RUTA 40 WITH
BARILOCHE
Itinerary
Day 1:
Pick up from airport. Transfer to hotel. Four
- hour tour to Circuito Chico, for a short glimpse
of the area. 
Day
2: Breakfast. Early morning start for
Esquel. Drive accompanied by the Andes, creeks
and lakes. Reach heights up to 1000 metres with
memorable views. Go past small towns and valleys
like Rio Villegas and El Foyel (after a renowned
Tehuelche chief) and finally reach El Bolsón,
yet another small town, tucked up amidst low
hills and surrounded by gorgeous indigenous
forests. (Lunch) Past Epuyen and only a few
kilometers down south visit “Leleque Ranch”
museum, displaying an incredible historical
collection. (Not open on Wednesdays). By sunset,
arrive in Esquel, the main
town in the western flank of Chubut. Lunch.
Click
for larger image
Day
3: Breakfast. This is the longest day
of the journey. Some 30 km east, find (creek)
Arroyo Pescado area, where by the turn of the
century two American bandits killed the manager
to the Welsh Trading Company. Abut 60 km down,
tiny “Tecka” pops out of the plateau.
From the very village one can see the hill where
Techuelche chief “Inacayal” was
buried. The road runs parallel to a mountain
range where 1700-metre-high peak “Putrachoique”
stands out like a sentinel.
About
an hour later, cross over “Genoa”
creek area, where several Indian tribes met
in 1869, preparing to confront the threat of
white man.
For a while,
the road runs through the flat solitude of the
Patagonian plateau. The day ends at Los
Antiguos, a charming little town by
lake Buenos Aires. Lunch en-route. Dinner.
Day
4: Breakfast. Depart for the canyon
of Rio Pinturas, the world-famous caverns where
ancient dwellers left their message shaped as
paintings on the bare rock. Numbers of different
shapes decorate the walls where thousands of
years ago the early American man represented
the world as he knew it. Here again, you will
have your chance to reflect about these images
and frame your own theory, just like the many
famous explorers who are still trying to explain
the mystery of the paintings. On to your next
lodging. Box lunch en-route. Dinner.
Day
5: Breakfast. Depart for Bajo Caracoles,
a tiny hamlet in the midst of the plateau. On
along Ruta 40, heading south. Now and then stop
for a stretch and a couple of pictures, and
depending on the season, a chat about indigenous
plants and flowers. As we go past a grassy marsh
or a creek, a flock of birds flutters away against
the background of the purple sky. Be ready for
a picture of a male rhea leading a bunch of
little chicks dashing across the road!...or
a couple of foxes. As the sun sets behind the
horizon, arrive at the farm for a tasty typical
dish and a comfortable bed. Lunch en-route.
Dinner.
Day
6: After a hearty breakfast, drive
some 35 km. to reach an altitude of 2700 feet
above sea level at Mirador Bernd, for a unique
view of Lake Cardiel (renown for trout fishing)
mirroring the vastness of the clear sky and
the Andes. Some 10 km away, by a rocky wall,
lagoon Desiree comes to view like a haven for
numbers of birds, among which the Silvery grebe
stands out as one of the species most threatened
to extinction. On the way back, weather permitting,
stop at Las Coloradas for a lamb barbecue. Lunch.
Dinner.
Day
7: Breakfast. Early departure. In the
afternoon, the landscape turns into a diversity
of hills, topped by a layer of porous basaltic
lava and a flat plateau, carpeted by the typical
Patagonian xerophytes struggling to survive
in the gravel. Further down, a profile of yellowish
sandstone appears carved by the wind. At Tres
Lagos, turn west toward the Andes and soon have
a view of Lake Viedma, often crowded by birds
of all kinds. The day ends at El Chalten (Formerly
Fitz Roy) a village embraced by the undulating
river “Las Vueltas” and the grandeur
of hills like “Chalten and Torre”.
Box lunch and Dinner.
Accommodation at your hotel.
Day
8: Breakfast. Transfer to El Calafate
Important
notes
Guides and TC
Local English-speaking
(other languages on request ) tour guides/trackers
are included at the following areas:
1. Lago Posadas
2. Río
Pinturas (Manos Pintadas)
English-speaking
tour conductor is included only as from four
passengers.
For groups of
two and three people, a TC is available con
request. (other languages on request at a daily
rate of E 20 additional per group)
Remarks
Optional: tours
in Calafate upon request.
Although quite
neat, accommodation provided by Estancias is
far from five-star hotels.
Included: transportation,
accommodation and meals as stated by itinerary.
Maximum number
of travelers: eight.
Vehicle: private
car, 4 x 4 or eleven - seater van.
NOTE
This product
has been designed so as to be sold to anybody
who is prepared to travel under these conditions:
several days mostly along gravel roads, sleeping
at inns or sheep farms or tent, sharing a vehicle,
and in close contact with Nature. We impose
no limitations of age or physical conditions.
However, if in doubt, please inquire before
taking the tour.
Bookings have
been made in advance, but at some places, accommodation
may be tight, in which case the customer will
be advised before purchasing the tour. Please
enquire.
Should camping
be necessary due to lack of accommodation at
a specific ranch, suitable tents with light
will be provided at no extra cost.
Bookings
must be made far in advance, as at some places,
accommodation may be tight.
Depending
on availability at the time of booking,
accommodation may be at a combination of the
following places or similar:
Hotel
Carlos V |
Hotel
Cumbres Blancas |
Hotel
Tehuelche |
Posada Antigua Patagonia |
Posada del Posadas |
Estancia La Siberia |
Posada Casa de Piedra |
Hosteria
El Puma
|
| Departures |
| 15
December |
15
January |
| 15
February |
15
March |
NOTE1 : Earlier
or later departures may be arranged upon request.
Please contact us
Note 2: Accomodation at “El Puma”
may involve additional costs.
Please
read our General Conditions.
|
