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Explore, ride & fish in Southern Chile.
This weeklong horse ride combines breathtaking
riding with excellent fishing opportunities. Ride on
well schooled horses and stay in comfortable
wilderness camps full of history. Fish several lakes
and rivers along the way. All with the backdrop of
the magnificent Torres del Paine national park. The
trip offers open pampas, wooded valleys and
breathtaking views of the towering mountains,
turquoise lakes and rolling glaciers… You will
experience a first hand view of Patagonia estancia
life and the joys, threats and difficulties posed by
farming cattle and sheep in this area.
This is an exciting short getaway ride between
working estancias, converted estancias and
wilderness lodges with overnights in comfortable
tent camps.
 IT-CHTP01
Rates
include 6 nights camping and 1 night in hotel in Puerto Natales, all meals, all equipment, bilingual guide and entrance fee
for the park.
8 days/ 7 nights $ 1,760
Single +115
Min/Max Riders: 3 to
7 riders
2 riders only: +$250 per person
2008 Dates:
01/13-01/20 02/09-02/16
...
other dates are available upon request from Nov to April
availability & reservation
Meeting:
Puerto Natales
Airport: Punta Arenas
Transfer:
incl. from Punta Arenas hotel
Gratuity:
10 % recommended
Level:
Low Intermediate+
Horses:
Chilean
Crillo
Tack:
Chilean with sheepskin
Note: Fishing
license $25
Meals
are prepared by hand using fresh, organically grown
ingredients. Salads are served with every dinner as
well as fresh breads A limited amount of wine is
available at dinner.
Breakfast usually consists of coffee, tea, cocoa, a
variety of cereals, jams, toast, sliced meats and
cheeses and sometimes eggs or a main plate. Lunches
are prepared by your guide and are usually a
different type of sandwich each day, cookie/
biscuit, fruit, juice or other drink, trail mix,
crackers/ chips and chocolate.
Vegetarians
are happily accommodated and must give notice at the
time of booking
ITINERARY
Day1: Welcome to Patagonia!
After breakfast in your hotel, you will meet your
guide in the lobby at 8:00am and begin the three
hour drive to the port town of Puerto Natales. Catch
a glimpse of the famously historical Straights of
Magellan as we head North across smooth plains. We
will make a stop at the pinguinera where you may see
and walk through colonies of cute and inquisitive
burrowing Magellanic penguins, before continuing on
to our next stop in Puerto Natales. We will lunch in
this quaint town where you will have time to look
for any last minute items before loading back into
the auto and heading to our first nights camp at
Estancia Dos Marias. Dos Marias is a working
estancia which borders the Torres del Paine National
Park and together with the park, shares the immense
and breathtaking Lake Toro. As we arrive in the
afternoon, you will be greeted warmly by the ranch
owners themselves who have offered to share with us
their traditions, and use of their land. You will
also meet the gaucho who will guide you into wild
and secluded areas on horseback for the remainder of
the trip. While a home cooked meal is being prepared
and time permitting, you will be fitted to your
horse and will become comfortable in the saddle
during a short warm-up ride around the grounds. You
may also choose to grab a fishing pole and make the
short walk to the river that carves through the
estancia for a relaxing sunset fish before dinner.
La Cumbre River and Las Chinas River join together
to form the wide, flat and fast flowing river that
curves through a long valley at Estancia Dos Marias.
Here you will find plenty of Brown Trout, sea run
trout, and occasionally Chinook Salmon. The fish
here feed on algae, smaller fish and insects. You
may also walk down to the immense Toro Lake where on
a calm day you may wade out into the clear blue
water and cast for Brown Trout.
