Patagonia Natural

NATURAL PATAGONIA

Grupo Brasil x 16

 

Sat  14 jan          PUERTO NATALES

13h31 Arrival flight to Puerto Natales. Transfer to your hotel. Our guide will brief you where to have lunch, where to get around the town for a small city tour (1 h)

Sun 15 jan          BALMACEDA & SERRANO GLACIERS

7h30 Walk with a member of our staff to the  meeting point at Plaza de armas to take the transfer to the pier for an excursion to the Balmaceda and Serrano glacier. The catamaran will cruise the Last Hope Fjord sailing across a small sea lions colony and an Imperial  Cormoran’s colony until approaching the Balmaceda Glacier (view from the sea). You will hike for 30min aprox. through the magellanic forest to the Serrano glacier lookout. On the return you will disembark in Estancia Perales, a small ranch, where lunch is served (included). Returning around 17h to Pto Natales. You don´t need a guide because the catamaran will provide English speaking guides for the excursion. The meeting point is located in the main square (Plaza de Armas) walking distance of 7 blocks from Shehuen.

Monday 16 jan   NATIONAL PARK TORRES DEL PAINE

7h00 Full day private excursion to the Torres del Paine national Park with Portuguese speaking guide.

Departure from your hotel in Puerto Natales, The road will lead us to the national park following narrow glacial valleys, between magellanic estancias (ranch) and some flocks of sheep. The landscape will change from the pampa steppe to the Magellanic evergreen forest as we get closer to the Patagonian Andes Mountain range and the Paine massif.

We will stop at the most iconic lookouts: Laguna Sarmiento, Laguna Amarga, Cascada Paine, Río Paine, Lago Pehoé, Cuernos del Paine, Lago Nordenskjold, Lago Grey.

Highlights: 2 treks inside the park. 40min Hike to Salto Grande waterfall (Pudeto), you can pick the next hike from the following all are easy to medium intensity.

• 70 min hike to Mirador Condor where it is possible to see Pehoé lake in full.
• 80 min hike from Weber bridge to Lago Toro or vice versa along the Paine river.

Our guide and driver will be careful and attentive at any local wildlife so you will not miss some close encounter which may be guanacos, ñandus, condors, foxes, eagles, flamingoes, armadillo, caracaras, Andean deer among others.

We will return to Puerto Natales heading to Rio Serrano and skirting Lago Toro (the biggest of the region), Lago Porteño and Laguna Sofia. Drop off in your hotel around 18h00

Tuesday 17 jan                 TREK TO BASE TORRES

Trek to base Torres with a mountain guide. Lunch box is not included (you can order with us or bring your own). It’s a medium to high intensity trek for a distance of 20km

5h30am Early pick-up from your hotel. After a 2 hours drive, we arrive at the entrance of the park, You must show your previously purchased ticket. Our vehicle will leave us where the hike start at the Las Torres welcome center. After a short security briefing, we are ready to go through 1hour and a half medium intensity trail to the Chileno refuge (paying restrooms). Then we will walk through a magellanic forest for approx. 2 hours until we climb a steep moraine for 1 more hour reaching a small lagoon and will finally enjoy the amazing view of the three famous granite towers (depending weather conditions)

After a small rest for lunch and pictures we return by the same trail to our vehicle. 20h00 aproximate arrival time at Puerto Natales. Drop off in your hotel.

Wednesday 18 jan          GREY GLACIER

7h00 Departure from your hotel back to the park for an excursion to Grey Glacier with our guide.

9h00 We will arrive at Hotel Lago Grey where we will receive our boarding pass, then we will move to the Pingo area and start a short 25min hike along the shore to board our vessel

The catamaran’s guide will expose a safety briefing and will highlight the geography and formation of this part of the southern ice fields. Then they will open the bar and you will be able to collect your welcome drink, which can be a Pisco sour, Calafate sour or a whisky on the rocks with, of course, ice picked from the glacier. The catamaran will take you on a navigation of 3 hours where you will enjoy a unique landscape full of floating icebergs, exuberant vegetation and imposing mountains that will amaze you. This glacier is 6km wide and his front is up to 30 mts high.

After arriving back to our starting point at the shore, we will leave the catamaran and the excursion will be finished. We will directly head back to the parking area to return to Puerto Natales with a stop to visit the Milodon cave where bones and skin of an ancient giant sloth, now extinct, were found. 18h30 aprox in Natales.

Thursday 19 jan               MEET THE PENGUINS

7h30 am Our vehicle will transfer you to the city of Punta Arenas. Upon arrival we will have time to have lunch (not included). Then at 13h00 we will board the vessel that will take us to the Los Pingüinos Natural Monument in the Strait of Magellan. It is protected wild area formed by Marta Island and Magdalena Island. We will disembark in Magdalena Island, where we will be walking at leisure for about one hour in a track of 800 m long, until reaching an old lighthouse, from where we will enjoy a spectacular view of the Strait of Magellan. Both islands form an interesting ecosystem, making a fascinating place to visit, whereas Marta Island lodges more than 600 Sea lions, Cormorants, Skuas, Austral seagull, Antarctic Pigeon and Sea Elephants. The Magdalena Island allows us to interact (without touching them) with one of the largest colonies of Magellanic Penguins (between 40.000 – 60.000 birds and their chicks).

In order to protect wild life, Marta Island only allows us to circumnavigate the island to admire and photograph the Colony and the diversity of marine birds that live there.

During the navigation it is possible to sight Petrels, Skuas, Austral Dolphins and Commersoni’s Dolphins.

Finally, we will return to the pier, reaching Punta Arenas by 17h00. Arriving 20h00 aprox. to Puerto Natales

Friday 20 jan     TRANSFER OUT

12h30 Private transfer to the airport of Puerto Natales.  End of our services.

Notes:

The vehicle is a 27 seat bus  + 1 seat for the guide + driver

The entrance for the park is valid 3 days in a row. 3 Dias consecutivos

We can switch the order of some excursions to choose the best day for Base Torres.

 

Valor por persona: $ 612.400.-  pesos chilenos  

 50% down payment of $306.200 p/p  and balance  before January 3th

 

Includes

Excursions above in a private transportation.

Guide in excursion when mentioned.

Entrances to the national park and Milodon cave valid 3 days in a row.

Navigation to Balmaceda and Serrano Glacier with lunch.

Navigation to Grey Glacier

Navigation to Magdalena Island.

Trekking poles

Not included

Lodging

Meals

Personal travel insurance

Tips