DAY 01 SANTIAGO
(Meal Plan: None)
Welcome to Chile! Upon arrival, meet & greet at the airport and transfer to your hotel in Santiago.
DAY 02 SANTIAGO
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Snack)
Take a walk through the history of gender equality in Chile and explore a completely different side to Santiago with today’s 3-hour Feminist Tour. You will be picked up from your hotel (with Spanish speaking driver only) and taken through to the meeting point for the start of your tour. During your tour, you will explore a number of key attractions throughout the city such as the Archivo Nacional, San Francisco Church, Plaza de Armas and the Santiago Cathedral to name but a few, all while listening to your guide tell you some hidden feminist stories of which few travelers are aware. You will get the opportunity to visit women-led companies, namely, a store that sells Chilean-only products as well as a coffee shop & bar where you’ll get to enjoy a glass of beer or wine and some snacks. As a little memento from your visit to this bustling metropolis, you will receive a free bandana to take home, a symbol of the feminist movement in Latin America.
IMPORTANT
The tour runs daily between 11:00 and 17:00
Min/max number of participants: 1/10
Once completed, you will be taken to the trendy and central neighborhood of Barrio Italia, where you will enjoy a premium wine tasting of new and emerging labels from Chile in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The tasting includes hard-to-find wines from small and boutique vineyards from Chile’s 5 different terroirs. Each wine exquisitely expresses the country’s cool seaside climate, the Andes, the old vines of the south and the quintessential Central Valley. Round off the distinct Chilean flavors with a pairing of local tapas before being taken to your hotel for the evening (with Spanish speaking driver only).
IMPORTANT
Small groups from 1 to 10 people
Duration of the wine tour: 90 min.
DAY 03 SANTIAGO – PUNTA ARENAS
(Meal Plan: Breakfast)
At a proper time, transfer to the airport in Santiago for your flight to Punta Arenas. Upon arrival, airport transfer to your hotel in Punta Arenas.
DAY 04 PUNTA ARENAS – VENTUS AUSTRALIS
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Dinner)
Embark on a magical journey to the southernmost point of the earth, exploring the unique Fjords of Tierra del Fuego, set amidst the overwhelming natural beauty of Patagonia. You will stay overnight on a comfortable ship accompanied by experienced crew and tour guides. Between midday and late afternoon, you will check-in for your cruise at the Australis office. Until boarding at 18:00hrs at Puerto Prat Harbor in Punta Arenas the afternoon is free at leisure (at an additional cost optional tours can be booked). The crew welcomes you on board and invites you to a delicious welcome cocktail. Shortly following your welcome, the ship sets sail and your journey to the southernmost point of the earth begins. Among other things, the legendary Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel is crossed before it goes through Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
IMPORTANT
Check-in between 13:00 and 17:00 hrs.
DAY 05 VENTUS AUSTRALIS
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
On your second day onboard you wake up to the breathtaking view of the Almirantazgo Sound. At dawn, the ship passes through this passage to Ainsworth Bay, while in the background the Marinelli Glacier can be seen. On a hike in the group, you can experience the fascinating development of the surrounding nature after the disappearance of the eternal ice cover. In addition to a beaver dam and the sub-antarctic, Magellanic Forest, you may be lucky enough to observe a colony of elephant seals on the beach. Back on board, after lunch, continue to Tucker Islands where you can observe Magellanic penguins (only seen in the southern hemisphere) and cormorants from a dinghy. In the months of September and April, this trip will be replaced by a visit to Brookes Bay, where you will go ashore and hike near the glacier of the same name.
DAY 06 VENTUS AUSTRALIS
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today, the ship travels along the unique Beagle Channel, which serves as a junction between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Then onwards to the Pía Bay, where the majestic glacier of the same name rises up in the background. Here you go on another exciting land excursion to a lookout point, from which one has an excellent view of the mountain range, which stretches from the glacier to the sea. After this memorable experience, you continue through the north-west arm of the Beagle Channel, admiring the majestic ‘Glacier Avenue’.
