Chile, Argentina & Brazil Adventure

Arriving in Santiago this morning we transfer to our hotel, after which the rest of the morning is free to relax after the overnight flight. Our intention this afternoon is to take an orientation walk of the city returning by metro. One of the most scenic cities in South America, Santiago lies in the shadow of the Andes and the old part of the city, around the Alameda, contains a number of fine buildings, statues and gardens, including the impressive Presidential Palace “La Moneda”, the Cathedral and the monastery of San Francisco. The city is filled with museums to its colonial and pre-Columbian past and the Bellavista district gives, besides a nice view from it’s San Cristóbal hill, a colourful nightlife just a few minutes from our hotel.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+)

Today has been left free to explore some more of the city, to wander its streets and parks, perhaps visit some of its numerous museums and galleries, or visit the vineyards that lie on the outskirts of the city. The Maipo Valley is considered by many to be the best wine-growing region in the country. Certainly the oldest, it is renowned for its Cabernet Sauvignon and a tour of the vineyards, lying in the shadow of the magnificent Andes, is the perfect combination of sensory delights.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

We have a final free morning in Santiago before we begin our journey in earnest, heading west towards the coastal resort of Viña del Mar. Neighbouring Valparaiso, Viña del Mar sits on the edge of the Pacific, along a coastline dotted with fishing villages and beach resorts. On arrival this afternoon we have some free time to relax in what is Chile’s main coastal resort. You may like to enjoy some of the town’s many beaches, museums or Mediterranean like gardens, including the National Botanical Garden, which covers some 405 hectares and contains over 3000 species of plants from around the world. The Museu Fonck has an interesting Easter Island collection.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Today you have a free day, and you might want to take an optional trip to the nearby Valparaíso, Chile’s cultural capital. Once a colonial port linking trade with neighbouring Peru, the city suffered numerous raids at the hands of pirates, including Sir Francis Drake, then reached the height of its prosperity during the 19th century, and finally fell into decline with the onset of the steam age and the opening of the Panama Canal. Much of its colonial past has been destroyed by a number of powerful earthquakes over the years, but the city still retains some of the grandeur of its halcyon days when it was a major banking centre. Today Valparaíso is a major port and its surrounding hills, a natural amphitheatre covered in colourful houses and mansions, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We take a tour, visiting the Plaza Sotomayor, the old centre of the city and exploring some of the architecture of its surrounding cerros, the hills that surround the city, from where we get some excellent views back across the bay. After our visit we will return to Viña del Mar.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Transferring to the bus station this morning we take a public, but comfortable, long distance bus, following the coast north through dramatically changing scenery to the city of La Serena, Chile’s second oldest city, pleasantly located on a small hill to the northeast of the Bahia de Coquimbo. Founded in 1544 by Pedro de Valdívia, La Serena was once a major sea link between Santiago and Lima, prospering with the mining of copper in the 19th century. Still retaining much of its colonial heritage this attractive city is filled with pleasant boulevards and parks and its present layout owes much to the ‘Serena Plan’ of the then president Gabriel Gonzalez Videla in 1948. This was an urban renewal project that developed a style known as ‘Colonial Renaissance’, which is centred around the delightful Plaza de Armas. On arrival this afternoon we will transfer to our hotel. The exceptional dry climate in this region, with it’s unpolluted skies and abundant cloudless nights, make the area perfect for astronomical observations. Three of the main world telescopes and research centres (including European ESO) are situated in the backlands of La Serena. Although visits can be arranged, space observations by tourists can only be made at the small Mamalluca Observatory, a recommended tour for this first evening.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

We have a full day to explore more of the remarkable surroundings of La Serena, before taking an overnight bus to San Pedro de Atacama. You may like to take an excursion to the nearby Elqui Valley, the Fray Jorge reserve or the Penguin Islands. The irrigated green Elqui Valley gives a dramatic contrast with it’s bare mountain slopes. It is a stunningly fertile area of orchards, citrus groves and vineyards, where the best of the country’s pisco (a brandy-like liquor) is produced. Dotted with small villages and distilleries, this spectacular Andes valley with it’s healthy climate is also birthplace of the Nobel prize winning poet Gabriela Mistral, whose tomb is located in the village of Monte Grande. The Fray Jorge forest reserve is unique: the only desert forest on Earth that covers it’s water demand using the mist that approaches from the Pacific every afternoon. During the same tour petroglyphs from the Third Century El Molle culture will be visited. The Penguin Islands are 2 small protected islands off the coast, where von Humboldt penguins, pelicans, sea lions and dolphins can be observed. Later this evening we will transfer to the bus terminal for our overnight bus.

