Tantalizing Northern Argentina - Buenos Aires, Iguazu, Salta, Cafayate & Buenos Aires

 Bienvenidos & welcome

Upon arrival at EZEIZA International airport & after clearing the mandatory Argentina Immigration & Customs procedures you will be met by one of our professional English speaking guides & then by way of a private air-conditioned vehicle, transfer to your confirmed centrally located city hotel. 

Breakfast

This morning after breakfast you will be picked up from your hotel to embark on a 3 hour regular Buenos Aires historic city sightseeing excursion. Sense, feel & soak up the emotions & ambiance of South America’s most glittering capital city. Take in all the major plazas: Plaza San Martin, Plaza 25 de Mayo, Plaza Congreso & Plaza San Martin; traverse the major boulevards & avenues: Av. Corrientes, Av. Cordoba, Av. 9 de Julio, Av. Callao & Av Libertador; visit the historic districts of San Telmo, La Boca, Montserrat, Once, Recoleta, Puerto Madero & the elegant neighborhoods of Palermo & Belgrano. You’ll see the historic civic buildings, fountains & monuments for which this city is standout: pause in Plaza 25 de Mayo at the Presidential Palace - Casa Rosada, the reverence within Buenos Aires Cathedral, the famous Cabildo & the iconic Obelisco, all the while gaining a knowledge & education through the descriptions & in-depth commentary provided by your local expert bi-lingual English speaking guide. At the conclusion of the morning’s historic sightseeing excursion you will be returned to a set arrival point.

The afternoon is free of any pre-arranged activity, therefore giving you free reign & your own timetable for the remainder of the day.

Breakfast & dinner

This is your chance to strike out on your own & explore Buenos Aires as today is free of any pre-organized activities, until this evening. After breakfast if you want to shop or just browse, then we suggest the many boutiques that are on both sides of Avenida Santa Fe, or down Calle Florida a famous pedestrian shopping street & Galeria Pacifico in the central city. Whatever you decide to do today, please be sure to be back at your hotel, dressed in smart casual attire in time to be picked up shortly before 8.00pm for an evening of traditional charm & romance. 

Tango is the trademark dance & rhythm of Argentina & there is no better place to be exposed to this sensational pulse than at a dinner & tango show, with professional tango musicians, singers & the best of tango dance couples.

Dinner includes appetizers, various choices of a main course, deserts, accompanied by with fine local red & white vintages of wine & soft drinks, then tea & coffee, should you wish. This is an evening that will captivate & live on with you as the essence of not only Tango, but Buenos Aires itself. It is likely you will not be returned to your city hotel until approaching midnight, where no doubt sleep will come easily.

Today you have no pre-arranged activities scheduled so you can enjoy this cosmopolitan city at your own pace.

As an optional excursion, consider one of the estancias to partake in a Fiesta Gaucha, or, going over to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay on the one hour fast ferry Buque Bus service for a step back into the Spanish colonial past, to browse & wander on the cobbled streets of this quaint historic riverside township. Then again, Buenos Aires offers the pinnacle of quality fashion boutiques, handcrafted leather goods, shoes, bags, jackets & a plethora of street side cafes, if for no other reason than to sit, take in the scenery, people watch & relax.

Breakfast

This morning after breakfast, check out of your hotel & by way of a private vehicle transfer, you will be driven to the local Aeroparque Jorge Newbery principally domestic airport to there check in for a flight to Iguazu falls. 

Upon arrival to Iguazu you will be met & transferred in a private air-conditioned vehicle, to your confirmed hotel.

In the afternoon you will embark on a half day  tour to the Brazilian side of the falls. Panoramic views looking across into the Argentine side of the falls are best seen from here, the Brazil side as from the Argentine perspective, the three massive horse-shoe valleys cannot be all seen from any one particular point.

The Brasil side has only one walking pathway, but if it is open, we recommend you take it out onto the steel catwalks that extend well into the river, almost under one of the main flows of the falls here.

The awesome power of Mother Nature can be felt & sensed, not only from the constant roar of rushing waters, but by the vibrations they send as the 31million plus litres a minute hit the bottom of each chasm.

These amazing & vast National Parks subtropical rain forests are the home of some 1100 species of exotic birds, large & small mammals as in deer, jaguar, puma, otters, ocelots, capybaras & many snakes & other reptile species.

Breakfast

After breakfast this morning you will be picked up & by way of regular coach , to there embark on full day private excursion of the Argentinean side of our planets most majestic waterfalls, accompanied by an English speaking guide.

Iguazu Falls is made up of more than 270 cataracts, spread around three large half-moon shaped valleys. There are two basic circuits, an upper & a lower walking trail The upper path leads to incredible panoramic views of the falls from an extensive steel walkway, also an unforgettable experience, & he lower trail leads down a series of steel stair cases & viewing platforms to the base of the San Martin cataract where the intense water volume releases a misty spray into the air. Then also as an included part of your Iguazu experience, the ´People Mover` narrow gauge train gives guests access along a track of some 3.5km, to the steel walkway that goes out across the mezzanine level of the river to the point where physically Argentina & Brazil’s international border is defined by the thunderous ´Garganta del Diablo` – the Devil’s Throat.

