Latin America Journeys Guru | Travel Design

Brasil, Argentina and Chile, 21 days roundtrip

When To Go: Sep – Apr

Length: 21 days – 20 nights

Itinerary : 3n Rio de Janeiro/ 2n Iguazu/ 2n Cafayate/ 1n Cachi/ 2n Purmamarca/ 3n El Calafate/ 2n Santiago de Chile/ 5n Easter Island

Day-By Itinerary

Day 1: Rio de Janeiro

Arrival in Rio and transfer to hotel. Free day.

Overnight in Rio de Janeiro

Included: Private transport to hotel, accommodation with breakfast
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras
Accomodation: Tulip Inn Copacabana - www.tulipinncopacabana.com

Days 2 & 3: Rio de Janeiro

Free day to visit this magical City, wander through the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana and visit the city´s icons.

Optional at extra cost: private or group guided tour to visit the Christ Statue, Sugar Loaf, Santa Teresa Bohemian Neihgbourhood. Other possibilities: Rio´s Cultural Tour, Maracana Stadium Tour, Favela Tour, Botanical Garden, Open Air Fruit Market, Hangliding (Delta Flight), Helicopter tour and Niteroi City Tour.

Overnight in Rio de Janeiro.

Included: Accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Excursions, other meals, personal charges and extras
Accomodation: Majestic Rio Palace Hotel

Day 4: Rio - Iguazu

Breakfast. At appropriate time transfer to airport to board your flight to Foz de Iguazu.

Pickup at Iguazu Airport and private transfer to visit the Brazilian side of the Iguazu waterfalls. This tropical rainforest attraction is located on the far western side of the Parana River, in Iguazu National Park, an UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site for being one of South America’s largest forest reserves and a habitat to an immense diversity of wildlife. Free time to wander and walk through the balconies and enjoy beautiful views of the waterfalls.

In the afternoon enjoy the Poco Preto trail excursion with bicycling & canoeing if opted for. This tour lasts 3 to 4 hours.

The excursion begins on a 320-meter suspended footbridge in the heart of the National Park followed by a 9 km one-way trail that can be covered on foot, by electric cars and wagon or by bicycle. On this stretch, perfectly beautiful specimens of flora and fauna native to the Iguazu National Park can be seen.

At the end of the trail there will be a short break to rest. At this point, a suspension bridge leads to a rustic 500-meter trail, at the end of which exists a 10-meter high observation tower. From the tower a panoramic view of the forest can be had, especially of Lagoa do Jacare (Alligator Pond), in which a great diversity of aquatic animals are concentrated. In succession, navigation of the upper Iguazu River is made, passing by the Arquipelago das Taquaras (Bamboo Archipelago), with the option of an excursion in ducks (inflatable kayaks) to observe aquatic vegetation. The entire excursion is made with the accompaniment of skilled guides.

The return is made via the rapids passing Ilha dos Papagaios (Parrot Island), where at sunrise and sunset the flight of thousands of parrots can be seen.

Later in the afternoon transfer to the hotel in Argentina. Overnight in Iguazu.

Optional at extra cost: Helicopter flight over de waterfalls - it is possible to have a unique experience by flying over the famous Iguazu Waterfalls at a prudent distance. These flights offer a majestic view of this geographical wonder of waters and falls.

Included: Private transport to airport & Iguazu Park, group excursion Poco Preto in the Brazilian side of waterfalls and transfer to hotel, accommodation with breakfast
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras
Accomodation: La Cantera Lodge - www.hotellacanteraiguazu.com

Day 5: Iguazu

After breakfast you will embark in an adventure in the argenitnean side of the falls visiting the park for approximately 6 – 7 hours.

