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Santiago & San Rafael Glacier Cruise I

( Oct - April )
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Day 1. SANTIAGO
Arrival in Santiago de Chile, reception and transfer to the 5* Park Plaza Hotel. Accommodation in a superior club 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 (Monday/Friday). SANTIAGO - BALMACEDA - PUERTO CHACABUCO
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the flight to Balmaceda. Reception at Balmaceda airport. And transfer by bus to Coyhaique passing by natural attractions such as the Salto de Agua de la Virgen and Cascada Velo de la Novia (Water falls). We shall cross the bridge over the Aysén River and the Simpson River. Transfer to Puerto Chacabuco at 18:00 hrs to board M/V Skorpios I. On board M/V Skorpios I, you will find the best service with the well-known warmth of the Kochifas family and their crew. You will be able to enjoy the best international and local cuisine along with the best wines and liquors at the traditional open bar. We will set sail towards San Rafael Glacier at 20:30 hrs, the majestic relic of the planet's last glaciation. We will navigate through the Aysén Bay, Punta Tortuga, Elena Island, Costa Channel, Elephants Estuary, anchoring at Punta Leopardos, some 20 miles away from the San Rafael Glacier at midnight.

Day 4.
At 08:00 hrs, we will enter the San Rafael Glacier by Témpanos River’s Channel, anchoring two kilometers from the glacier. Excursions are done in “Hércules” motorboats surrounding the multicolored icebergs. . Here you will be welcomed by the Glacier, towering more than seventy metres above you, and whose ice is more than 30,000 years old. Enjoy a traditional whisky with millennium ice. The ship moves closer to the glacier in the afternoon. Set sail to Quitralco Fjord in the evening.

Day 5.
Arrival at the Quitralco fjord. Once the ship has docked at Quitralco pier, passengers can take thermal baths in indoor and/or outdoor pools. Excursions in motorboats around the fjord are also done during the morning. Lunch at the Fogón Criollo based on an assorted meat (Barbecue). After lunch, set sail to Puerto Chacabuco at midnight.

Day 6.
At 06:00 hrs, we will dock into Puerto Chacabuco pier. At 07:00 hrs, breakfast before transfer to Balmaceda airport for your return flight to Santiago and connecting flight home.

When the cruise commences on a Monday, there is an additional day in Quitralco.
Quitralco means "waters of fire" in the Mapuche language, and is a fjord surrounded by large, snow-covered mountains and impenetrable vegetation. This is a wonderful place where all passengers can rest in both covered and outdoor pools and enjoy the thermal waters ranging between 32 and 38 C.