AUSTRALIS & SOUTHERN PATAGONIA - With extension in Calafate and Ushuaia
Navigating on board the Australis Cruises and visiting Ushuaia and El Calafate, in the Island of Tierra del Fuego in the middle of the Southern Patagonia, close to the Antarctica.
10 days - 9 nights/7 days - 6 nights
We will make an expedition voyage in one of the Australis float´s ship: the traditionals Via and Mare Australis, or on board the new member in this family, the Stella Australis. This itinerary can be done from Ushuaia or Punta Arenas. If we start the Australis cruise from Tierra del Fuego, we will visit first Ushuaia and its surroundings before starting the trip if we chose the seven days program or we will start from El Calafate in case we chose the longest program of ten days.
But if our intention is to sail with the Australis cruise from the port of Punta Arenas, we shall start the voyage from El Calafate if our choice is to do the program in ten days to complete the route when the Australis cruise ends in Ushuaia. Otherwise, if we have availability for only seven days and we chose to sail from Punta Arenas, we will also tour Tierra del Fuego once the crossing is finished, but we will not be able to visit El Calafate before starting the navigation in Punta Arenas. As we can see, there are four possible ways to do this trip, depending on which port we will start our expedition in the Australis cruises.
Lets supose that the expedition in the Australis cruise begins in Ushuaia. Before starting our trip by the legendary Beagle Chanel, named like that in honor to the distinguished discoverer´s ship of this passage: captain Fitz Roy, we will previously spend some days to visit the southern city in the World, Ushuaia.
We will take advantage of the port from which city we will sail, so we will visit all those interest spots and natural charm which we cannot miss during our visit in this southern region. We suggest to do the City Tour along the most important and symbolical places in the city, with the Museum of the end of the World which was restored halfway through the last Century, in order to protect and understand our own heritages.
During our visit to this city we cannot miss the famous "Presidio de Reincidentes", and old prison which worked from 1904 to 1947 and it was the place where many federal, provincial and militant dangerous prisoners, authors of serious and grave crimes, were locked. During our staying in this "fueguina" city, we will also visit the natural charm of the National Park Tierra del Fuego and its beautiful lakes. The national park is a strict Natural Reserve, which was home of the natives Yámanas in the past, where we will able to find several archaelogical sites that belonged to this Group.
We cannot either miss the tour in the "Train of the End of the World", which was authorized to transfer the prisoners who had to serve with public Jobs in different parts of the park, a long time ago. So we can complete out tour around this beautiful city, we also suggest to do the tour by the Fagnano and Escondido lakes.
Lake Fagnano, which is geographically divided between Chile and Argentina, it is also known by the natives Onas as the "Skyline Relief" (El Descanso del Horizonte). The name was given in relation to the illusionary straight line which the horizon creates and we can watch it in a continuous way over the lake. On the other hand, Lake Escondido is surrounded by big woods and it is famous because of the change of colour in the water depending on the day´s time in which we will watch it and the sun´s light that can get. It would be a good start to enjoy the "fueguinos" landscapes before sailing in the Australis cruises to a unic and fascinating expedition.
This itinerary of seven days has the objective to make more interesting and unforgettable our staying in the city of Ushuaia and get and ideal expedition voyage in the Australis float at the end. During the ten days program we will visit the full southern Patagonia, because we incluye the National Park Los Glaciares at El Calafate.
Ushuaia Reception and transfer from Ushuaia Airport to the hotel.
City Tour, Tierra del Fuego National Park & Train of the End of the World
Breakfast at the Hotel. We will do a very special tour in the morning as we start knowing the magic of the city of Ushuaia which is very famous for being recognized as the "End of the World" (also known as the most southern city of all). We will also visit the Museum of the End of the World which started working in 1979. It was firstly for families and then became part of the heritage in Ushuaia. This museum shows its collections in five different rooms where there are glasses that honour those people linked with the local history such as the explorers, natives, etc.
We will know the main and most famous attractions that Ushuaia has: the old Recidivists´ Prison which is known because of its exciting and strong history, every year many visitors go visiting it because of its prison architecture and also because of its history. It is important to higlight that it worked from 1900 to 1947 and the city started growing more and more around this prison where today many and important cruises and transatlantic. We will enjoy the building, its corridors and even today we can feel the pain the people suffered. This militar prison worked firstly in the Staten Island in San Juan de Salvamento, then it was transferred to CooK Port until it was settled in Ushuaia for humanitarian reasons. It accommodated sentenced people like the anarchist Simón Radowitsky or Cayetano Santos Godino known as the big eared shorty or the writer Ricardo Rojas.
