Horse Trekking - "Adventure Patagonia"

Overview

On this tour you will discover the various regions of Patagonia and see very closeley the Gauchos and chilean families with their pleasant way of living. Enjoy the magnificent landscape on horseback and see the enormous peaks of Torres and the Paine-massive towering above the pampas and the condor, the king of birds, circling over it.... This journey also takes you into one of the remotest and wildest regions of Chile, because the natural barriers such as dense virgin forests, bizarre mountains, deep cut valleys and giant masses of ice seperated this area from the rest of the world. Here they are still the white spots on the map and a lot of peaks nobody ever climbed, most of them even without a name. Only in the middle of the 70s they began to build a gravel road - the Carretera Austral - through the giant virgin forest. This road takes you to the departure of your tour, on which you can ride through the unspoiled wilderness on an old pioneer trail far away from civilization. You will be enthralled by the species-rich flora and fauna of these isolated widths of Patagonia. At the campfire you meet the Gauchos drinking mate and listen to their stories. You get to the peacefull small town Villa O'Higgins and at the same time "Fin del Mundo", the end of the world. With siutable weather conditions we offer you optional and as a spectacular end of the tour the option to see you tour of a different angle of view by plane from Villa O'Higgins to Coyhaique. A good possibility to see your covered tour, the famous Cerro San Lorenzo, giant glaciers and a great view over Patagonia.

Requirements:

Normal fitness, basics in horseback riding, joy for adventure and giving up some comfort, an open mind for getting to know the local people.

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Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Punta Arenas

Arrival in Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the world. Here you will be welcomed by your guide and accompanied to the hotel located in the city center.

Day 2: Punta Arenas - Torres del Paine National Park

Coach tour in a comfortable minibus through the widths of the wind-lashed steppe directly to the Torres del Paine National Park. In the afternoon you have the chance to become acquainted with the well experienced horses and you have a first ride for habituation to Lago Nordenskjöld, where you can enjoy the first magnificent views of the surrounding mountains. You spend the night in the Las Torres hut. Duration of riding: about 2 - 3 hours.
[B, D]

Day 3: Torres del Paine Lookout "Base Las Torres"

Today you saddle the horse and ride to one of the highlights of the park: the foot of  Torres del Paine at the lookout "Base Las Torres". You will climb the last part over a field of moraine scree until soar in a deeply green lagoon, where the peaks of Torres are towering over 1000m vertical to the sky. In the afternoon you ride back to Refugio Las Torres to spend the night. Duration of riding: about 6 - 8 hours.
[B, PL, D]

Day 4: Cuernos del Paine - the Paine Horns

After breakfast you will ride along the Paine massif to the Cuernos del Paine, the Paine horns. These are huge granite mountains, which where formed by erosion over thousands of years. With a view of the endless width along the wonderful lakes and lagoons you will ride slowly at the ground of giant mountain massifs. In the evening you will return to Refugio Las Torres. Duration of riding: about 4 - 6 hours.
[B, PL, D]

Day 5: Lago Grey

On this day trip you will drive through the whole national park to the Lago Grey. While doing so, you may observe herds of Guanacos (a llama-like animal), the ostrich-like Nandu and flamingos. On a hike through beech woods to the seashore of Lago Grey you can admire the giant deeply blue ice mountains, blown from the wind of Glacier Grey and waiting for end by the sun. In the marvellous light of the evening sun you wiil return to Refugio Las Torres..
[B, PL, D]

Day 6: Torres del Paine - Pinguinkolonie Seno Otway - Punta Arenas

The morning is on your own command. You can relax or discover the nature by an easy hike along Monte Admirante Nieto to the lagoon Inge. In the afternoon you drive to the seashore of Seno Otway, where you can see hundreds of Magellanic penguins in their colonies. Afterwards you drive back to Punta Arenas and stay at a hotel.
[B, PL]

Day 7: Punta Arenas - Balmaceda - Lago General Carrera

In the early morning, you take the transfer to the airport and fly to Balamceda, where you are received by  your local guide for Central Patagonia. In a comfortable minibus you drive on the Carretera Austral through varied mountain landscapes to the 6,000-year old cave paintings of the Aonikenk people. Through dense virgin forest you get to the peacock blue Lago General Carrera, which is the second-largest lake in Southamerica, where you reach by boot the "Capilla de Marmol", a bizarre cliff island with caves of striped marble. Along the marvellous shore of the Lago General Carrera you drive to the idyllic Puerto Bertrand, where you spend the night in a comfortable cabaña.
[B, D]