Day 2: After a hearty, farm style breakfast
in the ranch kitchen, we will grab our cameras and
head out to the corral where the people of Dos
Marias will delight us with their skills on
horseback by giving a series of demonstrations. We
may get to watch the ovejeros (sheep dogs) round up
a group of sheep and move them around the estancia
in a tight circle, or perhaps they will demonstrate
their ability to walk along the backs of the sheep
while they are grouped together, nipping at their
ears to encourage them to move. We will also watch
gauchos in typical dress practice their skills
penning and rounding up cattle using the Patagonian
technique.You will be free to test your abilities at
a variety of activities which include sheep
shearing, herding or penning. Or, elect to grab a
traditional pole or fly rod and make the short walk
to the winding river that carves through the
estancia where you will test your skills against
athletic rainbow trout. After a relaxing picnic with
our new friends, we will mount up and go for a
refreshing ride around the estancia with
invigorating trots and canters through pastures
speckled with sheep and horses. We will also ride
down to the banks of the enormous Lake Toro and
stare out across its crystalline blue waters before
returning to the warmly lit ranch house for our
supper. We will sleep once again at Estancia Dos
Marias. Time in the saddle: 3+ hours
Day 3: We will rise early this morning to
break down our camp and say goodbye to our gracious
hosts at Dos Marias. We will then begin a stunning
tour of the Torres del Paine National Park by van.
You will be left breathless as we carve between
milky aquamarine, and sparkling topaz glacial lakes
that rest at the base of towering snow capped peaks.
We may spot the incredible condor (with a wing span
of nine feet) flamingos, guanacos, rhea or the
elusive puma among other wildlife. We will stop to
have lunch on the black sand beach of Grey Lake, a
glacial lake that reaches down from the immense Grey
Glacier (the largest glacier in the Southern Ice
Field) and watch ice bergs bobbing in the milky
water while we try to catch a glimpse of the
enormous face of ice. Or you may opt to get a closer
view of the glacier by means of a small boat which
travels extremely close to the towering mountain of
ice. You will be awestruck by its’ gem like color
and smoothness as it reflects the sun, and perfect
the moment with an iceberg chilled pisco sour or
whisky served by the friendly crew. Time allowing,
we may stop and fish in the world renowned Serrano
River with its deep, smooth waters and large
population of healthy Brown Trout. The Serrano River
is a world class fishing locale, with spectacular
vistas and a perfect geographic location, connecting
the sea to inland rivers and lakes and other
tributaries of the Torres del Paine National Park.
It is deep and fast flowing, but has plenty of
sharp, deep curves and swirling eddies in which to
cast your rod. In many places, you can see the sandy
bottom with Brown Trout, Chinook salmon, sea run
trout, silver salmon and king salmon. After a full
day of gorgeous views and continuous photo
opportunities, we will reunite with our horses and
gaucho at our camp on Estancia Cardenas. This
estancia lies in the perfect position between the
stunning Torres and the unique Baguales Mountains,
and is known throughout the region for breeding
excellent quality Anglo-Arabians. Our campsite
(which is less than one km from the Argentinean
border) is located at the juncture of two cool,
tumbling rivers where we can relax with our feet up
fireside and listen to the glorious sounds of
rushing water while our meal is being prepared.
Day 4: After another healthy and delicious
breakfast, we will pack up camp and begin our days
ride in the direction of the mythical Baguales
Mountains. We will trot and canter across grassy,
flat meadows spotted with sheep and horses before we
arrive at the base of the mountains. This is the
highest mountain range in the area and so thus is
the natural division between Argentina and Chile, as
the Andes Mountains are in the North. The Baguales
Mountains are legendary in that they were feared and
worshiped by the native Patagonians who thought the
spirits of their gods resided there and took shape
in the bizarre and twisted formations along the
spine of the mountain. When Spanish horses arrived
to the area in the 16th century they became feral in
the Baquales Mountains and lived for many years
without any contact with humans. The ancestors of
these horses are alive today, in the Criollo breed
and in the horses of Criollo Expeditions.
Occasionally you may still spot wild herds high in
the mountains that cross back and forth between
Chile and Argentina. We will be following the path
of Patagonia’s first tourist, the Englishwoman, Lady
Florence Dixie who traveled with Baqueano Zamora the
gaucho who eventually came to an agreement with the
natives, and was able to cross their land to bring
the feral herds down from the steep and rocky peaks.
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