with the group and the guide. The guide will provide a program on most days and a number of excursions are planned, but are not obligatory. You will enjoy the assistance of the guide and camaraderie of the group. But, again, those who want more independence have the option to dine and explore on their own. After all, that is the best way to become familiar with a country.
Our 2008 program has some deviations from the descriptive texts, which will be changed. Please note the change in yellow below.
2008
ARGENTINA/CHILE
1. Depart US
2. Arrive Buenos Aires
3. Buenos Aires, night bus to Puerto Madryn
4. Puerto Madryn, excursion to Valdés Pennisula
5. Puerto Madryn, excursion to Valdés Pennisula
6. Puerto Madryn - Esquel
7. Esquel - Los Alerces - Nahuel Huapi - Bariloche
8. Bariloche
9. Barliloche, flight to Calafate
10. Calafate - Chalten
11. Chalten
12. Chalten - Calafate
13. Calafate, visit Perito-Moreno Glacier
14. Calafate - Torres del Paine
15. Torres del Paine
16. Torres del Paine - Calafate
17. Calafate, flight to Ushuaia
18. Ushuaia, excursion to Tierra del Fuego
19. Ushuaia
20. Ushuaia, flight to Buenos Aires
21. Buenos Aires
22. Depart Buenos Aires (NL group departs at 9:50 PM)
23. Arrive US
Buenos Aires
Day 1 Depart United States
Day 2 Arrival Buenos Aires
We begin and end our tour in the busy Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires, the city where the cradle of the tango once stood. This is also the native city of world famous soccer player Maradona, the current princess and future queen of The Netherlands, Maxima, and the city of the well-known writer Jorge Luis Borges. Buenos Aires, at first glance a cosmopolitan modern city, also has a slightly Parisian or Madrid-like feel to it, with wide boulevards, colonial buildings and an omnipresent retro-chic style. Wandering over the Avenida de Mayo, which connects the Plaza del Congreso with the well-known Plaza del Mayo, you will pass buildings that would not look out of place in many European cities. The Porteños, as the inhabitants of Buenos Aires are called, are truly proud of their city. At the beginning as well as at the end of our tour you will have time to visit the city center and the sprawling neighborhoods, the barrios.
Puerto Madryn
Day 3 Buenos Aires, night bus to Puerto Madryn
Day 4 Puerto Madryn - excursion to Valdes Peninsula
Day 5 Puerto Madryn
We travel by a comfortable night bus to Puerto Madryn, an atmospheric seaside resort where many street names and tearooms recall the founders of the city, immigrants from Wales. Peninsula Valdes is situated nearby. A unique animal kingdom has formed here. The beaches of Valdes are a paradise of sea-lions, seals, and sea elephants, which, when summer arrives, give birth to their young here. Because these animals are no longer hunted, they are easy to photograph. They are in the company of penguins, flamingos and many kinds of sea birds, including the king cormorant. Less welcome guests, at least for the seals, are the schools of Orcas that skim the coasts for inattentive young seals. At open sea, not far from the coast, there are many kinds of whales. Particularly between August and the beginning of December, many humpback whales come here to mate and give birth on the coast. According to experts, this is one of the best places in the world to view these impressive sea animals up close.
Esquel and Bariloche
Day 6 Puerto Madryn - Esquel
Day 7 Esquel – Los Alerces – Nahuel Huapi - Bariloche
Day 8 Bariloche, lake route boat tour
We will travel by private bus to Esquel. On the way to Esquel we will visit National Park Los Alerces. Here you can find enormous, 13 foot wide and 197 foot high Patagonian cypresses, some of which are more than 4000 years old. We will picnic in the vicinity of a beautiful lake.
In Nahuel Haupi, huge mountains border on lakes and dry plains. This popular Argentinean ski resort, with its typical Alpine architecture, gives you the sense that you have landed in Switzerland. The many kinds of chocolate in the shop windows from nearby chocolate factories only increase that feeling and on the Plaza Independencia you can have your picture taken with a Saint Bernard dog! You may find the surroundings more interesting. From the Avenida 12 de Octobre there are beautiful views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Bariloche is also a good starting place to go on beautiful walks in the surrounding area. The ski lift to Cerro Cathedral offers spectacular wide views of the surrounding mountainous area. In wintertime this is the ski resort of Argentina, where in Tyrol-type mountain huts you can draw up a chair to enjoy some cheese fondue. If you ascend even further, to the Cerro Piedra del Condor, then you remember once again that you are in Argentina.
The next day you can participate in an optional tour along the famous lake route: a magnificent boat tour across the lakes Nahuel Huapi, Frias and the emerald green water of Todos los Santos. We will be transported between these three lakes on a regular line-bus. Nahuel Huapi is characterized by a large diversity in landscapes. High mountaintops border lakes, dry steppes and cypress forests, resulting in an interesting mix of flora and fauna. The departure is early in the morning so that when the weather is clear, you can slowly see the mountains become illuminated, turning from gray to golden yellow right after sunrise. In this region there are many volcanoes, such as the impressive Osorno. Every now and then you pass a waterfall. In early spring you can encounter some drifting ice on the lakes situated at higher altitude, which produces beautiful images. You return to Bariloche in the late afternoon.