Overnight Public Bus (U) Included meals: Breakfast

Our journey north takes us into the barren wastes of the Atacama Desert, the driest region on Earth. From the coastal town of Antofagasta, after a last glimpse of the Pacific, we turn east, towards the copper mining centre of Calama and up into the altiplano. We arrive in San Pedro de Atacama this afternoon and walk the short distance to our hotel, after which the rest of the day is free to explore this surprisingly global meeting point. Set high amongst the spectacular volcanoes of the Andes Cordillera, San Pedro is a small oasis that was once the centre of the Atacama culture. Today its dusty streets and majestic setting still have a distinct flavour of its distant past and we would hope to learn a little something of the history of its people during our time here.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+)

On our second day we can take an optional, highly recommended, tour to the nearby Salar de Atacama, an immense area of salt plains and salt lakes, covering some 300,000 hectares, home of flocks of pink flamingos. A picnic and a pleasant walk along the shores of beautiful Lake Miscanti, at 4000m, gives the ideal physical preparation for the days to come. The third day begins with a very early bumpy ride across the altiplano, to reach the geysers of El Tatio, at 4321m, just before the sun awakes. With temperatures still below freezing point the geothermal field of spouting geysers, hot springs, sulphur sculptures and steaming fumaroles is at it’s best. Take swimgear, as the warm waters and the hot sun invite you for a relaxing bath. You'll also have time for a visit to The Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), a nature reserve to the west of the town, where the surreal landscape has been formed by the wind erosion of the salt mountains, we will visit in the late afternoon in order to enjoy the changing shadows and the spectacular sunset.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

This morning, we take another public bus heading east to cross the Argentinian border to the colonial city of Salta. Passing a landscape of salt lakes, snow fields and hostile desert we cross the mighty Andes, travelling through the recently paved Jama Pass (4,600m) and the empty lands of the puna, a region of dry montane grassland, alpine herbs and dwarf shrubs. This is a region of snow-capped peaks and high plateaus, active volcanoes and clear skies, where the flora and fauna has adapted to the extremes of its environment. A land of forests of Polyepis and grassy steppes, where puma and Andean cats hunt and where the endangered Cochabamba mountain-finch makes its home. Passing through the village of Susques and the town ofJujuy we arrive in Salta in the late evening.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Founded in 1582 Salta is an incredibly gracious city, with an abundance of colonial buildings and picturesque plazas, surrounded by forested hills in the lush Lerma Valley. On our first morning here we will take a tour of its treasures, some of the finest examples of colonial architecture in Argentina. The Calibo, the old city hall, dates from 1783 and is one of the few remaining examples left in the country. The city cathedral contains the 16th century statues of the Virgin Mary and the Cristo del Milagro, believed to have miraculously stopped an earthquake in midtremour in 1692, whilst the magnificent facades of the Church of San Francisco and the San Bernardo Convent are a delight to the senses. The rest of our time in the city is free for optional excursions and personal exploration. You could take the cable car up the San Bernardo Hill for a marvellous view over Salta. The second day you may like to visit a Gaucho Hacienda, get a “cowboy” course and enjoy a barbeque lunch, or take a 13-14 hour trip through the spectacular Humahuaca Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with surprisingly coloured rock formations and giant candelabro cacti. The canyon is rich in visual and cultural splendour with small indian villages dotting the valley floor and a heritage of religious devotion and celebrations. The former Inka fortress of Tilcara gives nice views in all directions. For the more adventurous amongst us there is the option to try your hand at rafting the Juramento River.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

This morning we travel by bus to Salta Airport where we take a flight to Puerto Iguazu.  On arrival we will transfer to our hotel in Foz do Iguacu just across the border.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