We will visit the Port, the Paseo del Centenario, an excellent panoramic spot where there is the monument for the Ushuaia´s Centennial and then, the Beban House an important architectural heritage, which was bought in Sweden and made in Ushuaia between 1911 and 1913 by Don Tomas Beban. Is one of the most ambitious buildings in the city.
During the afternoon we will go to Tierra del Fuego National Park which highlights for being the only park with sea coast because it is located at the shore of the Beagle Chanel. Outside Ushuaia, we will go through the Valley of Pipo River to get to the entrance.
We will get on board the Train of the End of the World which is outside the Tierra del Fuego National Park where we start in the Central Station until getting to the Tierra del Fuego National Park Station. We will have the excellent opportunity to meet the Southern Fueguino Railway which travels along one of the routes that were used in the past by thousands prisoners who obey everyday their routine in those legendary woods. The journey starts over the embankment that the prisoners made a long time ago, going through the Cañadón del Toro so then we can ascend a steep surrounding the Pipo River until getting to the "Cascada de la Macarena" Station where we will hace the possibility to descend to the restoration of a native camp or we can have the option to appreciate the amazing panoramic view of the fall´s source. The train´s horn give us the signal that we have to continue with the journey to get into the sub-antarctic woods.
Surrounding the Pipo river and the "turbales" area where the moss Sphagnum grows, the train ends the journey when it arrives at the Park´s Station where we will descend to continue with the tour.
Once we get into into the Tierra del Fuego National Park which was founded in 1960 and it is located in the region of the patagonic woods and the Andean mountain chain. Our tour goes to Ensenada Bay where we will be able to see the Redonda and Estorbo islands and the Montes Nevados in front of them which belong to the Sampaio mountain chain in Chile. Then we get to Roca Lake.
We continue the way while we are surrounded by lengas, ñires and guindos woods until getting to the bridge of the Lapataia river, an ideal area to do trekking as there are many paths such as the Paseo de la Isla, Roca Lake, Black Lagoon, etc. We will go through a winding way where we will find the Green and Black Lagoons, this last one is an impressive "turbal", until flowing in the Beavers´ dike which will guide us to Lapataia Bay. We will watch ducks, cauquenes, chorlos and many other aquatic birds over the coasts. In the Park we can see native remains left by the Yámanas, such as "concheros", accumulation of mollusk valves and other animals that were part of their every day meals.
Fagnano Lake & Escondido
Breakfast at the Hotel. We will go to Escondido Lake or Escondida Lagoon as it also frequently known. It is located in the Andes Mountain Chain in the middle of the fueguino chain, where we will be able to appreciate the wonderful view of the woods which are full of ñires, lengas; there we can also see the valleys that are surrounded by "turbales", such as the Carbajal Valleys, Las Cotorras and Tierra Mayor. During the trip we will be able to appreciate one of the most attractions as it is the Paso Garibaldi to 500 metres over the level of the sea, where the fueguino Andes are mixed and mistaken with the Escondido and Fagnano lakes. From this spot we start descending over the coast of the Escondido lake, then we go through the Hostería Petrel to continue our way to the sawmills.
Later on we continue descending to the north to another water mirror: the Fagnano Lake which is considered the largest of the Island of Tierra del Fuego with its 100 km and it is internationally famous because of the sport fishing. A hundred years ago the Onas used to call it "the Horizon Break" (El Descanso del horizonte), which honours the catholic priest Monseñor José Fagnano who was the first administrator of the region. Then we will go for a walk along this magnificent lake enjoying all of its natural beauties. Going on our tour, we will know the Tolhuin town which was founded in october 1972, at the edge of the Fagnando Lake in the very centre of the woods.
Ushuaia During the first hours in the afternoon we will do the check in in the city of Ushuaia, so we can embark in one of the expedition ships of Australis: Mare, Via or Stella. We will set sail from the most southern city in the World, Ushuaia, crossing the famous Beagle Chanel, going through Cape Hornos, and then navigating the Strait of Magallanes to finally arrive to our final port: Punta Arenas.
