Argentina - Ecology
"Argentina Explorer"
Buenos Aires & Patagonia
12 days / 10 nights hotel

ITINERARY

DAY 1 WED  USA / BUENOS AIRES (D in-flight)

Enjoy complimentary cocktails, dinner, and movies during your overnight flight.

DAY 2 THU  BUENOS AIRES (B, D)

Welcome to Buenos Aires the “Paris of South America”! After clearing customs and immigrations, you will be met by your guide and transferred to your hotel.

Your guide will assist you with the early check-in, give you a briefing on the hotel and neighborhood and advise you of the meeting time for tonight’s dinner.

The balance of the afternoon is at leisure.

Buenos Aires By Night Dinner & Tango (3 hours).

Travel to the Esquina de Carlos Gardel. The evening starts with a steak dinner (Argentina is well known for its beef) after which begins the show. The Tango is part of the “background music” of Buenos Aires. Enjoy a special “porteña” music night at the Esqina, where typical songs and dances are performed.

DAY 3 FRI  BUENOS AIRES (B)

City tour of Buenos Aires (half day – 4 hours)

Departing from the hotel, start with 9 de Julio Ave the world’s widest boulevard, passing the famous Colon Opera house, the Obelisk commemorating the first founding of the city in 1536 to get to Plaza de Mayo (May Square). The square is bordered by the Cabildo (the old town hall dating from 1751), the Casa Rosada - Government House and the Cathedral housing the Mausoleum of General San Martin, Argentina’s greatest national hero. The tour continues to La Boca, an area greatly influenced by the Italian immigrants who settled there, and the brightly painted houses of ‘Caminito’ street.

The tour then continues along the Buenos Aires docks with the remodelled area of Puerto Madero that houses excellent restaurants and coffee shops. Continue onto San Martín Square towards Palermo Chico residential district and Palermo Park with its jacaranda and palo borracho trees which flower in the spring and late summer. The ride progresses to the elegant Recoleta district to visit the Recoleta Cemetery where the famous are laid to rest (including Eva Peron). Return to the hotel along the stylish Alvear Ave.

An early morning transfer takes you to the airport for your flight to Trelew, gateway city for Puerto Madryn. An early morning transfer takes you to the airport for your flight to Trelew, gateway city for Puerto Madryn.

DAY 4 SAT  BUENOS AIRES / TRELEW - PUERTO MADRYN (B, L)

Punta Tombo Rockery Tour (half day – 4 hours)

where up to one million pairs of Magellan penguins call this site their breeding home and they are visible as far as the eye can see. A constant stream of penguin moves from the nest area to sea, making these endearing birds visible at close range. Most of the 17 species of penguins, with the exception of the emperor, inhabit the Antarctic Peninsula and sub-Antarctic islands, and rarely, if ever, range below the 60th parallel. A few other species, including Galapagos and Humboldt, inhabit more northerly regions. Magellan penguins are the only species that regularly visit this region of Argentina.

Unusual birds, penguins are highly specialized and uniquely adapted to their natural environments. They differ from most seabirds in that they fly at great speeds in the water, not above it, have layers of blubber, a thick coat of feathers and hunt their prey by diving to very deep depths.

Like all penguins, Magellans are clumsy on land, but extremely fast in the water. Their stark coloring is an adaptation for survival. A dark back camouflages them from above, and white undersides help to conceal them from water predators, such as southern sea lions, leopard seals and orcas. Like all penguins, Magellans spend most of the year at sea. They return to their breeding colonies around September to prepare for their young. Eggs are laid from late September to October, and hopefully you will see hatchlings during your visit.

A visit to a penguin colony is a study in group interaction. The birds’ behaviors while nesting and fledging their young is intriguing, comical, complex and simply fascinating. Whether feeding their chicks meals of regurgitated squid and other seafood, squabbling over nesting materials or the show of mates performing interactive brays and displays, penguin behavior will be sure to give you an insight into penguin society, as well as keep you busy all day.

Enjoy lunch, en route to your hotel.

After your tour you will be transferred out to Puerto Madryn. Upon arrival in Puerto Madryn, check in to the hotel.

DAY 5 SUN  PUERTO MADRYN (B, L)

Peninsula Valdes tour (full day-8hours)

The continental habitat of the outstanding sea elephants. Peninsula Valdes is one of the most important wildlife reserves in Argentina. The peninsula is almost an island, barely connected to land by a thin isthmus. It is a treeless, arid piece of land that shelters a variety of seabird and marine mammal colonies. It is also the site of the lowest point in South America and one of the lowest continental depressions in the world which has salt pans 42 meters below sea level. The bays on the north (Golfo San Jose) and south (Golfo Nuevo) sides of the isthmus are the breeding grounds for southern Wright whales, elephant seals and southern sea lions. Guanacos, rheas, tinamous (roadrunner-type birds) and maras (also called Patagonian cavys) can be seen loping along the interior roads, and Magellan penguins and several other species of sea birds occupy vast areas of the beaches and headlands.

