Petrified Woods

Departures: daily from October 1st to April 15th.
Guide: Spanish and bilingual (English - German - Italian - French)
Meals: half board. Air Fare: not included.

The place where the past comes present in the ancient woods, petrified by the action of volcanic eruptions whose dust covered these land ages ago. The place where the wonderful spectacle of the organized and complex social life of the Magellan penguins will amaze you. The circuit includes a full day visit to Bahia Camarones and Cabo Dos Bahías reserves, two of the biggest rookeries in the country and where there are fewer traces of human presence.

Day 1 - Comodoro Rivadavia
Reception at Comodoro Rivadavia airport. Transfer to the hotel. Accommodation and departure on an excursion to "José Ormachea" petrified woods, in the center of the Patagonic plateau. This petrified wood, discovered in 1927, gathers a group of 65 million years old huge fossilized trunks. On your way, pass by 'Cerros Colorados' (Red Hills) and 'Valle Lunar' (Moon Valley). Lunch in route. Return to the hotel. Accommodation.

Day 2 - Comodoro Rivadavia
Breakfast. Early departure to Camarones village, located 290 km north from Comodoro Rivadavia, on the bay with the same name, where the wonderful landscape of the Patagonic steepe reaches the deep blue of the sea. A day to admire the local fauna: guanacos, ñandues, Patagonic hare andEuropean hare. Arrival at Cabo Dos Bahias, settlement of a Penguin colony that gathers more than a million of them, as well as two-hair sea lions. Lunch. Visit to a small village where seaweeds are collected and processed. Return to the hotel skirting Bustamante Bay.

Day 3 - Comodoro Rivadavia
Breakfast. Transfer to the local airport.

OPTIONAL PRETOUR
Puerto Deseado

Day 1 - Comodoro Rivadavia
Reception at Comodoro Rivadavia airport. Departure to Puerto Deseado, visiting the Jaramillo Petrified Woods, fossilized by the effect of volcanic eruptions millions of years ago on the way. The trees, turned into kind of rock statues by the action of volcanic dust, were mostly coniferous and even some palm-trees that covered this land when it wasn't the bleak barren plateau that it is today. Accommodation at Hotel. Dinner.

Day 2 - Puerto Deseado
Breakfast. Full day excursion to Ría Deseado, an interesting area comformed by the inlet and the adjoining zones. The town of Puerto Deseado is located nearby. This inlet is unique for its geological and faunistic aspects. The river course has been abandonned by the former river that covered it and occupied by the sea. This makes it a national treasure, due to aesthetic and scientific reasons. It's the only place in the world where five different species of cormorants coexist, three of them nesting and all of them feeding in the area. The Magellan penguin is a usual inhabitant of the inlet from October to April and the most important rookeries are Quiroga Island, Punta del Paso Key, Birds Island and Chaffers Island. Return to the hotel.

Day 3 - Puerto Deseado / Comodoro Rivadavia
(This day replaces day 1 from the main program). Breakfast. Visit to the Natural Reserve of “Cabo Blanco”, a magnificent rock formation that constitutes the main Rookery of Sea Lions. Return to Comodoro Rivadavia. Accommodation.