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Argentina

Best of Patagonia / Hiking the Patagonia Classics / More Patagonia Treks / Discovery Tours
Buenos Aires / More Patagonia / Iguazu Falls / Lake District / Salta / Mendoza / Ibera / Valdes Peninsula
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Route 40 Road Trip
4 days – 3 nights (easy, low physical demand)

Departures: Guaranted all Wednesdays
Season: October to April
Starts at: Comodoro Rivadavia Airport
Ends at: El Chalten

This program allows us to travel the legendary Route 40, with its long rubble roads crossing the Patagonia steppe. We will visit the Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands), with 10.000 year old paintings of human hands and animals, in the beatiful canyon of the Pinturas River. We will travel the canyon of the Oro River with their view of the Cerro San Lorenzo, the highest in the Patagonia

Day 1 Comodoro Rivadavia – Los Antiguos
Our trip begins 2 pm at the restaurant of Comodoro Rivadavia airport, which will be our meeting point. We travel southbound along the Atlantic coast skirting the Gulf San Jorge for 70 km to enter Caleta Olivia, main oil producing city in Patagonia. From here we turn west to leave the Atlantic behind and start our approach to the Andes. After 350 km (paved road) we reach Los Antiguos, on the shores of Lago Buenos Aires, the second largest lake in America after Titicaca. We are 2 km away from the Chilean border.
Lodging at Hosteria or Inn, double room with private bathroom.
Alternative: Single room with private bathroom.
Meals we provide: Dinner

Day 2 Los Antiguos – Lago Posadas
From Los Antiguos (famous for its cherry production) we travel south along route 40 to get to the Pinturas River Canyon and visit the “Cueva de las Manos” (Cave of the Hands, literally), ancient paintings 10,000 years old. We travel then west to Lago Posadas, small and picturesque town and gateway to Lakes Posadas and Pueyrredón on the argentinean side. We drive this day approximately 360 km, 60 of them paved.
Lodging at Hosteria or Inn, double room with private bathroom.
Alternative: Single room with private bathroom.
Meals we provide: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Day 3 River Oro Canyon – Lake Pueyrredón
Lakes Posadas (blue) and Pueyrredón (green), separated by a narrow stripe of land, are probably two of the most beautiful lakes of southern Patagonia. They lay in a large glacier valley, separating the Highlands of Lake Buenos Aires from Cerro San Lorenzo massif. We use this day to visit this beautiful valley and the surroundings of both lakes. We’ll see strange and colourful rock formations, wetlands and birds. We also visit the River Oro Canyon, which comes from Cerro San Lorenzo to Lake Pueyrredón.
Lodging at Hosteria or Inn, double room with private bathroom.
Alternative: Single room with private bathroom.
Meals we provide: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner.

Day 4 Lago Posadas – El Chalten
Alter breakfast we get on the bus for the final sprint to El Chalten, 550 km south. On our way, different birds and flowers will give life to the desert-type landscape. We have lunch in a Patagonian style stop-over place. The final 100 km westbound features lake and glacier Viedma and the spires of Fitz Roy massif and Cerro Torre group. Arrival to Chalten is scheduled around 7 pm. End of services.
Meals we provide: Breakfast.

INCLUDED:
Bilingual tour leader during all the trip.
All transfers Comodoro Rivadavia airport– Los Antiguos – Cueva de las Manos - Lago Posadas - El Chaltén
3 nights hosteria
3 breakfasts, 2 box lunch and 3 dinners.

NOT INCLUDED:
Entrance fees to Cueva de las Manos.
Entrance fees to National Parks.
Medical and life insurance.
Tips.
Drinks and beverages (all foods are without alcoholic or non alcoholic drinks).
Flights or airport taxes.
Optional excursions.
Services not shown or detailed in the program.

The trip doesn't include medical assistance. The guides will carry a basic first-aid kit along the walks and VHF communication equipment for any emergency that could take place.

Transports
Transports will be done combining private and regular services.

Prices per person in US$:

Valdes Peninsula Pre-Tour Extension

Day 1 (Sunday) Trelew Airport – Puerto Madryn
We arrive to Trelew flying 1200 km/745 miles to the south from Buenos Aires. We transfer by Bus to Puerto Madryn, where we spent the day enjoying this historical town. Populated from 1886 as a railway junction, immigrant workers flooded in from Europe as the railway network expanded. Both Welsh and Italian language and traditions are still very strong here.
Lodge at Inn double base with private bathroom
Included meals: none.

Day 2 Puerto Madryn, Peninsula Valdes
After breakfast, you will be driven to Peninsula Valdes, a paradise for wildlife lovers with World Heritage status. We start our journey visiting the Interpretation Centre, located in the Florentino Ameghino Isthmus, from where we have a panoramic view of both gulfs, Nuevo and San Jose. We continue to Puerto Piramide, a village on the south side of the Peninsula. Here you may enjoy a whale watching boat expedition (optional) to observe the magnificent Southern Right Whales that remain in the area from June through December. We visit Caleta Valdes, a natural canal with great variety of marine and terrestrial wildlife; a sea lion colony, and the landscape at Punta Delgada lighthouse. We continue to the Salinas Chica and Grande, the biggest depressions in South America, and to Isla de los Pajaros (Birds’ Island) with their impressive birdlife variety.
We return around 6 pm to Puerto Madryn.
Lodge at Inn double base with private bathroom
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch.

Day 3 Punta Tombo Magellan Penguin Colony. Gaiman.
You will be driven to Punta Tombo, the biggest continental breeding ground of Magellan penguins. There, you will have the opportunity to walk along the park trails and see over 200 thousand live nests, and more than 600 thousand penguins. In the afternoon, you will visit Gaiman, a picturesque small town settled by Welsh immigrants in the 1870s, and that still maintains much of its original architecture. We may savor a delicious Welsh tea with pastries at one of the traditional teahouses of Gaiman (optional). In the evening you return to Puerto Madryn.
Lodge at Inn double base with private bathroom
Included meals: breakfast.

Day 4 Transfer to Puerto Madryn Bus Station or Trelew Airport
After breakfast we transfer you to the Bus Station, if you are going by bus from Puerto Madryn to Comodoro Rivadavia, where you meet at 2 pm the group to continue our adventure traveling the Route 40; or to Trelew Airport, if you are flying from Trelew Airport to El Calafate, where you meet at 7 pm the group to continue our adventure.
Included meals: breakfast.

Included Services
Bilingual Spanish-English receptive services.
Bilingual Spanish-English guides during excursions
Transfer Trelew Airport – Puerto Madryn – (Puerto Madryn Bus Station or Trelew Airport)
The program includes 3 breakfast and one lunch.

Services Not Included
Bus transfer Puerto Madryn - Comodoro Rivadavia for start of 18 day tour
Air flight ticket Trelew to elsewhere if not doing other tour
Whale Watching Navigation at Peninsula Valdes
Welsh Tea at Gaiman
Medical and Life Insurance
Tips
Air flight tickets and Airport fees and taxes
Services not detailed in the program