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Day 1: Punta Arenas. Arrival in Punta Arenas and transfer to your hotel. In the evening you will meet your guide for dinner and a review of the program.
Day 2: Puerto Natales/Torres del Paine National Park. Morning collection from Terra Sur to start the day’s drive across the wide open pampas and estancia lands that characterize this area before arriving at the waterside town of Puerto Natales (the capital of the Esperanza region of Chile). We will stop for lunch here and can choose from a variety of restaurants and perhaps do some souvenir shopping. After lunch we will continue our drive towards Torres del Paine National Park. Our route takes us along the eastern side of the Park where we will cross into land belonging to a local estancia. The last part of the drive will be bumpy and with no other traffic as we head towards our beautiful, remote camping spot in a valley with incredible views of the Torres del Paine. There is a small puesto or gaucho post here so we will have some shelter for cooking, dining if the weather is bad. While dinner is being prepared we'll put our tents up and enjoy the view.
Day 3: Torres del Paine National Park. Today we will be meeting our horses and the characterful baqueanos who care for them for the first part of our adventure which will be on horseback. After a short introduction to western riding and safety briefing, we will set off on our exciting and unique adventure into the hills and forests of the Sierra Contreras. Our destination is the pretty waterfall known as Cascada Zamora. Normally we don't see any other visitors here and we enjoy a peaceful lunch in this remote forest. After lunch we will ride out to the remote puesto ‘mercado’ riding up high over the pampas with views off to the Las Chinas Valley and the Sierra Baguales in the distance. Return to our camp by a different route passing the beautiful Laguna Azul. Night back at puesto Tercera.
Day 4: Torres del Paine National Park. Today, now more familiar with our horses, we will be setting off across some lovely open pampas towards the heart of the Park and Laguna Amarga. This is a beautiful ride as we ride towards the mountains of the Paine Massif. We will also pass through the summer grazing grounds of large guanaco herds. Plenty of time to take photos and enjoy the athletic antics of these fascinating and agile animals, or to pick some lovely ripe calafate berries from the many bushes that grow here. The trail takes us across rivers and finally into the Laguna Amarga area of the Park. Here we will meet our transfer vehicle for the short drive to camping Las Torres.
Day 5: Torres del Paine National Park. After our hearty camp breakfast, a challenging hike lays in store for us today as we climb up to the base of the towers. Starting with an uphill walk, we will follow wooded mountain trails through a beautiful alpine valley. The final section is a series of ‘hops’ over glacial moraine before finally reaching our lunch destination with a dramatic panorama of the granite spires before us. Waterfalls flow from hanging glaciers into a basin of green water, where icebergs float. In the afternoon we will descend to our camping spot in Las Torres.
Day 6: Torres del Paine National Park. After an early breakfast, we will start our hike around the shores of Lake Nordjenskold. Our hike skirts the lake while always keeping close to the huge granite mountains which form the centerpiece of this geographical wonder. Tonight we will be eating and sleeping in the Refugio Los Cuernos, which is beautifully situated beside a turquoise-blue lake, with the mountains standing watch behind.
Day 7: Torres del Paine National Park. After breakfast in the refugio we will continue our hike along the shores of Lake Nordjenskold towards the French Valley. This hike takes us past the French Glacier, and up to an enormous natural granite ampitheatre. After our picnic lunch we will descend and continue to Lago Pehoe, where we will be setting up camp on the shore of these turquoise waters.
Day 8: Torres del Paine National Park. Today we will be hiking to the spectacular and immense Grey Glacier. The trail takes us through ancient beech forests and along a trail high above Grey Lake. We will enjoy fantastic glacier views throughout. Our destination is Refugio Grey and the Glacier Lookout where we will enjoy lunch on the shore of Grey Lake before we return to our campsite at Pehoe Lake. .
Day 9: Torres del Paine National Park. After breakfast and packing up camp, we will be reunited with our horses and the baqueanos who care for them. We will begin a brisk and exciting ride across wide open pampas to the Serrano River. The ride first takes us along flower-lined trails on the shores of Pehoe Lake before opening onto the flat pampas, where we can enjoy an exhilerating canter to the emerald green waters of the Serrano River, where we will camp.
Day 10: Torres del Paine National Park. We will rise early and pack up camp to prepare for our river adventure. We will start with a lecture on safety and technique before loading our luggage and associated equipment onto our kayaks. Then we will board our two-man sea kayaks and start our downriver float through virgin wilderness. Cameras will need to be kept handy as we enjoy beautiful views of the distant snowcapped mountains and the variety of birdlife that lives along the river's shores. In the afternoon we will paddle “up stream” to enter Tyndall lake. This is a short but fairly strenuous leg that gets us into what we feel to be one the most stunning experiences in all of Patagonia, an upclose view of a towering valley glacier that reaches 90 feet high. This remote spot is astonishingly beautiful. Visitors are extremely rare here, so we can enjoy the spectacle all to ourselves. We will spend the night camping in pristine wilderness (or under the stars if you prefer).
Day 11: Torres del Paine National Park. Today, we will board our sea kayaks and continue downriver to the start of our hike. This wilderness walk takes us into virgin glacier country, and we will be totally alone as we enjoy views of Tyndall and Geike Glaciers and the Patagonian ice field itself. Our stunning setting for lunch will be alongside a lake containing hundreds of icebergs. Returning to the river and our kayaks for the last leg of our journey, we will spend the night in the shadow of Mount Balmaceda.
Day 12: Torres del Paine National Park/Puerto Natales After breakfast, and time and weather allowing, we will have an opportunity to take our kayaks into the melt water lake fed by the Serrano Glacier. We will spend the morning paddling among floating icebergs in a truly fantastic setting. After lunch we will board a modern cutter for a ride across Last Hope Sound to the town of Puerto Natales.
Day 13: Puerto Natales/Punta Arenas. A morning at leisure in Puerto Natales before our transfer to Punta Arenas, where we will stay for the night.
Day 14 Punta Arenas. Transfer to airport for flight to Santiago and home.
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