Argentina - Unforgettable Patagonia

Upon your arrival at the El Calafate airport, you will be welcomed by a Rahhalah representative who will accompany you to your hotel where you will also be briefed about the activities of the following days. Enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure. Accommodation: Mirador del Lago Hotel or similar.

After breakfast, you will head to the Perito Moreno glacier (a 90-km drive). On the way, there will be a few photo-stops, since the views of Lake Argentino and the steppe are fantastic. On the peninsula in front of the glacier, there are walkways which offer great views on the glacier face, at times up to 60m of towering ice! With some luck, you will also have the opportunity to see ice calving, which forms huge waves on the lake. Enjoy the rest of the day wandering around this marvel of nature. Picnic lunch in the afternoon. Accommodation: Mirador del Lago Hotel or similar.

After breakfast, you will check out from the hotel and head to El Chaltén vía Estancia La Estela. There, you will launch on a unique adventure that combines in a single day horse riding in front of Lake Viedma with lunch at Estancia La Estela and floating down the legendary La Leona River, while enjoying the spectacular surrounding scenery. More specifically, you will visit the famous Parador La Leona on Route 40, where you will walk through the center of the ranch and practice horseback riding for 1.5 hours, before mourning on a raft to float, for 1 hour, down the river, surrounded by Mount Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, Lake Viedma and Cordillera of the Andes. Later, you will reach El Chalten to check-in in your hotel. Accommodation: Destino Sur Hotel or similar.

Today, get ready to enjoy a full day of hiking in the Glacier National Park. You will see granite pinnacles spiraling upward from the third largest ice field on earth, or, if weather permits, you will go on the Laguna de los Tres hike: a classic, spectacular and unforgettable trek that takes you past impressive scenery, forests, lagoons of different shades of blue, and imposing glaciers! More analytically: after breakfast, you will leave El Chaltén with your guide to reach El Pilar, the trailhead, half an hour away. You will then start this lovely walk through a forest on a path that ascends smoothly until the viewpoint of Piedras Blancas glacier. You will have a short break there to enjoy the view of this hanging glacier, a perfect example for a Geology schoolbook, with its seracs, lateral moraines and lake. You will then continue past Poincenot and Río Blanco campsites. After another short break, you will start the most challenging section of the day up to the Laguna de Los Tres. Once you reach the top, you will discover that the breathtaking views of Mt Fitz Roy and its satellite mountains were worth your effort. After a picnic lunch, you start the descent towards El Chaltén via Laguna Capri, another stunning spot in the national park! Trek Duration: 8/9 Hours. Distance: 22 Km. (There is the option for the group to be divided into two sub-groups: one following a shorter trek and the other attempting the full trek). Accommodation: Destino Sur Hotel or similar.

Today, you will experience the exhilaration of white-water rafting down Río de las Vueltas on a 3-4-hour rafting tour from El Chaltén. On Rio de las Vueltas, you will practice paddling on calm waters before conquering the several Class III rapids that you will encounter later on. In the afternoon, you will head back to the hotel to relax and, in the evening, you will enjoy a unique cooking class experience while learning to prepare empanadas – a typical Argentinean delicacy! Accommodation: Destino Sur Hotel or similar.

Today, depending on the weather, you will choose between the “Laguna Torre” OR the “Loma del Pilegue Tumbado” treks or you will go on a guided walking tour among the forests of Los Glaciares National Park. Trek to Laguna Torre This trek is rather gentle, without too much climbing. You enjoy the views of Mt Torre, the Aldea Range, Mt Solo and several glaciers, you will appreciate several glacial terrains, ñire and lenga forests, and you will reach some great spots for panoramic views. Geologists and photographers from around the world love to come here because of this glacial valley’s perfect shape. You can also visit De Agostini campground where some of the most famous climbers in the world have spent a night or two before scaling one of these granite massifs. Duration: 6 Hours Distance: 20 Km. (There is the option for the group to be divided into two sub-groups: one following a shorter trek and the other attempting the full trek). Trek to Loma del Pliegue Tumbado This trek takes you along the less walked trails up to a 360° viewpoint, from where you will marvel at the Torre and Fitz Roy valleys, the mountains themselves, the Patagonian steppe and Viedma Lake – the largest lake of Argentina. In the last section of the trail, you will come across different flora, found in these high plateaus and exposed areas, and if you look closely, you will also spot marine fossils (ammonites and belemnites). Duration: 6/7 Hours. Distance: 18 Km. (There is the option for the group to be divided into two sub-groups: one following a shorter trek and the other attempting the full trek). Regardless of the route that will be finally chosen, you will enjoy a picnic lunch during the trek, and in the afternoon, you will descend back to your hotel in El Chalten. Late in the afternoon, you will go on a guided visit to the Andreas Madsen house museum where you learn about the life of one of the first Europeans to settle in the region (a Dane pioneer who lived in the area 100 years ago), and the adventures and challenges faced by Madsen's family. When entering the home of these pioneers, you will be able to admire the original architecture of the house, which remains intact more than 100 years later. You can see the lenga wood chopped by hand with an axe, and the walls made up from layers of old wooden crates, newspapers and hessian for insulation. This type of architecture is known as Southern Patagonia Pioneers’ architecture, and this museum is one of the few places you can see it in its original form. You will also be able to check the furniture and old tools used by the family. On the walls, there are black and white photographs of family life that give an idea of what it was like to live in deep Patagonia at the beginning of the 1900s. In the end, you will sit at Andreas' dining room table and enjoy a hot evening meal while listening to numerous tales and anecdotes of bygone days. After all, Patagonia is not just a beautiful landscape. It is an amalgamation of incredible stories of men and women who, through lots of hard work and effort, decided to live in this wild corner of the earth. Accommodation at Destino Sur Hotel or similar.

After breakfast, you will check out from the hotel and head to El Calafate airport (a 3-4-hour drive) for your departure flight back to home. Note: Only one group transfer will be scheduled from El Chalten to El Calafate airport. Depending on your flight time you can go to the airport directly or roam around El Calafate town on your own.