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Deluxe Santiago & Ushuaia Cruise

( 11 days, 10 nights )
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Day 1. SANTIAGO
Arrival in Santiago de Chile, reception and transfer to the 5* De Luxe Ritz Carlton Hotel. Accommodation in a deluxe room.

Day 2. SANTIAGO
After breakfast, a half day city tour of Santiago including a visit to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. This museum offers a thorough overview of 4500 years of pre-Columbian civilization throughout Central and South America. At the Main Square (Plaza de Armas) view the beautiful Cathedral, Post Office and National Museum. Continue along the main avenue called "Alameda" to admire the San Francisco Church and the National Library. You shall also see the Mercado Central which is one of Santiago’s most colourful markets.
A visit to Cerro Santa Lucia, where Santiago was founded in 1541and where you can take the aerial cable car, to its summit at 485m for excellent views of the city. Lunch at Pinpilinpausha, one of the finest restaurants in Chile.
In the afternoon, a visit via the Maipo Canyon and up to Las Vertientes, a popular resort at the foothills of the Andes, with a view of the winding Maipo River. We continue towards Pirque, a picturesque village and the Concha y Toro winery, one of the largest exporters of fine wines in Chile. Founded in 1883 by the Marquis of Casa Concha, he appointed French oenologist M. de Labouchere to bring the finest stock vine from France and to have it planted in the Maipo River Valley. Since then, Concha y Toro has been the leader adopting new techniques. The tour will end with some wine tasting before returning to Santiago.

Day 3. SANTIAGO - PUNTA ARENAS
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the flight to Punta Arenas, located on the very tip of the continent. Reception and transfer to your hotel, the Finis Terrea for one night’s accommodation in a junior suite. Lunch at the Puerto Viejo restaurant. Dinner at the hotel.
MAR AUSTRALIS CRUISE (All meals included with an open bar)

Day 4. (Saturday). PUNTA ARENAS
Transfer to the port for the boarding of the "Mare Australis" expedition cruise ship. Accommodation in an AA cabin. The crew, headed by the Captain, will welcome you aboard with cocktails. The ship will depart towards the city of Ushuaia, through the mythical Strait of Magellan and through the Patagonian Channels around Tierra del Fuego.

Day 5. (Sunday). AINSWORTH BAY - TUCKER ISLET
With the first light of dawn, navigation will continue through the Almirantazgo Fjord. We will disembark in Ainsworth Bay near the Marinelli Glacier, where we will take a walk to see an elephant seal colony and appreciate the Magellan Forests. Located in Ainsworth Bay, in the midst of the Darwin Range, one can see the enormous ice wall more than 40 metres high. During the afternoon, we will approach Tucker Islet and the Australis Cruises Expedition Group will talk about the ecosystem and geography. Later in the afternoon, an excursion aboard zodiac boats to admire a small colony of Magellan Penguins. We will also see other bird species such as Skuas and Cormorants. The presence of dolphins and sea lions are also likely.

Day 6. (Monday). D'AGOSTINI FJORD
In the morning, a number of blue-tinted floating icebergs announce that we are sailing through the D'Agostini Fjord, a sea route which passes several glaciers. In a memorable awakening, and surrounded by a breathtaking landscape, we can watch the dance of light at dawn in front of the Serrano Glacier, where we will clearly see the central moraine. The myrtleberry, chaura (wild berry), ñirre (nothofagus pumilio, known as Antarctic beech), and wild strawberry together with other native species, thrive in these surroundings. We will disembark in Condor Bay, close to the Condor Glacier. Here we will enjoy a short walk through the native forest and an excursion by boats. After boarding again, the ship will sail through the Magdalena and Cockburn channels towards the Beagle Channel.

Day 7. (Tuesday): GARIBALDI INLET - PUERTO WILLIAMS
When the ship enters the Garibaldi Inlet, our aim will be to come as close as possible to one of the most beautiful glaciers of our cruise and to be able to observe the breathtaking mass of blue ice. During the route we will stop for a moment to admire the sea-lions and wild duck that herald our arrival. We will continue cruising through floating ice towards land and will disembark, in the middle of silence, in one of the solitary beaches of the Garibaldi Inlet. From here, we will penetrate one of the wildest and thickest forests of Patagonia, as our guide explains its flora, fauna and geography. Located at the northern end of Navarino Island and on the shores of the Beagle Channel, Puerto Williams - with no more than two-thousand inhabitants is one of the most southerly towns in the world.

Day 8. (Wednesday): PUERTO WILLIAMS - USHUAIA
The last day of the cruise with an early arrival in Ushuaia, located on the border of the Beagle Channel and surrounded by the Martial Mountains. The port of Ushuaia, originally a penal colony, is now the capital of the Argentinean province of Tierra del Fuego. A brief excursion of the city; including the Obelisk in the 12th October Square, where the Argentine flag was raised for the first time on 12th October 1884 by the expedition commanded by Commodore Augusto Lasserre. We will visit the Saint Christopher tug, which arrived to Ushuaia in 1953 to cooperate in the re-floating of the ship Monte Cervantes, owned by the company Hamburgo Sudamericana. On 22nd January 1930, when this touristic ship ran aground in the middle of Les Eclaireurs islets with approximately 1500 persons on board, the ship Saint Christopher arrived to Ushuaia to re-float it and ended by sinking spectacularly. Simoncini, the company that owned the St. Christopher, decided to leave the ship in Ushuaia.
Transfer to the wonderful 5* Las Hayas Resort Hotel, located in a natural forest of beeches (hayas) in 5 hectares of private land and located just below Le Martial glacier. Lunch and dinner at the hotel.

Day 9. USHUAIA
After breakfast, excursion to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. This sub-Antarctic forest covers the entire region and is located up to 600m above sea level. A visit to Lake Escondido with mountains at the foot of Paso Garibaldi offers a unique view in an environment of supreme beauty. There you start your descent and after 40 km. you arrive at the head of Lake Fagnano, an imposing lake which is internationally renowned for its fishing and is the largest lake on the island, over 100 km long. The tour will end with a round trip tour on the 'end of the world' train travelling through the National Park itself. Return to your hotel.

Day 10. USHUAIA
Free day to enjoy your last day at the end of the world. Optional excursions include a boat trip through the Beagle Channel with a visit to Sea Lion Island and the southernmost Argentinean lighthouse.

Day 11. USHUAIA - SANTIAGO
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the return flight to Santiago and your connecting flight home.

 End of our services.