With a total area of 55,500 ha, Iguazu National Park is named after the river that marks its northern boundary. There, in the midst of a lush sub-tropical jungle, is majestic Iguazu Falls, one of the planet’s largest and most spectacular on account of the river’s powerful flow and its more than 275 drops. You will venture into the midst of its drops and falls, following a pathway of raised footbridges, thereby being able to appreciate this wonder from many different angles. The lower circuit puts you so close to the water that you will feel a part of nature and the constant mist will cool you off. At the top circuit, you will stop at different lookouts, climbing until you reach the incredible “Garganta del Diablo”, Devil’s Throat, undoubtedly the most spectacular of all the falls, whose waters drop more than 80 meters.

Overnight in Iguazu.

Optional at Extra cost:

River Adventure (12 minutes) – departing from the docks at the end of the lower circuit a powerful speed boat will take you into the lower canyon of the Iguazu River and to circle the island until you reach the base of Tres Mosqueteros Drop, where you will be able to see drops on both the Brazilian and Argentine side, as well as the Garganta del Diablo. The icing on the cake is a visit to the Argentine side of the falls, where you will “baptized” at the bottom of the San Martin Drop, the largest a boat can approach.

The Great Adventure (1 hour) - in a ride that combines rainforest and falls, you will enter the lush jungle vegetation in trucks accompanied by experimented guides. After the ride, you will walk to the docks to board a boat that will take you to the lower Iguazu River. As you shoot the rapids, you will get a great view of the drops from the haven of San Martin Island to Tres Mosqueteros Drop, including a panoramic view of the Garganta del Diablo. The boat will then circle the island until reaching the most exciting part of the trip: San Martin Drop, the largest a boat can approach.

Included: group excursions with bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras
Accomodation: La Cantera Lodge

Day 6: Iguazu - Cafayate

Breakfast. At appropriate time, transfer to the airport to board your flight to Salta.

Pickup at Salta Airport and transfer to Cafayate.

Located at 1,660 m above sea level , Cafayate is well known because of its famous torrontes wine product of the exquisite combination of temperature and humidity that provides the ideal environment to the growth of the sweet and deep fruit flavor. One cannot miss to observe the unique architecture of the Cathedral, the flowery main square, the picturesque stone mill or the wine museums.

Overnight in Cafayate.

Included: Private transfers to airport & hotel and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Viñas de Cafayate Wine Resort - www.cafayatewineresort.com

Day 7: Cafayate

Free time to relax and enjoy the place. Overnight in Cafayate.

Suggested activities:

• Wine-tastings in important wineries

• Mountain bike rides.

• Hikes and trekking.

• Horseback riding.

• Visit Quilmes Ruins.

Included: One of the above activities privately, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Viñas de Cafayate Wine Resort

Day 8: Cafayate - Cachi

After breakfast, begin the journey through the high roads of Salta, towards Cachi. On the road visit Molinos, a beautiful and peaceful traditional town set in the confluence of two rivers. Estimated travel time 4/5 hours.

Cachi is a legendary town, whith white buildings, adobe houses, paved streets and impressive architectural and cultural constructions that make the tourist admire and contemplate the scene.

Overnight in Cachi.

Included: Private transfer and excursion to Cachi, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, bar, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hotel Sala de Payogasta - www.saladepayogasta.com

Day 9: Cachi - Purmamarca

After breakfast, begin the scenic journey through the high roads of Salta and Jujuy, towards Purmamarca. Estimated travel time 7 hours.

Purmamarca - meaning “Town of the Virgin Land” in Aimara language- is settled at the foot of the polychromatic " Cerro de los Siete Colores" ( Seven Colors Hill ) which provides the village with the ideal touristic contrast since it delights the senses of all the tourists that visit it.

In the central square , there is a crafts fair where you can get regional products such as pottery, carpets made with looms, ponchos, musical instruments and typical clothes from the Quebrada ( Narrow path).

In the surroundings of Purmamarca, you can enjoy the landscapes by means of going hiking, horse riding or on excursions of contemplative tourism along the bed of the homonimous river or in the Colorados Tour which has wonderful views with rock formations that have been naturally carved.

Overnight in Purmamarca.