The Beagle Chanel is a marine way, which was originated by different stages during the quaternary glaciations period, which was later ruled by the sea. It is defined in the north by Ushuaia and the other extremes are defined by some islands such as the Stewart, O´Brien, Gordon, Navarino e Nueva, among others. The southern region of the southamerican continent, that limits to the north with the Drake Passage, also known as the Hoces Sea, is the well-known Cape Hornos.
This sea is distinguished for separate the american continente from the Antarctic Peninsula. The pasaje which joins the two biggest mass of water in the World (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean), is the famous Strait of Magallanes. It is located in the middle of Tierra del Fuego and some other islands of the Pacific Ocean and the Chilean Patagonia, it has an strategic location in the south limit of South America.
Cape Hornos (Chile) and Wulaia Bay According to our fixed route, we will continue navigating by the Beagle Chanel and Murray Chanel, so then we can try to disembark (if weather conditions allows us to) and appreciate the nature beauties in the National Park Cape Hornos.
We can realise about our arrival to this southern point, once we come accross with a 400 metres high hill. This place marks the most distant limit of the Group of the "fueguinas" islands, which is the most southern point in South America. It is also the point that defines the north extreme of the Drake Passage, it a sea which divides the American continent of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The National Park is located in the "End of the World", has been declared as a Biosphere Reserve in the 2005 by the UNESCO. During sunset, we will disembark in Wulaia Bay, current archaelogical place which was home of one of the most greatest tribes in the region a long time ago: the Yámanas. It was in this very same bay that Fitz Roy, who discovered the Beagle Chanel, found the main anglican mission during his second expedition with the famous english naturalista Charles Darwin.
During our tour along the bay, we will have the opportunity to appreciate its magnificent flora and geography. We will do a trekking in the "magallánico" woods which will be waiting with a great quantity of floral species like lengas, coihues, ferns, among others, and then we will arrive to a viewpoint where we will have an Amazing view.
Piloto & Nena Glaciers
In our third navigation day, we will go to the desert inlets of the Brecknock, Ocasión and Cockburn chanels, so we can arrive to our first destination: Seno Chico. The Brecknock passage is a short lenght chanel, but there are waves and runnings to take into account among its many islands. We will leave this route so we can get into the Cockburn Passage and keep safe from the big waves produced in the chanel. We will finally get to Seno Chico so we can disembark in zodiac boats through the Alakaluf Fjord.
This Fjord was named in honor to the ancient groups of nomad canoeros, who could made the Alakaluf ethnic Group in the last hundred years, also known as the Kaweskars. These fishermen and sea hunters lived in the archipelagos, fjords and chanels surrounded by the Gulf of Penas and Brecknock Peninsula. We will continue through beautiful waterfalls to Piloto and Nena glaciers, where we would be able to know more about the origin of the glaciers and their repercussion on the patagonic chanels region.
One of the most memorable experiences will be the sound produced when we go through fragments of ice from the glaciers. We will continue our crossing to the Glacier Águila Bay, where we can do a light trekking along its marvelous Beach and then we can surround its lagoon to arrive to the glacier.
Navigation to the Magdalena Island´s "Pingüinera"
Breakfast at the hotel. We will set sail to the Magdalena Island, to 35 km from Punta Arenas, very well known as the Natural Monument to the Penguins to which we will get on zodiac boats sailing from Black Cape to 25 km from Punta Arenas. It is an ideal navigation to watch native birds, specially penguins, cormoranes, antarctic seagulls and seals. This navigations is subject to weather conditions. It is the natural habitat of more than 120.000 "magallánicos" penguins and one of the biggest colonies of penguins in the chilean Patagonia.
We will cross the cold waters of the Strait of Magallanes to get to the island from where we will have panoramic views of Punta Arenas, Tierra del Fuego prairies and the oilfields of Black Cape or Laredo Bay. There is very few vegetation in the Magdalena Island, even we can find "gramíneas" in the penguins and the seagulls area. Every year, between September and March, a migration takes place in the region for many important bird species like the southern or the jumper seagull.
While we do the trekking we will watch penguins and their broods through the paths that go from the coast until the highest area of the island where the lighthouse is and where the Environmental Center of Interpretation is located and we can read the history about the strait and the local fauna. We will go to Puerto Natales.
Note: this tour can be made from October 15th to March 31st.
