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South American Natural Adventures nature tours & travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and general travel to Chile, Peru, Argentina and Antarctica
In Brief This
tour offers an opportunity to discover mythical Patagonia and its
natural wonders. During this trip we shall visit a truly wonderful
biosphere reserve: the Torres del Paine National Park. This park comprises
a fascinating diversity of habitats and wildlife, from windswept steppes,
shrubs and pristine sub-Antarctic Nothofagus Join
us on this comprehensive 11-day natural history program, In Patagonia. Trip Highlights
Day
1: Santiago / Punta Arenas Day
2 - Punta Arenas / Magdalena Island / Punta Arenas Day
3 - Punta Arenas / Torres del Paine National Park Days
4 and 5 - Torres del Paine National Park Day
6 - Laguna Azul / Sierra Baguales / Puerto Natales Day
7 - Balmaceda and Serrano Glaciers Day
8 - Punta Arenas / Puerto Williams Day
9 - Isla Navarino Day
10 - Navarino Island Day
11 - Punta Arenas
Departures: Cost: Please Call. Tours are guaranteed to depart with a minimum of 2 participants. A Single Supplement will be added if single accommodations are requested or required. Included:
return flights Santiago/Punta Arenas (see note below regarding these
flights) and Punta Arenas/Puerto Williams, all meals from breakfast
on Day 2 to Breakfast on Day 11 (plus in-flight meals), 3 and 4-star
accommodations throughout, all ground transportation, airport transfers
in Punta Arenas, boat trips to Magdalena Island and Balmaceda/Serrano
Glaciers, park entrance fees, and guide services provided by a Fantastico
Sur naturalist tour leader. Days
before and/or after in Santiago, international air to Santiago and
additional tours and travel can be added to your journey to Patagonia;
our rates for all these are extremely competitive. Please us call
tollfree - 1 877 285 1170 - or email
for more information or to discuss your plans. **Important
information regarding International Flights, Internal Air & Tour
Pricing**
For more information call toll free on 1 877 9CHILE9, or email us |
forests
to
lakes, glaciers and impressive granite mountains, such as the Torres
del Paine pinnacles. Guanacos, condors, foxes and flamingoes are just
a few examples of the quality of the wildlife of this national park.
This land is also the domain of a solitary hunter, the Puma. Much
of the Southern Andes is dominated by the huge Patagonian ice sheet.
Sailing the freezing waters of the inlet of Ultima Esperanza allows
exceptional views of the faces of the impressive Balmaceda and Serrano
Glaciers. Learn about the first Patagonians and about the different
tribes who lived in this region of windy plains, icy fjords and intricate
channels. In the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel we study
the routes followed by Darwin and many other sailors and explorers.
Along the way visit to breeding colonies of penguins and sea lions.
A visit to Omora Ethno-Botanical Park, a fascinating initiative that
blends science and conservation in the Beagle Channel. 
Founded
in 1580, this was the first settlement on the Straits of Magellan
and was founded by the Spanish Explorer Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa.
Unhappily, the extreme nature of the climate proved incompatible with
h
uman
habitation, and the entire population had perished in a short period
of time. 250 years later, a British scientific expedition, aboard
the Beagle and the Adventure, spent several months undertaking extensive
exploratory journeys in the Patagonian Fjords. It was here that Darwin
conducted several field trips. During the afternoon sail the Straits
of Magellan for a couple of hours to visit Magdalena Island to visit
a Magellanic Penguin rookery. On Magdalena we witness one of nature’s
truly great spectacles as thousands of birds hasten to complete their
breeding cycle during the brief months of summer. (B,L,D)
ylodon
Cave, an outstanding natural formation that sheltered a large number
of Pleistocene mammal species about 12,000 years ago, and made famous
as the final quest in Bruce Chatwin's boo
k,
In Patagonia. The drive travels from the Chilean coast through the
Patagonian plains. This journey alone is the equal of many “day
trips” in other regions, but is just an introduction to our
week in Patagonia. Lunch is taken along the way. As we approach the
park the dramatic landscape rises above the plain, the peaks often
breaking from swirling cloud. The first wildlife may be seen along
the way, i
ncluding
rheas and geese; occasional foxes may also be seen. Once in the P
ark
we are often greeted by small groups of guanacos grazing by the side
of the road. A short while later we arrive at our accommodation, 
will travel to Lago Grey, one of its highlight 
features.
Along the road we will view towering mountains, glaciers, wetlands,
steppes and forests, and learn of the geological origins of this dramatic
backdrop of Torres del Paine, one of the finest natural wonders of
Patagonia. As we move around the park, we observe confiding herds
of guanaco, the most southerly distributed of any camelid. A walk
from our hotel to the base of the Torres del Paine mountains takes
us through some of the most stunning scenery imaginable. After hiking
through a terminal moraine we reach a location that commands the most
incredible views of the towering peaks of Las Torres, the pinnacles
from which the park takes its name.
(B,L,D)
as
of the park. A sensational 
vista
from Laguna Azul will provide an excellent opportunity to photograph
the beautiful guanacos, foxes, rheas, soaring Andean condors and black-chested
buzzard eagles against the stunning backdrop of the colossal granite
“towers”. In the afternoon we will continue to Sierra
Baguales, a dramatic montane habitat beyond the boundaries of the
park to discover its peculiar assemblage of birds, its wealth of flowering
plants and its interesting fossil deposits. We arrive tonight
at our hotel, the Martin Gusinde, in Puerto Natales.
(B,L,D)
nesting
habitats for king cormorants and our voyage through these icy waters
may provide an opportunity to view the rare Chilean dolphin, an endemic
Chilean cetacean that inhabits these ocean inlets. After a few hours
of sailing in this section of the marine labyrinth known as the Chilean
Fjords we will arrive at the magnificent glaciers of Balmaceda and
Serrano. We will land here and explore some of the dense temperate
rain forest found here with its unique flora. Tonight we return
to Puerto Natales. (B,L,D)
An early start this morning to return to Punta Arenas. On arrival
we fly to Puerto Williams, the southernmost city in the world, with
a population of only 2000. Here we have the opportunity to visit Ukika
Village, where we can meet the last descendants of the original Cape
Horn inhabitants: the Yamanas. The greatest concentration of archaeological
sites in the world is to be found here on Isla Navarino. We will also
visit 
Navarino Island is the southernmost location of the sub-Antarctic
Nothofagus forests,a and this area of Cape Horn and the Beagle Channel
has recently been designated one of the 37 most pristine eco-regions
in the world. We spend much of the day discovering these forests,
and their plants and wildlife, including a searchfor the impressive
Magellanic Woodpecker. (B,L,D)