Incredible farming, magnificent scenery
There is probably no other part of the world with the same rich mix of incredible farming combined with magnificent scenery along with diverse culture and history. South America is simply one of the most rewarding places on the planet to explore.
Since Greenmount’s first foray into South America 27 years ago, this continent has, with very good reason, been one of our most popular destinations. From breathtaking Machu Pichu, the sands of Copacabana, the glaciers and soaring peaks of Patagonia and the vastness of the Brazilian and Argentinean farmlands – South America has it all.
Overnight direct flight out of Sydney to Santiago (Chile). The flight time from Sydney is about 14 hours. With a lunchtime (same day) arrival we transfer to a direct flight to Lima in Peru. As we fly north along the Chilean coast we should get a great view of the coast backed by the magnificent snow capped Andes. On arrival we will clear immigration and check in to our airport hotel for a welcome reception and a well-earned rest.
Morning tour of the sights of Lima. The Peruvian coastline is spectacular and the city has some amazing colonial architecture. In the afternoon, we'll take a short flight to Cusco where we will be met and transferred to our hotel.
Cusco has an amazing history from the Incas and before with some wonderful Spanish colonial buildings. We take a morning tour of Cusco including the San Pedro market, the Koricancha temple, which during the Inca empire was a center of worship of the Sun, the monumental fortress of Sacsayhuamanand the archaeological centre of Kenko, a ceremonial place where the sun, the moon and the stars were worshiped.
In the afternoon, we'll transfer by bus to Ollanta train station and enjoy a spectacular train journey through farming valleys and imposing mountains to Aguas Calientes station (1000 metres lower than Cusco).
Aguas Calientes is the gateway to Machu Picchu.
As we are returning to Cusco – and the same hotel – the next day, you only need to take an overnight bag.
One of the most stunning archeological sites in the world awaits us: Machu Picchu! After a short bus ride from Aguas Calientes we will find ourselves in front of one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World – an unforgettable sight! From there, we will explore the ancient ruins, learning all about the history and mysteries that this mystical and impressive place holds. Surrounded by incomparable landscapes, there will be no shortage of spectacular photo opportunities! Lost in history, it was not discovered until 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham. Maybe climb to the Sun Gate for a spectacular view of the whole site (about 45 minutes each way)
We will return to Aguas Calientes where we will have lunch and explore the streets before boarding our return train to Cusco. Dinner and folkloric show at a local restaurant this evening.
After breakfast we fly to the eastern side of the continent today, bound for Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sao Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil, the Americas, and both the Western and Southern Hemispheres. Outside of Asia, it is the largest urban area by population. You get the picture... we are talking a very big population in excess of 21 million people in the greater Sao Paulo area.
At the airport, we meet up with our old friend of Greenmount Travel, and very experienced local guide, Marcio Guedes. Marcio will be with us until next Sunday.
We check in at our airport hotel this evening, have dinner and prepare for our travel to Cuiaba the next morning.
This morning we catch our flight to Cuiaba in the state of Mato Grosso – one of the frontier agricultural powerhouse regions of the Brazilian interior. We then travel through the spectacular Chapada dos Guimarães, an area of stunning table-top mountains, ravines, caves, streams and waterfalls perched about 800m higher than the enormous, flat plains of the Pantanal – a vast tropical wetland. The Pantanal enjoys cooler temperatures and its vegetation is 'cerrado' or tropical savannah which gives rise to different flora and fauna.
This cerrado landscape dominates Brazil's broadacre agriculture – not only in Mato Grosso, but Minas Gerais, Goias and Bahia. It was thought to be worthless for agriculture until Brazilian researchers found that it could be made highly productive with the addition of lime and phosphorus. We will visit some of the huge farming operations near Campo Verde. It is farming on a truly grand scale. Dinner with some local consultants and farmers.
Visit to Bom Futuro. The size of this operation is almost incomprehensible. They grow 90,000 hectares of cotton which is classed as a secondary crop to soybeans. They are big enough to build a hydroelectric power station 200 km away which provides 60 per cent of the power to their nine cotton gins and farming operations. They have scaled back their cattle enterprise but still have something like 100,000 head. And they have moved into fish farming in a big way. Be prepared to be amazed.
Later in the afternoon we head back to Cuiaba for overnight.