At the conclusion of your day’s activities here at Iguazu Falls, you will be returned to your hotel where the remainder of the evening is free of anything that has been pre-organized.

Breakfast

This morning after breakfast you will check out of your hotel & at a time that will be advised to you well in advance, transfer by way of a private air-conditioned vehicle to Iguazu airport to check in there for a flight across the country to the far NW quadrant, with a destination of the city of Salta. 

Upon your arrival to Salta airport you will be met & by way of a private vehicle, transferred to your confirmed hotel.  

This afternoon  you will be picked up to embark on a 3 hour comprehensive regular historic Salta city sightseeing excursion hosted by a bi-lingual English speaking local expert guide, including most important historic buildings, churches & monuments. Provided the weather God is smiling & conditions are right, the panoramic views from San Bernardo hill overlooking the city are awesome. This region is well known for its subtropical microclimate. A short visit to the summer villa of San Lorenzo in a tranquil valley located some 6km from downtown is also included.  You will be returned to your hotel at the conclusion of the excursion.  

Please note: there is a unique Museum open daily except Mondays here in Salta which features three mummified Inca children, thought to have been aged 7, 9 & 13 years. This is called the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña & it located in the main Plaza of the city. They were found in 1999 by a team of experts buried just below the summit of the snow-capped Llullaillaco Volcano, 6,700 meters above sea level. These preserved three Inca children are thought to have been protagonists of the Capacocha, a ceremony during which they were sacrificed to act as mediators between the people & the gods. The altitude, extremes of cold, permafrost & the dry atmosphere has preserved these three child mummies almost perfectly. In cooperation with NASA they are kept in climatically sealed plexi-glass ´cabinas` with one of the child mummies on display for the public at all times the museum is open. We highly recommend visitors to use this free afternoon to visit this amazing ´unique` exhibition.

SALTA – VUELTA POR LAS ALTURAS – an overland expedition to the high altiplano

Breakfast

You will need a very early wake-up, as departing early this morning from the CBD of Salta city, you are in for a marvellous overland day excursion to the high altiplano in an overland vehicle.  Please note: `layer` & wear warm clothes as it will be cold pre-sunrise & after sundown.

The overland 4x4 vehicle climbs the Quebrada to the mezzanine level of the altiplano, passing through three completely different eco-systems ranging from river valley, to tundra, on up to encounter 3m - 4m tall cactus that have taken 400+ years to grow, strewn at random across hillsides you will pass along the way. A stop is made at an altiplano artisan community, then on to the town of San Antonio de Los Cobres at 12000`above sea level where guests can purchase food & beverages if they wish. After leaving San Antonio de Los Cobres the vehicle traverses the famous RUTA 40 which runs from the Bolivia - Argentina border in the north, some 4000km south to the Patagonia city of Rio Gallegos; some 40km along this route, glistening ice white salt flats come into view. Here this salt flat extends some 42km in length & 17km in width. The salt is `harvested` commercially by locals using an ancient hand sewn process to cut blocks. Then cresting a Quebrada at 14300` above sea level, the expedition travels down a tar-sealed alpine highway, shedding 7000` in approx 30 minutes drive, down to the altiplano township of Purmamarca, famous for the ¨Hills of the Seven Colours¨.  There is one of the best artisan markets in all of Argentina here in the main plaza at Purmamarca, so take your time browsing and please do `bargain` with the merchants as you will find them all open to that bartering process given they are all competing for the business of guests purchasing their hand-crafted products. Late this afternoon you will depart Purmamarca & return to Salta & your hotel, arriving well after sunset.

CAFAYATE - Full day excursion to Cafayate

Breakfast

Today after breakfast you are going to be picked up to have a full day excursion to Cafayate. The journey starts from Salta city to the south, along route 68 through the Lerma Valley and its historical towns. We reach Quebrada de las Conchas (the Shell´s Gorge), where wind and water erosion carved curious shapes on the rocks (The Amphitheater,´Devils throat, The Toad, The Castles, among others). When we arrive in Cafayate, we visit some wineries, famous for their production of Torrontes, with special characteristics due to the particularities of the climate and land.

Breakfast.

Early this afternoon  we return to Salta through the Quebrada de las Conchas (the Shells´ Gorge) &Lerma Valley to your awaiting accommodation. 

Breakfast

This morning after breakfast, check out of your room & at the appropriate time, by way of a private vehicle you will be transferred to Salta airport for an onward flight. 

Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, you will be transferred to your hotel.

Breakfast

This morning after breakfast, check out of your room & at the appropriate time, by way of a private vehicle you will be transferred to Buenos Aires airport for an onward flight

This brings to a conclusion the services as provided by Sundance Spirit.