- ARRIVE el Calafate. RIDE. La Seccion gaucho HUT
On arrival into the small airport you will be collected by a driver and taken in a private transfer into el Calafate with drop off at the Hotel Kau Yatun.
The very pretty Hotel Kau Yatun was built in the traditional style of the campo (country), located adjacent to the Estancia 25 de Mayo it offers a traditional experience in comfortable spacious rooms with an onsite restaurant serving regional Patagonian cuisine, local produce and a good selection of Argentine wines.
The Estancia 25 de Mayo is one of the pioneering estancias of the region farming an area of more than 17,000 hectares with sheep and cattle. While here you can explore the local flora and fauna and learn about the pioneering history of this area of Argentine Patagonia whose origins date back to the early settlers to the region.
Once you have settled into your comfortable room you will have a chance to relax and have a bite to eat and explore the hotel before packing a change of clothes (full instructions will be provided).
At 3 p.m. you will be meeting your guide and making your way to the estancia’s coral to meet your horses for a 3 day private Gaucho Experience riding expedition through the Estancia 25 de Mayo Nature Reserve to a remote gaucho hut (*puesto*) where you will be spending two nights. Leaving the estancia you will head in a southerly direction through the Canadon de Arroyo Calafate following the old cattle trails as you gain altitude. This ride takes you across the immense pampas that Patagonia is famous for with rides through canyons, across rivers and into valleys with the imposing steep rock formations that have taken millions of years to form the snow-capped Andes mountains in the distance. You will experience the native flora and fauna as you head into the lesser visited valleys and explore this hidden land as you ride through this rugged and dramatic Patagonian steppe. Where terrain allows we will get to ride at good pace through the countryside as the early pioneers and adventurers have done for many years before you. Accommodation is in a simple refuge where working gauchos stay while tending livestock. The La Seccion outpost is basic but comfortable located in the middle of these desolate lands where you will be spending the two nights. On arrival at the cabin there will be a snack of cold cuts and cheese waiting while dinner is prepared.
Night: La Seccion outpost, basic cabin with hot water and showers in the full bathroom, twin rooms, a cosy living area with wood burning stove and expansive views of the surrounding landscapes and mountains.
Meals: Dinner (La Seccion) with wine included
- RIDE out into the surrounding landscapes. Second night La Seccion gaucho hut
After breakfast which will be prepared for you by your guide you will be heading out into the dramatic landscapes that surround the hut for a day’s ride. During the ride you will pass by a Chenque (Tehuelche burial ground) with panoramic views of Cerro Verlika and the Chilean border. You will experience the passage of history as you ride through a variety of geological formations with fossil remains. After a picnic lunch on the banks of a stream you will continue riding through the pastures and across the pampas with its immense landscapes framed by the Andes mountains to the west and the never ending pampas to the east. There will be a chance to observe the wildlife including guanaco that breed in this area and the condors which are likely to be soaring overhead in search of carrion.
After a day exploring you will be returning to your cosy hut for a second night.
Night: La Seccion outpost, basic cabin with hot water and showers in the full bathroom, twin rooms, a cosy living area with wood burning stove and expansive views of the surrounding landscapes and mountains.
Meals: Breakfast, packed lunch and dinner included with wine.
- RIDE back to Estancia 25 de Mayo/Kau Yatun
After breakfast in our solitary home we will be saddling up once again for the ride back to our starting point. The ride takes us onto the high steppe with its high altitude lagoons of the Cerro 25 de Mayo where we can enjoy a variety of birdlife and dramatic views to the west.
