|
|
Rio Turbio exploratory trip in Patagonia
offered by supplier M09950 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 11
day(s)
Group Size: 4
- 8
people
Destination(s):
Argentina
Specialty Categories:
Hiking & Trekking
Season: October - April
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 2450 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 3250 US Dollar (USD)
|
|
In 1998 I joined a group of five friends to venture into a series of valleys in Northern Patagonia. A Swiss glaciologist who lived in Bariloche, and who had studied these valleys in the 60s, told my friends that there were walls to be climbed. As far as he knew, only a couple of other climbers and some local gauchos had ever set foot there. Looking back, I think that the idea of climbing was just an excuse to go: The idea of hiking into a virgin valley got our hearts racing from the start. We hired some horses from a local gaucho and set off with no maps, just a vague description of our itinerary: hike up the big valley until we see the fourth valley on the left. Enter the valley and keep hiking until we reach a fork, then go right until we reach the big walls.
What laid in wait for us there was the purest wilderness that any of us had ever experienced. These valleys are exposed to rains from Pacific-born storms, which in turn create a lush vegetation cover. This was more and more evident as we hiked further west. When we reached the last fork of the last valley, we were greeted by granite walls more than 2,000 feet tall, valdivian rainforest and a grove of ancient Alerce – Fitzroya cupressoides – ancient conifers that reach an average height of 160 feet and can live to be more than 3,000 years old.
The narrow, tall walls of these valleys were festooned with long waterfalls and capped by small glaciers. Tall specimens of Alerce populated the narrow valleys, surrounded by smaller lenga and incredible amount of Colihue cane – Chusquea culeou – in the higher elevations. These beautiful perennial canes reach 18 feet in height and blossom only once in their lifetime, dying shortly after the formation of fruit and seeds. Apart from a puesto – a rudimentary shelter that some gauchos had used in the past while searching for lost cattle – we didn’t see any other traces of human activity.
We are offering this unique exploratory trip one time this season. Duration: 11 days. Activities: we’ll be horseback riding with our personal gear into the base camp. From there we’ll set off on foot. The return will be done on partly on foot, then in an inflatable raft on the Turbio River. There will be excellent fishing opportunities. Previous multi-day backpacking experience is recommended, but not necessary.
Your Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Buenos Aires. Transfer in Ezeiza – City Tour with English-speaking guide. Overnight in Buenos Aires at the Tritone Hotel 4 stars.
(D)
Day 2: Transfer in Bariloche – Excursion “Circuito Chico” with English-speaking guide. Overnight in Bariloche at the Tres Reyes Hotel 3 stars.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 3: Transfer from Bariloche to Lago Puelo with English-speaking guide. Gear arrangements for the expedition and overnight at cabins in Lago Puelo.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 4: Crossing Lake Puelo by catamaran arriving at “Muelle del Desemboque” and starting a walk to the hut Aguila. Lunch. Trekk to the confluence of Jara Creek. Overnight at camp.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 5: Horseback riding to “Puesto La Mata de Laurel”. Overnight at camp.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 6: 8 km trekk to “Puesto de Pedro” through the Valdivian Rainforest and the Turbio IV valley with granite walls. Overnight at camp.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 7: Trekk through the valley admiring the walls that have more than 1000 m high, arriving to Sigfrido and La Mariposa lagoons. Here starts the ascent to one of the hills from which a lookout of all the valley can be enjoyed. Return to “Puesto de Pedro” and overnight at camp.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 8: Trekk back to “Puesto La Mata de Laurel”. Arrangements for the descent on the next day. Overnight at camp.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 9: Floating on rafts, descending 50 km in the Turbio River (4 to 6 hours). Lunch and return by catamaran to Lago Puelo and then to Bariloche. Overnight in Bariloche - Hotel Tres Reyes 3 stars.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 10: Transfer out Bariloche. Flight from Bariloche to Buenos Aires. Transfer in Buenos Aires with English-speaking guide. Overnight in Buenos Aires at the Tritone Hotel 4 stars.
(B), (L), (D)
Day 11: Transfer out to Ezeiza (International Airport) with English-speaking guide.
(B), (L), (D)
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Also see tour packages in:
South America
Argentina
Hiking & Trekking
Email it to a friend:
Click here to email this vacation to a friend
|
| Check out these similar vacation offers: |
|
|
|
|
|
