Laguna Negra
    Estancias Ride
Estancias and Coastal Trails in Uruguay
For those who have a passion for nature, the beach and being in contact with the traditions of the countries they visit, this riding tour combines some of the oldest and best preserved haciendas with the most breathtaking scenarios in one of the least known countries in South America.
We ride from the most traditional cattle breeding area of the country to the Coast of "Rocha" where we cross the "Bañados del Este" Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO), all filled with an enormous diversity of birds - more than 400 species - and other wildlife like the endangered capybara, sea turtle and the franca whale among others.
Fast pace riding along the firm sandy beaches and across the grasslands on excellent horses. Traditional barbecues then riding on over the dunes, through palm groves, beside inland lakes teeming with wildfowl and on to old Portuguese forts or beachside hotel to admire a stunning sunset. Dolphins feeding in the beautiful bays, black-necked swans gliding across the lagoons, chattering parrots flying over, capybaras wading in the reeds. Incredibly friendly locals and charming, skilled gauchos to accompany us and talk of their unique lives and their traditions. Fascinating stories of battles and shipwrecks, including one of Nelson's fleet.
..and all this in one of the safest South American countries, still remarkably untouched by tourism!

IT-URRT01
Rates include accommodations, meals, English speaking guide, 8 riding days
9 days/ 8 nights  $ 2,100    Single: +$300
2008:   
02/23-03/02    03/06-03/14    03/22-03/30
04/05-04/13    04/19-04/27    10/18-10/26
11/01-11/09    11/15-11/23    11/29-12/07
 Check Availability
... additional dates are available for group bookings from Oct to Dec and late Feb to April
All inclusive: horses, guides, grooms, meals, accommodation, transport & taxes.
Excluding: personal expenditure, alcoholic drinks, airport taxes & flights.
Level:     Good intermediate and above.
Tack:      South American
Horses:  Criollos
Pace:      Trots, canters and gallops
Min/Max:  4-12 riders
Note: Non riders are welcome: main activities are sightseeing, walking, birding, bicycling, beach, swimming pool, short rides. 

Tour Outline 
An estancia is a colonial farm, an equivalent of Ecuador's haciendas and we start the ride at the most important of these - the first estancia founded in Uruguay (1854).
Passing through the wine region of Uruguay just north of Montevideo (this tiny country produces some excellent wines) we arrive at the estancia, now a National Historical Monument.
Guests can enjoy the elegant period house with its chapel, towers and terraces before riding through the pastures and woodlands for a traditional 'asado' (barbeque) at a charming neighboring estancia.
We then continue the ride in the beautiful coastal province of 'Rocha'. Passing through the curiously named province of '33', we arrive at a hotel built in the same style as the nearby 17th century fort, right on the border with Brazil.
We ride along the beaches, over the shifting sand dunes, through palm groves and shady woodlands and on along the shores of the wetlands between the estancias and beachside hotels.
The wetlands, some of the largest expanses of inland water to be found in South America, are fascinating and, combined with the riding along the beaches and across the 'prairies', create a unique experience.
The variety of birds - hummingbirds, flamingos, kingfishers, flycatchers, rheas (similar to ostriches) - that we see in these habitats is incredible. The pace will be quite fast (lots of canters) - the grassy pastures and firm beaches allow this on our wonderful criollo horses.
The forts that we visit remind us of the turbulent years between the discovery of this area by the first European in 1516 and independence in 1828. Uruguay was only settled in the 18th century but since then fine estancias and, more recently, an exclusive beach resort 'Punta del Este' have been built.
From the other side of the wide 'Rio de la Plata' estuary, the Buenos Aires elite come to sun themselves at 'Punta del Este'. We end the ride at this beach resort and guests can opt for an extension in one of the hotels here prior to flying to Buenos Aires to get to know "Evita's city" and the mesmerizing tango dance.