Included: Private transfer and excursion to Purmamarca, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hotel La Comarca - www.lacomarcahotel.com.ar

Day 10: Purmamarca

Full day excursion, to visit the Big Salt Plains, a vast desert of salt, and after visit to Tilcara and its markets. This town of low adobe buildings with steep streets offers you all the magnificence of the quebrada of Humahuaca view which is decked out with the live cultural life of its inhabitants.

Included: Private excursion Big Salt Plains and Tilcara, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, bar, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hotel La Comarca

Day 11: Purmamarca – El Calafate

Transfer out to Jujuy Airport.

Pickup at Calafate airport and transfer to the lodge.

Free time to wander and explore Calafate town and lodge environs.

Included: Private transports to airport & hotel and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hosteria La Estepa - www.hosterialaestepa.net

Day 12: El Calafate

Visit to Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park, 85 kilometers of a scenic road from El Calafate. Enjoy spectacular view points of the glacier, This enormous ice mass covers a 14,000 square kilometer area, the third in size after Antarctica and Greenland.

Optional at extra cost:

Big Ice Adventure - the excursion begins in the embarking pier located in “Bajo de las Sombras” port, about 6 km before the glacier Balconies- where you embark for a 10 minutes navigation across the Rico Arm, enjoying breathtaking views of the Perito Moreno glacier’s front walls.After checking the gear, you pick up the crampons and walk following the lateral moraine, for an hour and a half, until you reach the access to the glacier. After fitting harnesses and crampons on your footwear you start the ice trekking.There is a breathtaking view of the immense plateau of ice.During the walk you will be introduced to a number of features within the ice., huge moulins, crevasses, caves, and above all the special feeling of exploring the middle of the ice. Expert bilingual mountain guides will always lead you, looking after your safety and teaching you the “ways of the ice”. You will hike for about 3 hours and a half, and spend some time having lunch somewhere on the ice.Back on the moraine you start our descent back to the port, to take the boat and navigate for 20 minutes, very close to the southern wall.

Glacier Mini Trekking – The excursion begins in the embarking pier located in “Bajo de las Sombras” port, about 6 km before the glacier Balconies- where you embark for a 20 minutes navigation across the Rico Arm, enjoying breathtaking views of the Perito Moreno glacier’s front wall.You disembark on the opposite shore, where specialized bilingual mountain guides welcome you and lead you to a small shelter. After checking the last details, groups of not more than 20, follow their guides along the lake’s shore towards the edge of the glacier. Once on the ice the guides put each participant a pair of crampons on, and explain how to use them.The two hours circuit that follows introduces you to the fascinating landscape of the glaciers: streams, small lagoons, gullies, cravasses and plenty of ice formations of the most incredible blues. The trekking is moderate. The ice surface over which you walk is irregular, but firm and safe. You will receive explanations about flora, fauna and general glaciology of the region and also about the particular phenomenon that happens in the Perito Moreno Glacier and eventually produces its rupture.After the walk, a stroll through the forest brings you back to the shelter.

Included: Group excursions to Perito Moreno, bilingual guide, lunch, and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hosteria La Estepa

Day 13: El Calafate

Full day excursion to Upsala Glacier, Estancia Cristina, 4x4 Upsala Viewpoint and Museum.

Sail for three hours among icebergs and stunning scenery overlooking the western front of the Upsala glacier and then through Cristina Canal to the point of disembark at the Estancia for 6 hours. Enjoy a guided visit to the Costumbrista Museum (old shearing shed). Then Ascent in all-terrain vehicles, travelling 9.5 km through mountainous roads and arrive to the Continental ice shelter and enjoy a 30 minute walk. Then Visit the oriental front of Upsala Glacier. Lake Guillermo, Southern Patagonian Ice and Andes. Return to the farm house of the Estancia navigate back for one hour and a half to Puerto Banderas.

Included: Group excursions to Upsala Glacier and Estancia Cristina, bilingual guide, lunch, and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hosteria La Estepa

** POSSIBLE EXTENSION TO EL CHALTEN, See details at the end of the document **

Day 14: El Calafate – Santiago de Chile

At the appropriate time transfer out to Calafate airport.