After breakfast, we'll fly to Rio de Janeiro and check in to our hotel on the northern end of Copacabana Beach.
A relaxed start to the day with time for a leisurely breakfast and a stroll on the beach before Marcio picks us up and we transfer to the train to take us to one of the signature sights of Rio, Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer – also one of the 'new' seven wonders of the world). Then after lunch we will head to the cable car to take us to the other signature sight, Sugarloaf.
Dinner tonight at the amazing Marius Degustare Restaurant - ranked number 1 on Tripadvisor from over 13,000 restaurants in Rio. And it's right next to the hotel.
We'll take an early flight this morning to Cascavel via Sao Paulo. Cascavel is at the heart of grain production in Parana State and we will visit a large farm growing wheat, corn and soybeans and with pigs and timber production. Then a buffet dinner at the Hotel Deville.
After another farm visit, we'll continue to Itaipu, where we will inspect the giant Itaipu Dam. And you guessed it – yet another wonder of the world. This time for its engineering and hydro-power output. This enormous hydro scheme is a joint project between the governments of Paraguay and Brazil. Eight kilometres wide and requiring enough concrete to build five Hoover Dams, the Itaipu Dam spans the Parana River at the Brazil/Paraguay border.
We'll enter the Iguacu National Park and arrive at the Hotel das Cataratas in time for sunset and an unforgettable (and easy) stroll along the boardwalk, from the front of our hotel, to many vantage points including Garganta del Diablo. Free evening to explore the falls and enjoy this magnificent 5 star hotel, perched right on the edge of the falls. The das Cataratas is the only hotel inside the national park, so when the gates are closed from 6pm to 9am the falls are exclusively ours!
Dinner at the hotel for a buffet you will never forget.
Full day to explore all aspects of the falls. We go straight to our jungle tour and exhilarating jetboat ride to the most impressive part of Iguacu Falls – Garganta del Diablo (translated as the ‘Devil’s Throat’). After lunch, there are options for helicopter flights over the falls and other activities.
After another early morning close-up view of the falls from the Brazilian side, we'll cross the Iguacu River into Argentina before joining our flight to Rosario in the centre of the Argentinian Pampas. We will be met by Andrés Sylvestre Begnis, the former CEO of the Argentinean No Till Farmer’s Association, who is going to be our tour leader for the next few days. Our guides will introduce us to the farms and farmers of the pampas, an almost uninterrupted fertile grassland plain of 75 million hectares covering a large part of eastern Argentina through to Uruguay and southern Brazil.
Dinner at Rock and Fellers Restaurant, walking distance from our hotel.
In the morning we will pay a visit to the BIOCERES Sevillas (seed) facility and to the Louis Dreyfus silos and the Parana River Port of General Lagos.
We'll then visit a farm near Pergamino City (with crops and livestock) and talk with Maximiliano Santos, the farm agronomist. Later we'll transfer to Federico Varela's farm and have lunch at the farm. During the afternoon we'll visit a seed plant near Pergamino.
We will visit Marcos Daziano (UBA agribusiness specialist) on the farm of Arrecifes City (crops and a feedlot). For lunch we’ll enjoy an Asado (BBQ) in the field and later in the afternoon, we’ll visit the Manuel Ocampo farm with grain storage facilities, chicken eggs and soy oil production.
Then we continue to Buenos Aires. Our hotel is located on the widest street in the world – the Avenue 9 de Julio – which honours Argentina’s independence day in 1816. It is in an area known as Microcentro and is close to shopping and almost opposite the beautiful Teatro Colon, BA’s opera house.
Freshen up before we take a short stroll for dinner and a first taste of a genuine Argentinian steakhouse – La Estancia.
We take a guided city tour of the major sights of BA. This is a vibrant city of many barrios (neighbourhoods) and while we're here, we'll visit colonial San Telmo, the colourful houses of La Boca and the newer Puerto Madero. At the Plaza de Mayo, we get a look at the Casa Rosada (the Pink Palace) where Eva Peron waved to the adoring crowds and visit her tomb in the cemetery at La Recoleta.
The afternoon and evening are free, but we will suggest a few options such as bike tours, tango shows and just generally exploring the many interesting areas of BA.
If shopping is more your thing, the shopping street of Florida is nearby.