Visit to the Punta Piramides Sea Lion Rockery where sea lions are viewed. Your next stop will be Puerto Piramides, where you will visit a southern sea lion loberia or rookery. During the breeding season, more than a thousand sea lions crowd the beaches and sandstone shelves of the area. Males, up to nine feet long, arrive at the rookery in November before the females, when they select their territory and defend it viciously from other males. Loud bellowing, sometime accompanied by bloody fights, is often heard from the males as, over the summer, they gather a large harem of females. Stop for lunch at local restaurant during the tour.

DAY 6 MON  TRELEW / USHUAIA (B)

The morning is at leisure.

This afternoon you will be transferred back to the airport in Trelew for your flight to Ushuaia.

Welcome to Ushuaia! you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Your guide will assist with check-in and give you dining suggestions for this evening.

The balance of the day is at leisure.

DAY 7 TUE  USHUAIA (B, L)

Ushuaia National Park Tour (half day- 4 hours)

Located 12 km west of the city, the park was created in 1960 and became the southernmost preserved area in Argentina and covers 6 km along the Beagle Channel. The topography is extremely rough. Everything is a succession of craggy mountains, rivers in the middle of the valleys and lakes. There are six species of trees and a large variety of flowers (yellow violets; white, green and yellow orchids and sea pinks) There are plenty of bird species as well as silver fox, upland geese, rabbit, muskrat, beaver, salmon, trout, tailed hake and sardines. On the shores there are crab, sea snails and mussels. The tour goes by Rio Pipo Valley and its Ensenada Bay, Beagle Channel, within sight of Redonda Island, the Lapataia area and Verde and Negra Lagoons.

After the park, stop for a crab lunch at Tolkeyen then continue your day with Navigation of Beagle Channel by catamaran. View the Bridges, Conejo, de los Pájaros and de los Lobos Islands and Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. On this excursion you can see things left behind by the explorers of the zone, seals and a large variety of sea birds.

Lunch at local restaurant.

Return to the hotel late in the day.

DAY 8 WED  USHUAIA / EL CALAFATE (B)

The morning and early afternoon are at leisure.

This afternoon you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to El Calafate. Upon arrival you will be met by your guide and transferred to your

The balance of the day is at leisure.

DAY 9 THU  EL CALAFATE (B, L)

The Perito Moreno Glacier (full day- 8 hours)

El Calafate is located approximately 80 km from Perito Moreno Glacier, along a paved road with the last 30 km within Los Glaciares National Park.

Upon leaving El Calafate you encounter Redonda Bay in Argentino Lake teeming with a great variety of fowls. During the first 40 km the trip is along the Patagonian Steep. Then, entering the National Park there is a noticeable change in the vegetation, basically formed by ñires, guindos and lengas, many colored flowers among them the intense red colored notro, the typical flower of the Andean Patagonian Forest. Once at the glacier you will be overwhelmed by the impressive spectacle and appreciate the many unforgettable views from the walkways. Your guide will take along the walkways and paths. Enjoy lunch at Unidad Turistica Restaurant.

Late day return to the hotel.

DAY 10 FRI  EL CALAFATE (B, L, D)

Travel to Puerto Banderas to board the Upsala Explorer at 8.00AM.

Upsala Explorer tour (full day-8 hours)

Today will a day of navigating Lake Argentino and cruising among icebergs. Enjoy breakfast and afternoon tea while slipping past the icebergs and glaciers. Arrive at Estancia Cristina, located on the Cristina Channel, near Upsala Glacier and proceed with an exploratory journey to the Upsala Glacier. Activities include walking and overland expedition in 4x vehicles. Stop en-route for lunch at the Estancia. Return to Puerto Banderas at approximately 8.00PM and stop for dinner at a local restaurant. Continue on to your hotel after.

DAY 11 SAT  EL CALAFATE / BUENOS AIRES (B)

A mid morning transfer takes you back to the airport for your flight to Buenos Aires. Upon arrival you will be met and transferred to your hotel. This evening you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back to the U.S.

DAY 12 SUN  BUENOS AIRES / USA (B, D in-flight)

Arrive in USA . Clear customs and immigration.

Included Features

• Roundtrip Airfare USA /  Buenos Aires / USA
• All accommodations, meals as per itinerary
• Daily buffet breakfast at the hotels
• All tours and transfer as specified including entry fees, on a private basis
• All airport transfers and local transportation for tours
• All hotel taxes and service charges
• Local English speaking guides/services throughout

Not Included

• Passaport & Visa
• Items of a personal nature
• Drinks at meals
• Optional city tours or evening excursions
• Tips to guides/drivers
• Airport Taxes