Highlights

Itinerary:
Monday - Buenos Aires
Arrive at Buenos Aires International Airport. A Southern Explorations guide will meet you at the terminal outside the customs area to transfer you to your hotel. Spend the rest of the day enjoying the amazing city that is sure to be one of the highlights of your travel to Argentina.

Tuesday -Buenos Aires - Ushuaia - Tierra del Fuego National Park
Patagonia tours are never complete without a journey to the ends of the earth. You will be transferred to the domestic airport to fly to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, located on the Isla Grande of La Tierra del Fuego. After getting settled at the hotel, your sightseeing starts right away with some Patagonia trekking in nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park.There will be time to explore the park's highlights before returning to your hotel for a free evening to enjoy the fine seafood cuisine of Ushuaia.

Wednesday - Cerro Cortez Hike
After breakfast you will be picked up at your hotel for Patagonia hiking adventure, a moderate to difficult all-day guided trek to the top of Cerro Cortez. The fun begins with a 4 x 4 ride up a quarry to the trailhead. You'll ascend on a steep trail through a sub-Antarctic beech forest, crossing peat bogs. After passing the tree line, you are rewarded with sweeping views of the area. The best photo opportunities still await you. Arriving at the crest, you'll find a breathtaking panoramic landscape with the Martial range, the Andorra and Rio Chico valleys as a backdrop. You'll see Ushuaia and its landmark, Mt Olivia of the Andean range. Towards the sea are Chile's Isla Navarino and the legendary Murray Pass leading to Cape Horn. Enjoy lunch in one of the most picturesque settings of the park. After lunch descend back to the quarry where the Land Rover will be waiting to return you to Ushuaia.

Thursday - Harberton Ranch - The History of the Pioneers
Another unforgettable experience of Patagonia tours, you'll explore Tierra del Fuego, the southern portion of Patagonia with its magnificent vistas and a fascinating history. From Ushuaia, you'll head east to Estancia Harberton. This estancia belongs to the descendants of the first British missionaries to reach the area, Rev. Thomas and Mary Bridges, and was managed for many years by Natalie Goodall, a well-respected naturalist in the area. From the estancia, you'll take a small boat to Gable Island (the largest in Patagonia's Beagle Channel) for lunch. After a hike on the island, you'll visit the Penguin rookery at Martillo Island, the domain of the Magellanic penguin and even a few Gentoo penguins. The unique location of this island (close to where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans merge) attracts a rich variety of sub-aquatic life, making it an ideal spot for bird watching to see such species as petrels, skuas, cormorants, sea gulls and albatross. This southern Patagonia tour ends at Harberton before returning to Ushuaia.

Friday - Ushuaia - El Calafate - El Chalten
Depending on the flight schedule you'll have time for some on your own sightseeing in Ushuaia, with a visit to the fascinating End of the World Museum or the Presidium, before your transfer to the airport for your flight to El Calafate for your next adventure. When you arrive in El Calafate, you'll travel to El Chalten, a small remote town at the foot of Mt. Fitz Roy, and be taken to your hotel with dramatic views of the mammoth granite walls of the mountain and other important peaks. After getting settled, you may enjoy a short or long hike in preparation for the rest of your Patagonia hiking. The hour-long hike to Piedras Blancas Glacier goes through a beech forest where you may hear Magellanic woodpeckers at work. Reaching the gateway to the Continental Icecap, you'll view the Marconi Glacier. If you care to make a longer more rigorous hike, you may choose the five-hour trek of Cerro Polo which offers a panoramic view of Poincenot, Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre and the Continental Icecap.

Saturday - Mt. Fitz Roy
You'll take a challenging full-day hike to Mt. Fitz Roy base camp and Laguna de los Tres. The mountain was named after Robert Fitzroy, the captain of Darwin's ship, the Beagle, though the indigenous Tehuelche people continue to call this granite pinnacle Chalten, meaning "God of Smoke." Until recently the mists that enshroud the mountain were mistakenly believed to be volcanic eruptions. After breakfast you'll hike north to the base of Mt. Fitz Roy where three glaciers drain into Laguna de los Tres. Breathtaking views of Lake Viedma and the vast Patagonian steppe provide the kind of photograph-worthy moments that Patagonia tours are made of.

Sunday - Cerro Torre Hike
Today is spent on another Patagonian classic along 10,259 ft. Mt. Torre, famous for its beauty and its elusive summit that many expeditions attempt to reach each year, but only a few succeed. On this full-day of trekking Patagonia, you'll travel into a forest along a slightly descending trail leading to a lookout facing the Cerro Torre and the Adelas ranges. At trail's end along the shore of Laguna Torre you'll enjoy beautiful views of Mt. Torre and the Torre glacier surrounded by the Egger and Standhard spires and the Adelas range. A van will be waiting at El Chalten to drive you back to the Hosteria.

Monday (2) - El Chalten - El Calafate
After breakfast, there will be time for more hiking in the area including a short trek from town to overlook famous Mt. Torre. In the afternoon, a private van will transfer you to El Calafate. The late afternoon is free for you to tour this charming city on your own.

Tuesday (2) - Perito Moreno Glacier Hike
At last, it's time to experience the Perito Moreno glacier, the crown jewel of Patagonia tours. Today, you will board a boat on Lake Argentino to reach the massive front wall of blue ice, seeing floating icebergs along the way. There you'll make a beach landing and walk along an ancient beech forest that meets the glacier to photograph one of South America's top natural wonders. After hiking an hour or so, you'll embark on a mini glacier hike (equipment and local guide provided), enjoying the extraordinary surroundings and maybe even witness an ice wall calving into the lake. In the afternoon, enjoy a picnic lunch, listening to the ever-shifting ice.

Blue Ice Upgrade - USD 100 Per Person: This extension to traditional Patagonia tours is for those who wish a more in-depth exploration of the Perito Moreno glacier. With crampons, you'll enjoy a full-day of hiking deep into the glacier and its caves accompanied by a local glacier guide. The exploration includes a practice of safety techniques and plenty of time during the day to photograph this extraordinary place. (Because this is a very demanding seven-hour ice hike, it is advisable only for participants between eighteen and forty-five years old in good physical condition. The terrain is uneven with loose pebbles.)

Wednesday (2) - El Calafate - Buenos Aires
Transfer to the airport for the flight back to Buenos Aires.

Thursday (2) - Buenos Aires
Transfer to the Buenos Aires International Airport for your flight home from your tour of Patagonia.

Travel Types

• Hiking
• Photography

Degree Level

Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$:

USD 4,700

Cost Includes:

Cost Include Description:

- Professional, English-speaking local guides
- All hotel accommodations (twin shared basis including continental breakfast)
- Meals as indicated
- All transfers in private van
- Entrance fees for all scheduled tours, national parks, archaeological sites and boats
- Southern Explorations pre departure services

Credit Available

no

This Program is open to

American Participant.

Participants Travel to Argentina

in Groups

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