Gauchos and Glaciers (holiday summary)

Location:	Argentina.
Holiday type:	Guided walking, hotel-to-hotel.
Activity level:	Upper 1 boot
Duration:	13 days (12 nights)
Hotels:	A mix of luxury/stylish, friendly/quirky.
Meals:	Buffet breakfast, 11 lunches and 9 evening meals.
Prices from:	Please call.
Departs:	Selected dates from 10 Jan '09 to 6 Dec '09
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Good for:

General information:

This is a guided holiday with several guides. The walking level is upper 1 boot plus.

The holiday follows easy trails on well trodden paths and farm tracks, some sandy surfaces and in El Chalten. On the hardest walks it will be stony underfoot in places but nothing too difficult.

All walking is done at low level – no altitude to consider.

Comprising almost the entire southern half of South America, Argentina is the world's eighth largest country. It covers 2.8 million square km and is separated from Chile by the Andes mountain chain.

It possesses some of the world's tallest mountains, expansive deserts, and impressive waterfalls, with the diversity of the land ranging from wild, remote areas in southern Patagonia to the tango-dancing metropolis of Buenos Aires in the north.

Walking details:

Walks on this holiday are on country and forest paths and tracks. Short sections of days 10 and 11 are rocky and uneven underfoot.

Location:

This holiday visits three contrasting regions of Argentina

Peninsula Valdes
This is a low-lying peninsula that juts out from the east coast of Argentina. A flat land of sandy dunes and saltpans, it is a UNESCO heritage site because of the incredible wildlife. Sea lion colonies, guanaco, armadillo and killer whales are here all year. Elephant seals and penguins come here to breed between October and April, and Southern Right Whales come here between September and December.

We also visit the tiny Welsh settlement of Gaiman – Welsh settlers came here in the C19 and built similar mining cottages alongside the River Chubut.

Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego
In complete contrast, this is an area of sea lakes, fjords, lichen draped forests and peat bogs. Ushuaia is a port town on the Beagle Channel below high snowy peaks. The roofs are quite colourful – reds blues yellows – and the streets quite steep, and full of souveneir shops, travel agents and quite classy clothes stores who cater to the massive cruise ships that come in.

The National Park is a 20 minute drive from the town, and the landscape looks a bit like Scotland with pine forest and mountains and sea lakes.

El Calafate and El Chalten
This region is directly below the Andes National Park of Los Glaciares. El Chalten is the main gateway with the airport here. It is a lakeside town, spread out below a steep range of hills about a 1 hour drive from the base of the mountains which you can see in the distance. This area is almost desert with red earth and amazing blue water in the lakes.

El Chalten is only 80km as the crow flies but we have to drive around 2 big lakes to get to it so it takes 3 hours to cover the 200km by road. This is a tiny hamlet nestled right below the Fitzroy Massif – it feels right on the edge of civilisation with unpaved streets and scattered buildings.

Who would this holiday appeal to?

Argentina will appeal to intrepid and adventurous people who really want to see some wild and spectacular scenery and get to know it up close. Those who love hiking in mountain scenery will be especially well catered for. There is definitely no one holiday to a single country that can compare with the incredible contrasts visitors will find out here!

Similar to which other holidays?

We feel that although this holiday is a completely unique, it is most similar to our Contrasts of Chile holiday

Possibility of non-standard departures?

Optional extension to Iguazu Falls

We offer either a one night or a two night Iguazu extension. (The two night option is more comprehensive and more relaxing).

If you stay just one night you will fly to the falls in the morning, visit the Argentina side in the afternoon, and fly back to Buenos Aires the next afternoon to connect with your UK bound flight.

If you do the two night option, on arrival you will visit the Brazilian side of the falls on the first afternoon, and on the second day will have a full day to visit the Argentine side, before returning to Buenos Aires the next afternoon to connect with your UK bound flight.

All transport and transfers, personal guide, breakfast and dinner is included in the price, but lunch is not included

Other details:

No visas necessary for UK residents staying for less than 90 days.

REMEMBER you arrive the day AFTER you leave going out AND coming home.

3 hours behind GMT over Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb & Mar
Flight time 2.5 hrs to Madrid then 13 hours to Buenos Aires

What is the food like?

There are a few dishes that you'll come across nearly everywhere!
Empanadas are snack-sized turnovers filled with meat, cheese, or shellfish, and are a staple of daily life.
Fresh-baked bread, in a variety of styles, is available in local panaderias in even the smallest towns.
Seafood is excellent and includes mussels, clams, urchins, oysters, scallops, salmon and sea bass. Paila marina is a shellfish stew available throughout the country.
Parillada de Mariscos is a dish of mixed grilled seafood and is usually served with rice. Cancatois grilled fish stuffed with vegetables, cheese or sausage.
Curanto are various meats, sausages, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, potatoes and corncobs cooked in an earthen pit covered in leaves. This is a specialty dish and is usually served on holidays and at festivals.
The quality of red meat served here is exquisite. Asados (barbeques) and parilladas (mixed grill) are extremely popular and widely available.
Although not traditionally strong on desserts, you will find fresh fruit in season, locally made Italian-style ice cream (helados) and some pastry based desserts are made with dulce de leche, a sweet caramel syrup also known as manjar.