4* & 5* Montevideo & Cabo Polonio Tour

Day 01: Arrival to Montevideo, the capital city, Tango & Candombe
Guests are met at the Carrasco International Airport and driven to the hotel. Welcome barbecue at the Mercado del Puerto and free time to rest or explore the downtown streets. Overnight in a nice centrally located 4 star hotel.

Day 2: Punta del Este and the Brazilian Border (walking)
After breakfast, short drive to nearby Punta Del Este, the famous beach resort for the more elite South Americans. Punta del Este combines harmonically impressive nature with charming architecture. We will have lovely walks and have lunch at the port. At the evening we will be driven to the Brazilian border and into Rocha, arguably the most beautiful province in Uruguay with its pristine beaches, emerald shores and network of lagoons. We will have dinner, and stay at the ‹Fortân de San Miguel".

Day 3: San Miguel National park, native forest and birds singing (hiking, birding)
After breakfast walk around the rolling hills of San Miguel enjoying a wonderful panoramic view of the area from the top of the boulder covered ëCerro Picudo‰. The view across the flat lowlands and the huge lagoon provides a very different landscape to the previous days‰ walks. We can smell the sea and on clear days view the coast. This area is home to a wide variety of birds and we will see many different native trees and bushes. We will also have the chance to see the Cimarron cattle š the first cattle, introduced from Spain in the 18th century and visit the pink granite small fort built in 1734 by the Spaniards, rebuilt after its destruction by the Portuguese in 1737. Our full hiking day š picnic included! - will be in the fields of the San Miguel National Park and the park guard will guide and show us all its secrets.
During dinner we will have another chance to taste the excellent Uruguayan wines. Overnight at ‹El Fortân de San MiguelŠ.

Day 4: La Coronilla beach š Brazilian border, walk the firm pristine beachs (walking)
After lunch we will fast walk along the wonderful, isolated ocean beach of ëBarra Chuy‰. Visitors seldom reach this beach so we can enjoy a long walk with no signs of habitation as we walk across the firm sands alongside the Atlantic Ocean. We arrive some miles further south at "La Coronilla" where after crossing a hanging bridge we will stay at small beachside hotel.

Day 5: ‹Cerro VerdeŠ, dolphins, sea turtles & shipwrecks. (walking)
Today we will walk south, alternating beaches with coastal hills, sand dunes, and pine forests into the immense Santa Teresa National Park. We pass a shipwreck buried in the sand š one of many along this treacherous coast. Indeed, Polonio, the village we visit later, is named after a Spanish galleon that went down just off the point. Luckily ëBeagle‰ with Charles Darwin aboard did not succumb to this fate and Darwin spent quite some time in Uruguay collecting species and most likely starting to formulate his theories of evolution. From the ‹Cerro VerdeŠ (Green Hill) most days there is the wonderful sight of dolphins feeding in the bay and we also have the chance to see some sea turtles. After a traditional picnic in front of the sea or in the middle of forest, we will walk back along the coast to the hotel.

Day 6: Don Bosco š tropical palm groves & Laguna Negra (hiking, birding)
After an early breakfast, we will be driven along a very scenic road near to the famous "Laguna NegraŠ (the ëblack lagoon‰, named after the dark waters). We will walk into the unique extensive palm groves. Despite a number of stories, no one knows how the palm trees got here -some 300 years old; they are native but they give the landscape a very exotic look. On this amazing walk into a private estancia‰s fields, we will reach the shores of a marshland where we will surely see ibis, herons, egrets, storks and a legion of migrating birds (birds arrive here from as far as Alaska and the Falkland Islands). After a typical picnic on the lagoon shores, we hike into the native vegetation on the Don Bosco hills from where we will be able to enjoy an incredible view of the palm groves and the lagoon. Overnight at Oceanside inn, for overnight.

Day 7: Cabo Polonio š shifting sands & sea lions (walking)
Early walk to Cabo Polonio, a charming fishing village which can only be reached by foot, horse or special four wheeled drive. We will see several sea lions that populate the small islands and make up one of the largest populations of sea lions in the world; very occasionally we spot a migrating Franca Whale. After visiting the light house and having lunch at a typical sea side restaurant we will walk between the sea and the desert! A long chain of big shifting sand dunes gives the landscape outstanding beauty! We may cross on small boats the Valizas stream where it joins with the ocean or take a 4x4 drive back to the inn for a home made dinner and a pleasant night listening the waves.

Day 8: Guardia del Monte wetlands & Rocha lagoon (walking, birtding, horse riding)
Today we will visit ‹Guardia del MonteŠ, a working estancia next to the ‹Laguna de CastillosŠ. ‹Guardia del MonteŠ has outstanding landscape beauty with important ecosystems like the wetlands with a great variety of birds and native scrublands. This area has been declared Natural Animal Reserve since 1996. We will have the opportunity to see the Ombþ forest. The Ombþ tree curiously rarely grows in groups of more than 2 or 3, the forest that we visit is possibly the only one in the world. Each tree has its own wonderful shape with thick, twisting roots spreading out over the ground; some are over 500 years and have a diameter of 2 meters (6 feet). After a typical countryside lunch we take our vehicle for a short ‹siesta-driveŠ to La Paloma where we will walk towards the sunset along a special area where a string of land separates the Rocha lagoon and the ocean. A lot of birds may be seen during this leisurely walk. We spend our last night at estancia El Charabon.

Day 9: Working estancia (hiking, horseriding)
El Charab÷n is a beautiful working estancia specialized in calving and lambing. The landscape is absolutely different from the days before, El Charab÷n combines open and undulated prairies with a large Eucalyptus forestry. Guests can enjoy a relaxing morning around the very comfortable lounge and terraces of the beautifully designed property, admiring the views, hike or ride on horseback the surrounding. After a typical lab barbecue, drive to Montevideo airport in time for outward flights or continue on pre-arranged extensions.