4* & 5* Argentina Tour - Patagonia Eco Tour

Day 1, 2 & 3: Estancia Nibepo Aike
Transfer from el Calafate to Estancia Nibepo Aike.
Program includes: Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner.

• Transfers in/out
• Trekking
• Participation on rural activities
• Horse back riding
• Exursion to Perito Moreno Glacier
• Nautical Safari: one hour boat ride to Southern Ben. The ship sails opposite the glacier southern wall.
• Minitrekking on the glacier.

Estancia Nibepo Aike is situated within "Los Glaciares" National Park, in utterly unspoilt countryside of incomparable natural beauty. It is a typical pioneer estancia of the early twentieth century.
Unusually for a Patagonian estancia, but due to its location and the quality of its pastureland, the main production nowadays is beef cattle, with sheep as a secondary line.

Day 4: Hosteria El Puma
After breakfast, transfer from Estancia Nibepo Aike to El Chalten.
Acomodation in Estancia El Puma, located in the heart of Argentina's Glacier National Park, set at the foot of Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.

Day 5: Hosteria El Puma
Early breakfast.
Optional today, medium difficulty trekking to Laguna de los Tres: The way from El Chaltén to Poincenot camping site is repeated (4 h) and it continues by crossing Blanco River. From here the track is about 400 m upwards to De los Tres Lagoon. The track finishes in an old glacier moraine edge with an extraordinary view of the lake and De los Tres Glacier. This is the closest view of Fitz Roy Mount granitic wall and its peripheral spires. By going down the moraine we can continue a path that goes round the lagoon up to its mouth where we appreciate the lonely Sucia Lagoon and its hanging glaciers. A good alternative for extreme adventure lovers is to spend the night in Poincenot camping site and start climbing very early, a few hours before sunrise. If it is not cloudy, the very first minutes of the sunrise will leave an unforgettable memory in our minds when the hills dye into a magical reddish: one of the most beautiful natural shows to contemplate.
Viedma Glacier Sailing plus Icetrekking:
09:00 hr: we depart from Bahía Túnel Port to Viedma Glacier. At 15 km northwards from El Chaltén we find the small Bahía Túnel port which is located at a sheltered natural bay a few hundred metres away from the delta that forms the homonymous river.
We sail the first 15 minutes in this sheltered bay southwards by a modern ship HUEMUL (55 passengers). The lake depth allows a comfortable sailing near the shore so that we can observe Fitz Roy Hill massif and Huemul Hill from the ship. On arriving in Cabo de Hornos (south-eastern end in Campo Ventisqueros), we turn westwards and suddenly, we have a sensational view: Viedma Glacier. Only a 25-minute sailing is left to arrive at the rocky promontory that emerges like a peninsula from the glacier snout.
10:30 hr: we arrive and disembark at the rocky promontory opposite Viedma Glacier. Once we have disembarked at the natural port, passengers are invited to descend and start a short hike on a surface left by the glacier some years ago. This area with an amusing view is the proper place for the information talks on glaciers and glaciations given by our highly-trained guide. Once the talk is over, another short hike takes us to the glacier snout at its support place on the promontory (ablation zone) where we can observe its erosive races and visit the ice caves together with the guide; this is not very likely to be seen and visited in the other big glaciers.
Then we arrive at the crampon place to put them on and start a 2-hour trek on the homonymous glacier (optional).
14:15 hr: we depart from the promontory, have lunch (passengers pay for the meal) and sail along the glacier snout in its breaking zone. Once the excursion by land is finished, we embark again to sail opposite the glacier snout (about 55 km high). From the ship we can observe a wide range of blue colours (due to the different strong pressures the ice undergoes on its descent to Viedma Lake by going through a natural funnel created by Huemul and Mascarelo Hills).
15:30 hr: we arrive in Túnel Bay. We return to El Chaltén and arrive there at about 16:00 hr

Day 6: Estancia La Estela
Transfer from El Chalten to Estancia La Estela.
Located at the birth of the river La Leona and at meters from the Lake Viedma, "La Estela" has the most spectacular landscapes of South Patagonia: Lake and Viedma Glacier and the world famous Fitz Roy and Torre peaks.

Day 7: El Calafate
Breakfast and transfer to El Calafate.
Accommodations in Hotel Kosten Aike. The hotel is located in the urban centre El Calafate, near Lago Argentino. Its wooden staircases and balconies, wide eaves, and galleries offer a comfortable and easily walked building. The stone, bricks and regional wood used in the building of the hotel, place it within the andino - patagonic architectural style.

Day 8: El Calafate
After breakfast transfer from the hotel to El Calafate Airport.