With its jungle setting, the Iguazú or Iguaçu Falls on the Argentinean Brazilian border are perhaps the world’s most beautiful waterfalls and are without doubt a major highlight of our trip. We have the option to take a bus this morning and cross the border to visit the falls from the Argentinean side. Four times wider than Niagara the falls hurtle over high cliffs into a marvellous curved amphitheatre several miles wide – a breathtaking sight. The noise is tremendous and huge clouds of mist are churned up by the cascade. The surrounding spray-soaked forest is alive with brightly plumaged toucans, parrots, humming birds and colourful butterflies. An electric train and a short walk will bring us to the fitfully churning Devil’s Throat.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Today is free to indulge yourself as you wish. You may return to the falls and visit them from the Brazilian side, offering better front views. The national park was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986 and its trails are a haven for nature lovers, with over 100 species of butterflies recorded here, as well as a prodigious collection of bird species. You could always visit the Tropicana Bird park lying in the rainforest near the entrance gate – this is a must for ornithologists and anyone interested in local wildlife. For a more spectacular view of the falls you may like to take a 10 minute helicopter flight or a boat ride, for a breathtaking, but very soggy, journey to the base of the Macuco Falls. Another option today is an excursion to the 65 stories high Itaipu Dam, the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, with an 8km long dam and a reservoir that covers 1400 square kilometres. The output from the plant, supplies some 80% of Paraguay’s electricity and 25% of Brazil’s.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Today we leave the thunderous falls and take a long day’s drive, heading due east, to the modern city of Curitiba, capital of Paraná state. Once a gold mining centre, this pleasant town is very much an immigrants’ city, with its modern streets now playing host to the descendants of the 19th and 20th century settlers who flocked here from Western Europe, Poland, the Ukraine, even Japan and the Middle East. We arrive late this afternoon in our hotel to plan our sightseeing for tomorrow.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

We have the day to wander the streets of this attractive city, explore its historic quarter, or visit some of its numerous parks and museums. The city has a distinctly European feel to it and many of its preserved buildings are very reminiscent of its colonial past. But there is also the option today to take the train, to the forested tranquillity of the Serra do Mar mountains, along Brazil’s most spectacular railway journey. Descending from 1000m to sea level the train traverses a landscape of high cliffs, plunging waterfalls and dense Atlantic rainforest to reach the subtropical plains. This masterpiece of railway construction was built between 1880 and 1885 by Belgian engineers and European immigrants and still transports many export crops like soya beans and coffee to the harbour of Paranaguá. A visit to the pleasant colonial village of Morretes completes this optional tour.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Another day’s drive, passing the 20 million metropolis of São Paulo, brings us to the coastal town of Paraty and one of the most important examples of Portuguese colonial architecture anywhere. We have a full day to explore at leisure this most delightful of towns. Once an important port of trade during the height of the Brazilian gold rush, the town today is a visual treat, its cobbled streets hiding a collection of majestic whitewashed buildings along the Rua do Comercio and no fewer than four stunning colonial churches, including the dominant Nossa Senhora dos Remedios. This is also an ideal spot to relax, by taking a boat trip out to some of the outlying islands and tropical beaches in the bay, with the chance to stop off and swim and snorkel in the clear, lukewarm Atlantic waters. Another option is to take a trip back in time and explore the trail through the mountains once used by the miners to bring their gold.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

The spectacular setting of Rio de Janeiro brings us to the end of our journey today. Leaving Paraty this morning we travel the relatively short distance to one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Named from the Portuguese for River and the month of January, it is a hard location to beat. With 120 miles of marvellous beaches, and a mountain backdrop to die for, it is a city that lives up to its name – Cidade Marvihosa. On arrival the afternoon is free to relax and enjoy the amazing spectacle that is Rio.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Please note that all activities in Rio are optional to give you a greater degree of flexibility in this incredible city.This morning we can take an optional tour of the city centre visiting amongst others the Sambadrome, where the carnival parades take place, before taking two cable cars up to the Sugar Loaf Mountain, the giant rock at the entrance of Guanabara Bay, from where the views of Rio are quite simply breathtaking. The rest of the day is free for you to continue exploring at your leisure. Your tour leader can organise a visit to the towering summit of Corcovado (712m) topped by the immense statue of Christ the Redeemer, or if it is possible you may prefer to visit a local football match. England may be the home of soccer, but Brazil is still very much its temple and to experience a game is a memorable event. A visit to the old bohemien district of Lapa, where every night the authentic samba still can be enjoyed should not be missed. Then, after what will doubtless be another full day of memories we come to our final evening, a time to reflect on a most amazing journey.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast

Included meals: Breakfast