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Focus on Brazil


Brazil is a vast country with several distinctly different biomes. Discover them all with Focus Tours: Brazil

Focus on Argentina

The 8th largest country in the world, Argentina offers a wealth of experiences. From the subtropical rain forests of Iguazú Falls to the high Andes. Discover more with Focus Tours: Argentina 

Focus on Bolivia

Bolivia, nestled between Brazil, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, is the poorest and least developed country in South America, but also biologically and culturally the richest, safest and friendliest. Discover more with Focus Tours: Bolivia

Focus on Chile

Chile is the only truly temperate country in the Neotropics, and occupies more degrees of latitude than any other nation worldwide. Perhaps it is not surprising that Chile offers several extremes of the natural world. Discover more with Focus Tours: Chile

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Jaguar Tours

The northern Pantanal is the richest area in the world for spotting Jaguars in the wild and, our naturalist guides are some of the best. Together with our boatmen we can take you into the best areas for jaguars and many other creatures. Read more about Jaguar Tours.

Bird Watching Tours

Douglas Trent is a scientist, bird watcher and wildlife photographer and his be operating Bird Watcing Tours for around two decades now. The tour possibilities in South America are many. Read more about Bird Watching Tours.

Wildlife Photography Tours

Douglas Trent is a wildlife photographer and guides groups of professional, or enthusiastc amateur, photographers and film crews on focused wildlife tours. Read more about Wildlife Photography Tours 

Funding Conservation

 

A percentage of our profits has been funding in-country conservation projects since 1981. They directly benefit the local communities we visit and, when possible, are self-sustable, generating benefits long after our initial donation. Your visit will benefit you, the environment and your hosts.

EL CALAFATE: Land of the Glaciers


In the far southwest corner of Patagonia lies a land of mountains cut by enormous glacier ending in stark, blue lakes. It is a land of natural extremes. Starting from the port town of Rio Gallegos on the Argentine coast, we drive west to the "Lakes of the White Frost", a pair of lakes where the rare Hooded Grebe was discovered in 1974. From there we continue on to the pleasant town of El Calafate, just up the hill from the glacier fed Lago Argentino.

From our comfortable base, we'll travel by boat to the immense Upsala Glacier, where we watch huge chunks of ice calve into the frigid waters. The boat trip through such spectacular scenery is exhilarating. From the glacier, we continue on to a dock on the forest edge. A short trail leads us to the surreal Onelli Lake. The calm waters of the lake host a myriad of large, naturally sculptured icebergs, and you'll enjoy a sack lunch from the forest edge in this magical setting of beech trees, ice capped mountains and icebergs.

In Argentina's spectacular Los Glaciares National Park, you can don crampons and hike on a glacier, or sit a close but safe distance from the Perito Moreno Glacier, the only known growing glacier. You'll realize the force of a calving glacier as one massive chunk after another plunges into the water, sending powerful waves across the channel.

The raw and rugged scenery is remarkably similar to scenes from Alaska, all the way down to the spectacular bird life. We'll look for the impressive Andean Condor, Chilean Flamingo, Austral Parakeet, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle, Austral Pygmy Owl, the powerful Magellenic Woodpecker, Chilean Flicker, and rare birds such as the Patagonian Tinamou, Great Shrike-Tyrant and Bronze-winged (Spectacled) Duck.

While the amount of wildlife is less in this region than in others, the scenery alone often makes this a highlight of any Argentine tour. We recommend 5 days from Rio Gallegos. The other ways to get there is from Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, which you can learn more about in our Chile tour descriptions.