Day 9 Bariloche, flight to Calfate
Day 10 Calafate – Chalten
Day 11 Chalten
We travel by plane to Calafate. By bus, we then travel a further 137 miles to the small village of Chalten. The partially unpaved road lead across a plateau, and along the way we have a chance of seeing nandus, the Argentinean version of the ostrich. From Chalten, at the foot of the impressive FitzRoy Mountain Range, beautiful hikes in the surrounding area are possible, offering good wide views of the FitzRoy Mountain Range. For the most intense hikes you should count on walking four to five hours. Loose stones make some paths difficult to walk on. Just outside of the village a path leads you to the Laguna Torre. From here, when the weather is clear, you may have a good view of the granite peaks of Cerro Torre and Cerro Standhart. A different hike leads you through the beautiful valley of the Chorillo del Salto to the green Laguna de los Tres. During this hike you can enjoy beautiful views of the various peaks of the FitzRoy. After such a trek you will fall asleep tired, but content.
Day 12 Calafate – Chalten
Day 13 Calafate, excursion to Perito Moreno Glacier
Back in Calafate you can pay a visit to the Los Glaciares National Park. In 1937, the government declared this region a national park and in 1981, UNESCO found it worthy of World Heritage status. In this park you will find the largest, most impressive glaciers of the country. There are 50 glaciers within the park borders and they form the largest compact ice mass on the continent, next to Antarctica. The most spectacular one is the world famous ‘Perito Moreno’, an ‘ice river’ .62 miles wide and 197 feet high that flows into a crystal clear lake. The glacier, discovered in the late 19th century by geologist Francisco Perito Moreno, is one of the few glaciers in the world that is still growing. This increase, caused by heavy snowfall at a high altitude, causes the glacier to slowly slide further. The ice walls, however, are not strong enough to carry the increasing weight, and regularly, enormous chunks of ice break off with a deafening cracking sound and a spectacular sight to behold! In the vicinity of the glacier you can view the ice mass from various hiking paths and viewing points. Do stay on the paths, however, for your own safety and to avoiding paying a large fine.
Day 14 Calafate - Torres del Paine
Day 15 Torres del Paine
Day 16 Torres del Paine - Calafate
By bus we travel to National Park Torres del Paine. This is the most well known park of Chilean Patagonia. The glaciers, ice-mountains, waterfalls, turquoise-colored lakes, swirling rivers and many high-rising snowy peaks, to which the park owes its name, have given this area the nickname ‘Little Alaska’. From the ‘refugio,’ a simple mountain hut where we will be staying, you can go on hearty hikes in the park. The hiking trails in the park are well marked so that you can find your way around easily. Along the way there are amazing views of beautifully colored lakes surrounded by ancient forests and wide glaciers and you share the landscape with the nandus, Patagonian hares, foxes, the rare puma, the lama-like guanacos and various bird species. An absolute must is the hike to a viewing point with a great view of the impressive Torres.
Day 17 Calafate, flight to Ushuaia
Day 18 Ushuaia, visit Tierra del Fuego
A domestic flight brings us to the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia. This windy city on the Beagle Canal, surrounded by mountains with permanently snow-covered peaks and a glacier, is strongly reminiscent of Scandinavia. In the center of town a sign reminds you that you are about 1,988 miles away from Buenos Aires. In the summer months many large cruise ships dock here on their way to the Antarctic. For a good view you can walk up through the ascending streets along the outskirts of the city. The pleasant wooden houses with painted corrugated iron roofs create a gentle impression. However, from 1884 Ushuaia was a place of exile for criminals, and even up until the middle of the twentieth century prisoners were serving their sentences here under abominable circumstances. Today the infamous prison Presidio de Ushuaia is accessible to the public and is definitely worth visiting. The Territorial Museum (also known as The End of the World Museum) is interesting as well. Here you can get a good impression of the history of Ushuaia and its former inhabitants, the Yamana and Onas Indians. In 1520 the Portuguese discoverer Magellan, in search of a passage-way to Indonesia, sailed through the narrow strait that now bears his name and called the surrounding area ‘Tierra del Fuego’ after the many fires the Indians burned here. For us, Ushuaia is the ideal base from which to explore the rough nature of the land in the National Park Tierra del Fuego. We will go by bus to the park, where you can take various hikes that offer amazing views over the Beagle Canal and its fjords, where large colonies of sea birds breed. The next morning, depending on the flight times, you can take a boat tour on the canal and/or to the small island of Los Lobos to view the sea lion colony from up close.
Day 19 Ushuaia, flight to Buenos Aires
Day 20 Buenos Aires
Day 21 Depart Buenos Aires (NL group departs at 9:50 PM)
Day 22 Arrive US
In Ushuaia we fly back to Buenos Aires. Plaza del Congreso forms the heart of the city, an enormous square with colossal statues and fountains. You should definitely pay a visit to Plaza del Mayo, made famous by the Grieving Mothers. The salmon-colored federal governmental palace is situated on the eastern side of the square. From a balcony of this Casa Rosada, Eva Peron, the legendary icon of Argentina, addressed the people. Every two hours the changing of the guard takes place here. The splendid grave of Evita, at cemetery Recoleta, is also worth visiting. In the harbor-quarter La Boca, the colorfully painted houses in the street El Caminito make for some especially nice pictures. After all the wandering around it is nice to relax in one of the older grand cafes with richly decorated interiors, before flying back to the US.