DAY 07 VENTUS AUSTRALIS
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today’s route will take you through the Murray Channel before returning to shore in Wulaia Bay. This historic site used to be home to the Yamana Indians who used canoes to sail the coasts. Charles Darwin also landed here aboard the HMS Beagle in 1833 on his world tour. On a hike through the Magellanic Forest you can admire the numerous Lenga, Coihue and Canelo trees as well as numerous ferns before you return to a lookout point. In the afternoon the boat continues southward through the Nassau Bay towards the Cabo de Hornos National Park. If weather conditions allow, you can go ashore here again. The mystical Cape Horn is a 425 m high, almost vertically towering rock and was for a long time an important sea route for sailing ships that wanted to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. In addition, Cape Horn is known as the end of the world and was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in June 2005.
DAY 08 VENTUS AUSTRALIS – USHUAIA
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch)
Today, after your last breakfast on board, you will travel through Tierra del Fuego and disembark in the Argentine city of Ushuaia. Considered the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia offers a beautiful combination of mountains, sea, glaciers and forests.
After disembarking your half-day sightseeing tour begins as you travel back in time and wander the streets chosen by early British missionaries. The city was an original settlement of the indigenous ‘Yamana’. Beginning in 1884, to bolster its claim to the region, the Argentine government began to build a series of prisons around Ushuaia. Your tour includes the Old Prison Museum and the Maritime Museum both located in the old and infamous military prison (closed in 1947). The Maritime Museum displays a number of exhibits that tell the story of Ushuaia and its relationship to the surrounding islands and the sea whilst End of World Museum traces the heritage and history of Ushuaia and the surrounding region beginning with the indigenous people and continuing through to the first Europeans explorers, adventurers and settlers.
Then try a local specialty, fresh king crab. Located just two blocks from Ushuaia’s main port ‘La Cantina de Fredy’ unpretentious eatery is renowned for its king crab. Although space is tight in the dining room the food is worth braving the crowds for. Coming straight from the port king crabs are so fresh that you can see your next meal awaiting its fate in the restaurants’ large tanks. A king crab is considered to be shared by two diners. A starter and dessert are also included in your meal.
IMPORTANT
Approx. Ventus arrival time in Ushuaia at 08:30 hrs.
Itinerary and excursions may be adjusted due to environmental factors or safety precautions. Hiking boots are necessary for the excursions.
DAY 09 USHUAIA – BUENOS AIRES
(Meal Plan: Breakfast, Dinner)
At a proper time, transfer to the airport in Ushuaia for your flight to Buenos Aires. Tonight, uncover the delights of Argentine cuisine and learn how to prepare your very own local delicacies at the ‘Argentine Experience’ a hands-on dining experience in Palermo. The evening gets off to a spectacular start with an empanada (pastries) making class. While waiting for the empanadas to cook, local favorites such as provoleta (grilled cheese with herbs and spices), Argentine chorizo sausage with chimichurri sauce are served. Then move onto the main course a tender Argentine beef served with grilled vegetables. For dessert learn how to make your very own ‘alfajor’ (traditional sweet biscuits). The class is concluded with a lesson on how to formally prepare, serve and drink mate, a traditional tea made from the dried leaves of yerba mate. Throughout the meal, guests are served glasses of Malbec wine, while the hosts share anecdotes about the Argentine culture.
IMPORTANT
The Argentine Experience takes place in a relaxed atmosphere to bring together people of all ages and nationalities. Vegetarian, pescatarian and celiac options are available on request and with prior notice.
DAY 10 BUENOS AIRES
(Meal Plan: Breakfast)
Today you’ll enjoy an exciting sightseeing tour of this impressive city. In the early part of the 20th century, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. The grand public buildings of Buenos Aires reflect this opulent era. The so-called ‘Paris of South America’ combines the atmosphere of a former European town with the features of a Latin American capital. Our guide will pick out some of the city’s highlights such as Plaza de Mayo, Casa Rosada; Caminito and Recoleta with its cemetery to illustrate the history of Argentina. Moving on to San Telmo, the oldest district in the city, you will walk along ancient cobblestone streets, admiring old colonial houses, churches and famous antique shops and ateliers. You will confirm that no area in the city evokes the old Porteno spirit as the artists’ quarter of San Telmo.
DAY 11 BUENOS AIRES
(Meal Plan: Breakfast)
At a proper time, transfer to the airport in Buenos Aires for your international flight home.