This morning we fly south to the magnificent Patagonian region and the lake-side resort centre of El Calafate, the gateway to the Argentine glaciers. In the afternoon we will visit one of the local large scale sheep farms and discuss their particular (and unique) problems, such as pumas.
Estancia Huyliche is perched on a hill directly behind El Calafate with a magnificent view of the town and Lago Argentino. The estancia is dedicated to raising cattle and horses. Our visit includes the corrals, stables and historic shearing shed of the Estancia. We will have either lunch or dinner at the estancia, depending on the weather.
Either way, you will have some free time to explore this fascinating town.
We are in the arid rain-shadow region of the Argentine Patagonia. This is an environment ranging from enormous, majestic glaciers through to thick sub-Antarctic woodlands and savage unclimbed crags.
El Calafate is sited on the shores of Lago Argentino, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful lakes. El Calafate is also the access town for Glacier Perito Moreno, undoubtedly one of the planet’s natural wonders and one of the very few advancing glaciers on Earth.
Early this morning we board our 4 wheel drive coach and travel about an hour to visit this glacier as it wages a titanic battle with Lago Argentino. On our spectacular boat cruise to the face of the glacier we may witness huge chunks of ice 'detonate' off the face with the report of a cannon, and plunge into the water below.
There will be plenty of time to enjoy the walking trails and viewing platforms. Lunch is your own arrangement but the local kiosk is well stocked.
After our glacier encounter we will return to El Calafate by the "back road," passing through a very large sheep operation – Estancia Altavista. This estancia (ranch) is 75,000 hectares running around 28,000 sheep.
We start early on a long, but spectacular trip across the stark Patagonia plains – with some wildlife spotting, especially the local guanacos (type of llama) and maybe a condor or two.
We cross the border into Chile (have passports and visas ready) and meet with our Chilean guide. Then travel into the famous Torres del Paine National Park with a picnic lunch on the way. Torres del Paine is a massif crowned with weird twisted granite peaks rising out of the surrounding plains. It is one of the planet’s most visually stunning national parks standing guard against the elements at the foot of the world. Note that we will be travelling through some rugged country with unpredictable but often spectacular winter weather.
By late afternoon we arrive at the ferry terminal town of Puerto Natales. The town is a spectacular settlement sited on the Seno Ultima Esparanza channel – or Last Hope Sound. We can enjoy a welcome-to-Chile cocktail, giving us a chance to enjoy the Chilean national drink, the “Pisco Sour”.
We'll visit a large cattle and sheep estancia on the banks of the Last Hope Sound. We'll enjoy magnificent scenery with views to the glaciers and nearby snow capped mountains.
In the afternoon, we'll take a flight to Puerto Montt, the gateway to the magnificent Lakes District of southern Chile. Tonight we'll stay in picturesque Puerto Varas for a night overlooking the largest lake within Chile and some active volcanoes in the Andes.
We then continue by coach around the beautiful Lake Llanquihue where we will visit the Neumann family farm for a walkabout on the farm and early lunch – a barbecue, if the weather cooperates. In the afternoon, we'll travel through the incredible Lakes District to another beautiful Chilean lake – Villarrica, right next to one of the most impressive mountains in the country.
Today we move from the mainly dairy/pasture region into one of the major grain and cropping regions of the country around Temuco. We'll visit farms in this high rainfall zone with a reputation for very high yields. The area is known as the granary of Chile, producing wheat, oats and lupins plus specialty horticulture crops.
We take a short flight to Santiago with an afternoon city tour and transfer to our hotel for a two-night stay. Dinner tonight is at the roof-top revolving restaurant near our hotel where we toast our successful whirl around South America overlooking the lights of the city.
Today we take a day trip through some magnificent scenery to the beautiful and historic seaside city of Valparaiso for a wonderful lunch with a view. On the way we travel through the incredibly fertile Casablanca Valley, known around the world for dairy production and especially its wines. Sitting between the coastal mountains and the Pacific, this valley is renowned for its white wine, especially chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.
After our farewell lunch at Valparaiso, we return to Santiago for a free evening and overnight.
A leisurely morning and, depending on your flight departure time, you may have a chance to do some last minute sightseeing or souvenir hunting before transfer to the airport for your flight home.
Arrival back into Australia on the afternoon of September 15.