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Day 1: Arrive to Osorno, transfer to Motoaventura offices, welcome diner with the team of  Sonia and Roberto and sleep in Osorno.

 Riding Day 1-  Leave Osorno, crossing the mighty Andes via Puyehue Pass, with views of recently active volcanos. We drop down into Argentina and the town of Villa la Angostura, then ride along the edge of beautiful Lake Nahuel Huapi, with its cold, clear, waters which reach depths of more than 1500 feet in some places, surrounded by forests of native cypresses and coihues.   We soon turn south and pass the Limay River and the site of the general store where the American bandit Butch Cassidy used to take on supplies. From there it is short run into Bariloche, where we will spend the first night, in this world-famous resort city at the edge of Nahuel Huapi.  Map (390 kb)

After breakfast we leave Bariloche and head for Esquel, 310 km south.  This takes us along the edge of the mountain lakes of Mascardi, Guillermo, and Gutierrez, surrounded by high peaks and forests.  We will stop in the town of El Bolsón for lunch.  Then we will leave the pavement for a while to visit the cabins near Cholila where Butch Cassidy, Etta Place, and the Sundance Kid lived while trying to run a respectable ranching business.  The we return to the pavement at the famous “Ruta 40” which will eventually take us to deepest Patagonia.  But for now, we’ll enjoy a great meal and a good sleep in Esquel, a small and cozy city founded by the Welsh in the nineteenth century. Map (390 kb)

Breakfast in Esquel, and hit the road. Ride the mostly open plains on “Ruta 40” past ranches, or “estancias” that will remind you of the American West a hundred or more years ago.  We spend the night in one of those estancias, 70 km from the frontier town of Perito Moreno, for a total ride of 510 km on this day.  This is the ragged edge of civilization, and your dreams for the following day should prepare you for the wilderness.   Map (390 kb)

Today we get serious about our riding, because we have 330 km of gravel and mixed gravel and dirt.  This is the Patagonia you have heard  about, the very picture of emptiness and desolation.   You may ride for several hours and not see so much as a fence. It is a land where you can expect to see some of the wild animals such as guanacos, Darwin’s rheas (similar to ostriches) and at least one type of armadillo.  We pass the outpost settlement of Bajo Caracoles and finally reach the remote ranch where we will stay, at the Estancia La Angostura.

We continue on for another 200 km of gravel riding,  past more estancias and the mighty Santa Cruz River, which drains Lake Argentina.  Then, we reach pavement again, for a short ride into the town of Calafate, where we will spend the night. Map (390 kb)

This is mostly a slack day, a day to recover from the grueling days of dust and gravel in the outback.  But don’t lay back so much that you miss our tour of the Perito Moreno glacier, which is one of the most spectacular sights in all of Patagonia.  At day’s end we return to Calafate and get a good sleep in preparation for the next stretch the following day, to the Atlantic coast. 

Expect a long and windy day on the pavement, heading southeast to the city of Río Gallegos.   We’ll stay in that city, and perhaps even look for the remains of the bank which some say was once robbed by Butch Cassidy and Sundance.

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Take Route 3 south and cross the frontier into Chile. Take the short ferry crossing across the straits of Magellan to the island of Tierra del Fuego. Cross back over into Argentina and if time allows, pay a visit to one or more of the famous and historic old sheep estancias which were responsible for much of economic development of Tierra del Fuego in the early nineteenth century. Stay in the town of Río Grande.

Leave Río Grande and head for Ushuaia on a paved road.  Near Tolhuin the gravel starts again as we head along Lake Fagnano and up into the spectacular Darwin Range, over Garabaldi Pass.  We will pass through Ushuaia on our way to the famous “end of the road” sign near Lapataia Bay.  Then at the end of the day,  Ushuaia for dinner and our lodging for the night.  

Free day in Ushuaia.
 

Leave Ushuaia early, for the start of a long and interesting day.  Gas up in Tolhuin or Río Grande and then head across Tierra de Fuego on dirt and gravel roads rarely taken by motorcycle riders, following the “route of estancias and guanacos.”   We will have to ford a shallow river as we leave Argentina at Radman and head for the Chilean side of the island.  Then we pass “Pampa Guanaco” – a section full of those wild animals, which should offer some good photo opportunities. Along the way we will see an old gold field and dredge (now a Chilean National Monument) and the early sheep estancias of Cameron and Caleta Josefina.  Then we’ll ride into Porvenir, where we spend the night.
 

We may visit the Magellanic penguin rookery north of Punta Arenas. Lodging and dinner in Puerto Natales.

We have half a day to sightsee around Porvenir, a small town that still shows the influence of the Yugoslavian and other European immigrants that developed this place in the late nineteenth century, during the local “gold rush.”  Shortly after noon we take the ferry across the Straits of Magellan and reach the Chilean city of Punta Arenas.  There we will visit the overlook of the city, and if time allows,  we will run down the coast to the old fortress at Fuerte Bulnes and the San Isidro lighthouse.   Lodging and dinner in Punta Arenas

Head out of Cerro Castillo for the famous prehistoric Mylodon Cave, followed by a ride through breathtaking scenery along Lago del Toro, to the Puente Negro (Black Bridge)  over the Serrano River, and a splendid view of the Paine Massif.  Continue along the Eberhard fiord to the old port and sheep processing center at Bories, now a Chilean National monument. 

Day 16

Head out for a look at the Grey glacier, spilling off the immense Southern Patagonian Ice Field in Torres del Paine National Park. Continue on to Laguna Azul (Blue Lake), Salto Chico (falls), Condor Lookout, and a half-hour hike to the lookout over the lake and the amazing Cuernos, or "horns" of the Paine Massif.  Then a stop for a possible close-up view of the wild guanacos, and the lookout point for the famous Torres, or "towers" of Paine, followed by a short trip to Cerro Guido and the Baguales mountains.  For dinner, a traditional gaucho-style barbecue known as "asado al palo" at an estancia (ranch) with lodging at a comfortable hostería at Cerro Castillo.

Prices:

• Rider with Yamaha XT 600: U$D 4.210,-

• Rider with BMW 650 GS: U$D 4.595,-

• Rider with BMW R1150GS U$S 4750

• Passenger/companion: U$D 1.490,-

• Single supplement (option) add : U$D 435,-

• Minimum  4 riders for this trip.

Day 17

Return with a small bus to Punta Arenas to take the flight to Santiago de Chile.

Includes

• Tri-lingual motorcycle guide (German, Spanish, English) for the tour, and

• tri-lingual guide in the support vehicle.

• Flight tickets for Punta Arenas - Santiago.

• Lodging in comfortable hosterías, ranches (estancias) and  hotels, with breakfast included. 

• Fuel for the entire trip is included

• The motorcycles include  2001/ 2003 BMW F650 GS or  2001 /2004 Yamaha XT600 models with side cases, tank bag, windshield and top case. 

• Maps of Chile and Argentina.

• Paperwork for all border crossings.

• Transportation is included to and from the Osorno airport and the MotoAventura offices.

• Transfer for the motorcycles from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt - Osorno.