Flight from Calafate to Santiago de Chile. Reception at Santiago airport and transfer to hotel.

By the afternoon city tour discovering the contrasts of the colonial legacy and the modern city.

Overnight in Santiago de Chile.

Included: Private transfer to airport and hotel. Group city tour in Santiago, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hotel Best Western Marina Las Condes

Day 15: Santiago de Chile

By the morning visit to Concha y Toro winery with tasting included.

Overnight in Santiago de Chile.

Included: Group tour to Concha y Toro winery and wine tasting, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hotel Best Western Marina Las Condes

Day 16: Santiago de Chile – Eastern Island

At the appropiate time transfer to Santiago airport to board the flight to Easter Island.

Reception at the Airport with flower necklace and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight in Easter Island.

Included: Private transports to airport & hotel and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras.
Accomodation: Hotel Manutara - www.hotelmanutara.cl

Day 17: Easter Island

Excursion to Orongo.

Begin your tour at about 8:30 am from Hanga Roa to Tahai’s Archaeological Complex, ceremonial center. From this site the visitors can appreciate wonderful landscapes. Then, you will go to Orongo’s ceremonial city, ancient ceremonial city located in the west summit of the volcano Rano Kau. It is composed by approximately 53 houses of elliptical shape with flagstone walls and a small square access looking at the sea. In this place were realized the most important ceremony of the second period of the island, the Tangata Manu (“the bird man”). It was carried out until approximately 150 years ago, with the arrival of the first Christian missionaries. In addition, you will visit the Ana Kai Tangata sector.

Return to Hanga Roa, total duration 3,5 hours.

Included: Group excursion to Orango, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras. Park entry fees
Accomodation: Hotel Manutara

Overnight in Easter Island.

Day 18: Easter Island

Full day excursion. Departing from Hanga Roa’s town at about 9:30 am, going to the southeast and northeast coast of the Island visiting the Ahu Vaihu temple. Then visit Ahu Akahanga. Towards the interior of this Ahu, it is possible to see the best preserved village of the island.

Later,you will go to Ahu Tongariki, with 15 moais being the biggest Ahu of the island. Then, you will meet Ahu Te Pito Kura, which possesses the highest statue of the island raised in an Ahu, the moai Paro (10 meters of height and 85 tons with a Pukao of 11,5 tons). Close to this ceremonial temple is the great spherical stone that is identified as the center of the universe (Te Pito o Te Henua), as the legend tells, it was brought to the island by Hotu Matua’a in his craft.

Later, you will arrive to Ahu Nau Nau, temple of a complex construction due to its different levels. There, you will see petroglyphs in the backs of the statues. You will continue our excursion to the volcano and quarry Rano Raraku, where there was carved most of the moais of the island using the volcanic rock of its hillsides.

To finish your adventure, you will go to Anakena’s wonderful beach. It is a beach of white sands chosen for the arrival of the Ariki Hotu Matua’a and his sister Avareipua.

Overnight in Easter Island.

Included: Group excursion to Ahu Vaihu, Ahu Akahanga, Ahu Tomgariki, Rano Raraku and Anakena, bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras. Park entry fees
Accomodation: Hotel Manutara

Day 19: Easter Island

Excursion to Ahu Akivi . Initiate the tour about 3 pm from Hanga Roa’s settlement visiting Ahu Vinapu. It was used for the islanders in the year 1.200 A.C.: it includes 3 Ahu. Continue your way to the quarry Puna Pau, archaeological site to the east of Hanga Roa. It is a small crater of red dross, from where were obtained the Pukao or hats with which were crowned the moais. Later go on towards Ahu Akivi, the first Ahu restored by the science in the island in the year 1960. Your adventure takes you to the cavern of Te Pahu, a place used as housing and as temporary refuge in war times.

Then, return to Hanga Roa, total duration 3,5 hours.

Overnight in Easter Island.

Included: Excursion to Ahu Akivi. bilingual guide and accommodation with breakfast.
Not included: Other meals, personal charges and extras. Park entry fees
Accomodation: Hotel Manutara