Australis en 10 días
Extension of the program to Calafate... This program is ideal for those who want to complete their trip with a visit to the most requested destinations in the Southern Argentinian Patagonia, apart from the crossing in one of the Australis Cruises: Ushuaia and El Calafate. Before starting our sea crossing, we will start our land itinerary with a visit to the most southern city in the world, Ushuaia. We will explore the most important spots in the city together with the natural beauties that the National Park offers.
We will take advantage of our time on visiting the city and the Museum of the End of the World which is famous because of the Recidivists Prison, making a trekking through the natural charms that the National Park of Tierra del Fuego offers to us, to where we will get by the Train of the End of the World and we will tour the amazing Fagnano Lake & Escondido. We will complete this fantastic trip with a visit to Los Glaciares National Park in El Calafate, once we arrive at Punta Arenas.
This national park, which is the second in size inside the argentinian territory, has been declared as a Natural Mankind Heritage by the Unesco, because it has one of the biggest reserves of fresh water in the world. We will have the opportunity to visit the famous Perito Moreno Glacier inside this park, which is valued as the eighth world´s wonder because of its panoramic points and amazing views.
We will also have the possibility to spend a full day to navigate the Argentino Lake, whichincludes the most southern location and its the biggest in size between the patagonic lakes in the argentinian territory. During this navigation, we will be able to appreciate the impressive Upsala Glacier, a giant made of ice surrounded by many other glaciers.
Perito Moreno Glacier
Breakfast at the hotel. We will start from El Calafate going along the southern coast of the Argentino Lake touring approximately 80 km of the patagonic steppe in the andean mountain chain to Los Glaciares National Park, which is the andean patagonic woods where the nothofagus cover the green area. After going thorugh the Centinela and Mitre rivers and the Rico branch we will get into Los Glaciares National Park. As soon as we go along the Rico Lake we will be able to appreciate the first ice floes that floats in the water.
Then we will see the Perito Moreno Glacier which we will appreciate very close thanks to the runways which give us the possibility to have an ideal view. It is considered the eighth world´s wonder because of the spectacular view that offers to the visitors. It was declared as a Mankind Heritage in 1981 by the UNESCO. It is famous all around the world as it shows a very curious and surprising phenomenom, it is still one of very few quantity of glaciers that is in constant advance and movement. As a result, it is produced the accumulation, breaking-off and landslide of its huges ice blocks.
Navigation along the Argentino Lake
Breakfast at the hotel. We will go out to the port of Punta Bandera to start our navigation along the largest lake in Argentina and the third in South America: the Argentino Lake, depending on the weather conditions of course. At the end of the XIX century, Valentín Filberg was the one who discovered it but he didn´t give it a name because he thought that it was over the waters of the Viedma Lake. The Perito Moreno proved Filberg´s mistake some years later and called it with the name as everyone knows: Argentino Lake.
The navigation route starts in the northern branch of the lake, crossing the Devil´s Throat, the widest area of the journey where we will be able to get a magnificent view of the ice floes so then we can go to the Upsala Glacier. This glacier surrounds a mix valley that has an extension of 870 km², where it is feeded from many other glaciers. Its name was given to honour the Uppsala University in Sweden who were the firsts to study the region.
In our next stop, the ship goes to Onelli Bay which is part of a patagonic wood and the Onelli Lake which flows into four glaciers: Onelli, Agassiz, Bolados and Heim. It is one of the most beautiful views during the tour. We can do a short trekking of less than 1 km in the middle of the wood to finish in the Onelli Lake and watch from there the intersection of the three glaciers: Onelli, Agassiz and Bolados. Our last journey is the Spegazzini Glacier, the largest, which is known because of its great walls without mentioning how impressive is to the eyes of its visitors with the variety of vegetation which is produced by the action of the sun and wind.
Note: the Upsala Glacier had a big landslide leaving ice floes adrift in its chanel and it blocks the access to Onelli Bay. When this happens we will go through the Ice Floes´s Chanel to get to the northern face of the Perito Moreno Glacier to start the return.
Return to Buenos Aires
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer from the hotel to El Calafate Airport. End of our services.
Services
SERVICES INCLUDED
Accommodation on the ship
All activities inside the ship
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Open Bar
Welcome and good-bye drinks
Whisky and hot chocolate during the excursions to the glaciers