Itinerary
Day 1: Montevideo – Tango & Candombe
Today is set aside to relax and explore the seaside city of Montevideo. Guests are met at the Carrasco International Airport and driven along the wonderful coastline called “Rambla” to the downtown hotel. We will immerse ourselves in Uruguayan culture in Montevideo, the most important city as well as the capital. Welcome luxurious barbecue at the Mercado del Puerto and free time to rest or explore the downtown streets and experience the typical Rio de la Plata music, the Tango or Candombe with the rhythms and coloured costumes.  Montevideo is a very quite and safety city that combines museums, street markets, nice restaurants and very friendly people. You will stay in a nice centrally located 3 to 4 star hotel. (dinner is not included today)
Day 2: 18th century Fortín de San Miguel
After breakfast we will be driven to the Brazilian border and into Rocha, arguably the most beautiful province in Uruguay with its pristine beaches, emerald shores and network of lagoons. We will visit ‘Chuy’ , a very curious town straddling the border where guests can step into Brazil and hear the locals speak a strange language made of a mix of Spanish  and  Portuguese. 
As we arrive at the hotel built in the same stone as the nearby Portuguese fortress we can admire the views out across an enormous stretch of fresh water  -one of the largest fresh water reserves of South America, the "Merin Lagoon". We are right on the Brazilian border.
After lunch we will met gauchos and horses, to ride around the rolling hills of San Miguel enjoying a wonderful panoramic view of the area from the top of the boulder covered ‘Cerro Picudo’. The view across the flat lowlands and the huge lagoon provides a very different landscape to the following days’ rides. We can smell the sea and on clear days view the coast. This area is home to a wide variety of birds and we will see many different native trees and bushes.
We will also have the chance to see the Cimarron cattle – the first cattle, introduced from Spain in the 17th century and depending on what the gauchos are doing, they may need a hand to work these tame animals.
We will stay at the " Fortín de San Miguel", guests can enjoy the gardens, swimming pool and the relaxed atmosphere.
Day 3: Barra de Chuy beach  – Brazilian border & a ride along a pristine beach.
In the morning we will have a nice 3-4 hours ride along the Brazilian border, sometimes riding in Uruguay and others in Brazil !  
After a special picnic lunch at a working estancia, riders may have a pleasant “siesta” discovering that gauchos saddles are so comfortable to ride as to sleep! . Then we will have a fast-pace ride along the wonderful, isolated ocean beach of ‘Barra Chuy’. Visitors seldom reach this beach so we can enjoy a long, exhilarating canter with no signs of habitation as we ride across the pure white sands alongside the Atlantic ocean. We arrive 22km (12 miles) further south at "La Coronilla" and stay at small beachside hotel.
Day 4: Santa Teresa national park, dolphins & shipwrecks.
Today we will ride south, alternating beaches with coastal hills, sand dunes, pine forests into the immense Santa Teresa National Park. The center piece of the park is a fort started in 1762 by the Portuguese to defend the edge of their territories then completed by the Spaniards who took it by assault just a year later. This was just the start of a succession of conquering, loosing and reconquering the fort; it was not until 1825 that the newly forming ‘Uruguay’ finally captured and held the fort.  The fort is surrounded by 3000 hectares of forest containing over 2 million trees the majority from other parts of the world and, after a picnic lunch we will enjoy riding along the forest trails, down to the beach. We pass a shipwreck buried in the sand – one of many along this treacherous coast. Indeed, Polonio, where we ride later is named after a Spanish galleon that went down just off the point. Luckily ‘Beagle’ with Charles Darwin aboard did not succumb to this fate and Darwin spent quite some time in Uruguay collecting species and most likely starting to formulate his theories of evolution. Most days there is the wonderful sight of dolphins feeding in the bay. After a traditional picnic close to the fortress or on the beach depending on the weather ,   we can choose between  been driven  or canter back along the water’s edge to the hotel for barbecued fresh fish, Uruguayan wine and a pleasant overnight listening to the waves.
Day 5: Don Bosco – tropical palm groves & Laguna Negra
After an early breakfast, we will be driven along a very scenic road near to the famous "Laguna Negra"  (the ‘black lagoon’, named after the dark waters). We will meet the horses and ride into the native vegetation on the Don Bosco hills from where we will be able to enjoy an incredible view of the unique extensive palm groves and Laguna Negra. Despite a number of stories, no one knows how the palm trees got here -some 300 years old; they are not native but they give the landscape a very exotic look. During the trip we will pass many roadside stalls selling the fruit and the less innocent ‘hooch’ brewed from the palm nuts. The cloudy, sticky liquid is so potent that if you leave the cap off the old bottles it is sold in the liquor evaporates in a flash!
Descending the hills we ride alongside the lake where we will surely see ibis, herons, egrets, storks and a legion of migrating birds (birds arrive here from as far as Alaska and the Falkland Islands).
After a typical lunch on the lagoon shores, we ride on eastwards through the palm groves and back towards the coast where we meet the vehicle and head to a nearby working Estancia El Sauce for overnight.
Day 6: El Sauce, an authentic estancia – ‘mate’ tea & the gaucho life
We wake up on a farm - El Sauce is a working estancia run by its owners where we will enjoy a full day riding around the crops and very varied vegetation on the property.
The estancia, built in 1920, is very comfortable –it is not a hotel but the family house that we have been invited to stay as guests of the owners, offering us an incredible experience and a very special insight into the life in the country. For example, guests can sample the ‘mate’ sipped hot out of a dry gourd. The gauchos and their mate are inseparable and a ceremony has developed around drinking mate.  In addition to the cattle grasslands this estancia has a large area of marshlands and also rice crops both of which are teeming with bird life (more than 400 species in this area) making another very varied ride and giving us the chance to see the graceful black-necked swan (largest populations in the world found here), the rare white goose and many ducks and other birds such as the largest bird in South America- the ‘ostrich-like’ “ñandú” (rhea). Otters, coypus and capybaras inhabit the marshlands and streams. At several points on the trip we will see the pink flamingo – a species of flamingo with very bright pink pigment and quite common in Uruguay. Overnight at this authentic working estancia. 
Day 7: Cabo Polonio – shifting sands & sea lions
The day starts with a drive to the ocean coast . We will met  our horses and ride into the desert! We ride through the area which has been declared a natural animal reserve and a Biosphere Natural Reserve by UNESCO. We will ride to Cabo Polonio, a charming fishing village which can only be reached by horse or four wheeled drive. The fascinating part of the area is the huge area of shifting sand dunes, as we ride through it is possible to imagine that we are right in the middle of the Sahara. After lunch at a typical restaurant on the beach we will see seals and sea lions that populate the small islands and make up one of the largest populations of seals in the world; very occasionally we spot a migrating Right Whale. Riders can swim in one of the most beautiful beaches of the country. After this ride full of surprises and diverse scenery, we will stay at a lovely comfortable working estancia, El Charabón. 
Day 8-9: El Charabón  working estancia – Cattle drives and traditional meals
We finish our Uruguayan ride experience at Estancia El Charabón (Charabón means small rhea). El Charabón is a 1200 ha, beautiful working estancia specialized in calving and lambing. The landscape is absolutely different from the days before, El Charabón combines open prairies with a large Eucalyptus forestry.
In addition to very nice rides on the excellent horses bred at the estancia, we will have the chance of helping the gauchos and their working dogs on cattle and sheep drives, relax in the open swimming pool and have a wonderful  sunset tea time.  Uruguayan wine, lamb barbecue and the homemade specialties are a special complement  for beautiful cantering days at this charming estancia. 
At day nine, after the morning ride, we will have the goodbye lunch and be driven to Montevideo airport or extensions.

 see Slide Show