Day 8: Getting to know the horses in Central Patagonia

In the morning, there is a little introduction to Patagonian habits and the mentality of the people. Afterwards you drive along the turquoise-colored Rio Baker, which is a river most abundant in water in Chile, and continue to Salto Grande, where you can see flood waters tumbling down. In the village Cochrane you saddle your horses and start your ride. - Horses are like human beings, they are individuals. Therefore every horse has its characteristics, which differ from one another. That's why from the beginning we look after the interaction between horse and rider and that everybody gets the horse, which "fits" the best. - Overnight at a family-run guest house.
[B]

Days 9 - 12: Cerro San Lorenzo and the mountains of Patagonia

In the morning, all horses are being saddled and we load the packhorses. Your adventure begins and you ride from Cochrane to the valley of Rio Saltos. Here you can see the spectacular Cerro San Lorenzo, Patagonia's second-highest mountain, and pass the glaciers, whose ice calves directly into the lake. Afterwards you ride to Pikota, a seldom passage to reach the mountain pass. With a grandiose view over the snow covered mountains you ride down into the valley Rio Bravo. You reach the foothills of the pampas and the free prairie invites you to gallop, before you arrive at Lago Alegre. Like the evenings before the horses supply you with food and you sit among at one's leisure at the campfire. Overnight stay in 2-person tents.
[B, PL, D]

Days 13 - 17: Pioneer Trail far from Civilisation

You feel the wilderness and ride along the Lago Alegre in the isolated, unspoiled nature and arrive at Lago Christie with his crystal-clear waters. You meet lonely Campesinos, who live their hard but happy life remotely from civilization, without electricity and contact to the outside world. It's a tradition to invite you to Mate tea. Reaching the old suspension bridge of the Rio Mayer you ride southwest with direction Villa O'Higgins and the destination "civilization". Until recently, this village was only accessible by horse or with a small airplane, because it didn't have a road connection. Here you can have a hot shower and you stay in a family-operated hospedajes.
[B, PL, D]

Day 18: Villa O'Higgins - Coyhaique

After a stop at Lago O'Higgins the journey via Carretera Austral back to Coyhaique. Therefore we offer you optional and as a perfect conclusion with good weather conditions you have the oppportunity to fly back from Villa O'Higgins to Coyhaique and see during the flight the area your covered, the famous Cerro San Lorenzo, giant glaciers and lagoons and of course you have a wonderful views of Patagonia.
[B]

Day 19: Coyhaique on your own

After this adventurous tour Coyhaique, the capital of the region, offers you the opportunity to do some shopping for souvenirs or to discover the surrounding area on your own. Of course, you may also simply spend the day at leisure. You spend the night in a comfortable Hostaria.
[B]

Day 20: Coyhaique - Farewell Patagonia

After a nice breakfast, transfer out to the international airport of Balmaceda and fly back to your home country via Santiago de Chile with your pack full of adventures.
[B]

Included Meals

B = breakfast, PL = packed lunch, D = dinner

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What's included?

Tour Includes

• Transportation and excursions according to program
• Flight from Punta Arenas to Balmaceda
• Horses, including the equipment for the aforementioned program
• Horse trekking with packhorses from Cochrane to Villa O'Higgins, with meals from the camping kitchen, including all dishes etc. and overnight stay in high quality 2-person tents, including comfortable sleeping mattresses
• All accommodation as mentioned in the program
• All meals specified in the program (see itinerary: B = breakfast, PL = packed lunch, D = dinner)
• All entrence fees to the national parks
• Local, bilingual guide (Spanish and English speaking)

Additional Costs

• Transportation/ airfare to Punta Arenas/ from Balmaceda (Coyhaique), Patagonia, Chile
• Charter flight from Villa O'Higgins to Coyhaique
  
• All meals that are not stated as included
  
• Additional alcoholic and/ or non-alcoholic beverages
• Optional tips to your tour guides and/ or other people working for you (e.g. hotel staff etc.)

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Departure Dates & Prices

This special tour departs as follows:

Accommodation in double rooms. In the refugios (mountain huts) the are no single rooms and no double rooms, but dorms, which usually sleep 6 persons.

Price

Single Accommodation

Single occupancy is available for EUR 290.- per person.

Mini Group Supplement

Supplement in case of 4 - 5 Tour Members: EUR 295.- per person

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