Transfer IN OUT APT/HTL/APT

Permanent Coordination

Spanish & English Bilingual Guide

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.

Classic navigation on the Beagle Channel
Breakfast at the Hotel. We take a trip to the Beagle Channel. Our leaving point is in the Ushuaia Bay, which is on the banks of the City of the same name, entering the Canal by the Paso Chico. In old times the Reverend Thomas Bridges said that the 'Ushuaia Bay' means the 'the calm water bay'. The Beagle Channel, situated at the south of the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego, was originated from glaciers and it covers an area of 180 kms, it joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was baptised by Captain Fitz Roy in honour of the ship "Beagle' on which was the Lieutenant Murray who discovered the Canal in 1930. It is now the political frontier between Argentina and Chile. As in the Ushuaia Bay, the Beagle Canal offers a variety of sea birds and mammal marine life, where it is possible to watch skuas, black capped albatross, cauquenes, seagulls, etc. The crossing goes until the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. This has a conical tower of over 11 metres and is 22.5 metres above the sea level. The lighthouse name was given by Captain Luis Fernando Martial and that was after the place where it is located.

The journey continues to the naval station Isla de los Lobos Marinos (Sea Lion Island) where we will be able to watch one and two hair seals and the cormorants settlements. Following our route we navigate to the Isla de los Pájaros (Bird Island) a place where we can see settlements of Magellan and Imperial Cormorants as well as enjoy more than 20 species of other marine birds. Both Islands are part of the Bridges Archipelago.

Optional disembarkation on the Bridges Islands
It is possible to ask for a landing on the Bridges Islands during this navigations, in which we can have a trekking of half an hour with the guides assistance while we go along the paths of one of the Bridges Islands to see the Concheros Yámanas (Yámana shells), relics of an old indigenous tribe.

Trekking to the Esmeralda Lagoon
We go to the Centro Invernal Altos del Valley. This lake is also called the Laguna Perdida, it is a small one originated by glaciers, similar to a pot of water and the name comes from the colour of its icy waters, produced by the minerals that come from the soil deposited in the ice from the albino Glacier. A waterfall defines the start of the river which flows from the Esmeralda Lake and then continues snaking over the peat that evades the forest which ends down the valley until it joins with other river-beds it finishes flowing into the Beagle Canal.

This lake is located inside a legendary forest of lengas and is protected by the Andes mountain range where we can see hanging glaciers. We go to the Centro Invernal to start an easy hike that takes four hours approximately. We need to use snow shoes. During the walk by a well signalled path we have a spectacular view of the Tierra Mayor Valley and Carvajal that we find protected by the Andean mountain chain. We walk on the ground covered on peat, a vegetal formation that we find both in Los Estados Island and Tierra del Fuego. We go along the thaw rivers where the destructive beavers are and we can see native flora and birds. This route takes us to the Albino Glacier. Once we reach the lake we are left with the image of the Albino Glacier together with the Torres Mountains and the Toribio Cordon that we have with us during our lunch. Afterwards we begin the walk back to the town.

Beavers watching, an introduced rodent not a native one
Breakfast at the Hotel. In the afternoon we go to the Centro Invernal Altos del Valle at 20 kms from Ushuaia, which is a breeding place for Siberian Dogs and from this spot we start a big Patagonian adventure. We make the walk during the afternoon because the beaver usually surrounds the area during the sunset. We make a half an hour trekking to a forest of lengas, covered in margaritas and orchids, with the purpose of getting to their habitat and watch the work of these rodents.

It is not easy to see the beavers and it is necessary to be quiet during our visit so it will be possible to see the beavers eat and also making the dams. The beavers are not native animals. They were introduced to Tierra del Fuego in the middle of the 20th century with the unique objective of increasing the local fur industry. This was an irreparable mistake because they are responsible for the uninterrupted destruction of part of the ancient Fuegino forests. Their advance has reached the State Island. The lack of control at that time has produced an environmental disaster that will end with the extermination of these beautiful historic Patagonian Forests. The tourist sector has taken advantage of this situation to develop a new activity: the nightly watching of the beavers in an area where they need to be eliminated to protect the environment and avoid producing disequilibrium in the local ecosystems. We finish the tour with a dinner in the Refuge next to the warmth of a wood stove.

Gable Island
This day we have one of the most interesting excursions of the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego: the Gable Island. It is a good opportunity to see nature in its pure state. We visit the Harberton Estancia and then we embark from the Estancia dock to go to the Martillo Island, where we will watch the penguins colony, and then to the Gable Island (it is also possible to do it in reverse). On the island we find the remains of the Yamana native´s culture and the first colonizers in a severe and extreme environment. The silence is only interrupted by the birds´s singing and the sound of the constant wind, typical of the Southern Patagonia. It is the biggest, the most beautiful and desolate island in the Beagle Channel. It was inhabited by the Yámana Indians and was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century by the English Fitz Roy.

It was thought to be a peninsula but it was renamed as an island at the end of the same century after an expedition led by the Frenchman Le Martial. At the end of the 19th century it was given to the Anglican Missionary Thomas Bridges by the National State. Here we find the Magellan Forest which is covered in nothofagus trees such as lenga, coihue and ñire. Also areas of tundra can be detected. Not only can we see the penguins and sea lions but also seagulls, Rock cormorants and Petrels. Its lagoons are the habitat for nutrias or commonly known as huillin. There are non native fauna such as cows, goats and the red deer that have inhabitated all the Patagonia. At midday we have lunch on the island and then we start an optional walk that takes about two hours. Finally we return by bus to Ushuaia.

Optional row from the Lashifashai River to Harberton
the Harberton Estancia on the east direction. In this case we need to go to the Lashifashai River where there will be a technical explanation about the rowing. We also need to travel 75kms to arrive at the river and on the way you will see the flag trees that have been deformed by the action of the strong winds. We prepare the inflatable canoes and begin the crossing of the lower river. Entering the Beagle Channel is a magnificent experience, with the natural painting formed by the blue sky, the infinite sea and surrounded by the native birds. On the way we can appreciate a small island where we can see the Rock cormorants and sea lions. After about two hours we can sight the Harberton Estancia. Once in the Estancia we follow the original program.

Fagnano & Escondido Lakes
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.