ESTANCIA LAGOS DEL FURIOSO - PATAGONIA ARGENTINA

LOCATION
The Northwest Territory of Santa Cruz Province in Patagonia, Argentina, is certainly one of the rare beautiful, untouched and cleanest environments remaining in our planet. Here is located Estancia Lagos del Furioso, in the heart of Patagonia.

There, the San Lorenzo Mount, the taller and biggest in Patagonian Andes, overlooks the mountain ranges and glacier valleys that spread in all directions. To the west, up to the humid forest, continental glaciers and Pacific Ocean inlets. To the east, to the Atlantic basin, the valleys are full of sun, light and color in their deserts and canyons; their history is stone-printed, and many ancient and rich cave paintings remain.

Rushing streams and rivers or large lakes develop at both sides and through the Andes.
Among them, the big Pueyrredon-Cochrane Lake crosses the mountains and the Chilean border to come down close to the Posadas Lake. A long and narrow isthmus, only remain of an ancient glacier moraine, slightly separates the lakes.

The most pure water lakes shine in their quite different blues, dramatically contrasting with the surrounding steppe and the vivid, colorful stone scenarios.

On that narrow isthmus lays Lagos del Furioso, a dream lodging between the lakes, sheltered by old groves of lombardy poplars and willows, among scented sweet fruits hedges, all remains of primitive settlers.

THE LODGE
Trees and wedges separate their cozy wooden cabins for a delicate intimacy. They are pleasingly equipped and quite comfortable.

The owners personally take care of their guests. This, together with the exquisite homemade cooking, the organic vegetables garden, the complete wine cellar, the Finnish sauna and the library about Patagonia, contributes for a memorable stay.

Among the many open-field possible activities, any person will be able to find his/her own selection among horse-riding, trekking, mountain bike, photographic or bird-watching rides, fishing, sailing, boat rides or promenades by foot or using special vehicles.

The large cabins are equipped with individual heating, electric light during the 24hs, private bathrooms, and a wood deck to rest at the end of the day. The main house, with the dining room and a pleasant view to the huge Patagonian landscape, also has a confortable reading room, and a complete library dedicated to Patagonia.

An outdoor asador, to taste the delicious Patagonian lamb, and a high lookout window with a splendid 360º view over the lakes Pueyrredon and Posadas, complete Lagos del Furioso.

ACTIVITIES
Most excursions in the area are great for bird and animal watching and photography, the discovery of geological curiosities and the encounter with the old cultures that inhabited this soil. The light, the colors, the chronicle of the land stone-written, the history and the good weather will hold a place into your memory.

Apart from the wanderings and trekking by foot, it is also possible to do horse rides, from a few hours to several days long. We also provide excellent mountain bikes, daysailers, and boat rides to visit the colorful coasts and beaches of the lakes.

Both lakes are controlled by the Secretaria de Pesca to allow sport fishing. We encourage catch and release fly-fishing.

The guests will find at site adequate information and reliable, skillful local guides for their wanderings.


THE RIO FURIOSO CANYON
The Rio Tarde and Furioso canyons, of great natural beauty, exhibits the path of times in the erosion work that shows in the tall bluffs strips of amazing polychromes in the deposited layers. It is a site of conglomerates of sandstone, tuffs and calcareous tufas. These layers rest upon a cretaceous seabed that keeps a rich variety of fossils (bivalves, mollusks, ostreas, ammonites and many others). This rich collection and its unusual natural exposure motivated at the end of last century long expeditions from Princeton and awakened the interest of the La Plata Museum.

The Furioso, the most beautiful canyon due to its proportions, is at a short reach. Half to a full day. The journey may consist of a simple walk, or instead a foot or horseback climb of the sidewall, to have a view from the canyon summit of the lakes surroundings, and the Andes.

The colorful stones fallen from the walls that lay in the riverbed and its shores, conform together with the steppe flora a most beautiful natural garden. A more extensive expedition can take you to the Rio Lacteo valley, and the Belgrano, Burmeister and Hansen lakes, in the P. Moreno National Park.


MOUNT SAN LORENZO AND RIO ORO VALLEY
The Mount San Lorenzo is a granitic massif with glaciers of great beauty, the biggest and the highest overlooking the southern Patagonian Andes. Very well known by mountaineers, it was climbed for first time by Alberto de Agostini in 1943. He describes in a book the detail of the settlers everyday life and adventure in the region of the lakes and the Baker basin, which remains ever since essentially unchanged. Rio Oro (means gold) is also referred as von Platen, first European to reach this zone.
Beautiful panoramic views over the lakes, the antique rocks formations and the cordillera (range). When descending to the valley, the access to the river canyon entrance is a condor country. Unique sights over the cordillera and the start of the Nothofagus forest (Lengas and Ñires). Magnificent mountain ranges and meadows at the foot of San Lorenzo. Access to its glaciers and its base camp.

JURASSIC COAST: LAKE POSADAS AND THE PAINTINGS
The basin of the lakes Posadas/Pueyrredón and Ghio is the lowest glacier depression in the southern Patagonian Andes, raising only 500 ft over the sea level. Lago Posadas, fed by the glacier rushing streams of the Furioso and Tarde rivers, receives with the thawing suspended matter that confers its unmistakable color. Separated from the crystalline and deep blue Lago Pueyrredón by the isthmus (la Península), now drains into it, and both to the Pacific Ocean. In older times, the waters flowed to the Atlantic. From remote times the basin sheltered both human and animal life, of which give proof important archaeological remains; a guide is recommended.

PASO ROBALLOS AND LOS ANTIGUOS
The zone up to the Paso Roballos, the Chacabuco, Zeballos and Jeinimeini valleys is charming, desolated and suggestive. The high mountains alternate with moist meadows and with archaic and colorful rocks formations denuded through the times.
From Roballos you reach the basin of the incomparable Río Baker, and from there to the Chilean Austral road. Or to Los Antiguos through a road of real adventure. Bruce Chatwin imagined that Paso Roballos could well have been the dreamt site of Trapalanda, the Golden City.
The passage to Los Antiguos by the road to Monte Zeballos is desolate, rough and high, subject to rain and snowfall. If you have the proper vehicle and a restless spirit, you will enjoy the unusual experience of exploring lengthwise a part of the core of the Austral Andes.
Each one of the places referred offers unmatched diversity of scenarios, which change in a short stretch from the painted deserts to the high mountains, its glaciers and the austral forest.

HANDS AT RIO PINTURAS AND LAGO GHIO
The Norwest region of Santa Cruz is scattered with important archeological sites. The most remarkable is Cueva de las manos (Hand's Cave), in the Pinturas river canyon.
A permanent sanctuary for over more than eight thousand years, the images at the rock eaves of the Pinturas valley continue to stimulate the imagination. Famous worldwide, their beauty and the magic of the place cannot be overlooked.
At 160 km from Lagos del Furioso, you can plan a visit upon arrival or when departing, while on the road RN40.
Near our Estancia there are several other sites of archeological interest that can be visited with our guide.

If you need further information about Estancia Lagos del Furioso, just contact us.

RIPIO TURISMO - Incoming Tour Operator Argentina & Chile- Leg. 10.687 Secretaría de Turismo de la Nación Argentina.
info@ripioturismo.com.ar

Ripio Turismo Website: www.ripioturismo.com.ar
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