From El Calafate: Estancia Nibepo Aike Tour

Depart from El Calafate and set off along the provincial Route 15, also known as 'The Road to the Estancias'. Keep your eyes peeled for condors, foxes, and hares along the way. Admire the scenery as you cross Rico River and watch as the landscape becomes more mountainous. Travel along the edge of Roca Lake and enter Los Glaciares National Park to reach the Estancia.

When you arrive, be welcomed by your host and head into the rustic dining room. Have a hot drink (tea, coffee, or mate) accompanied by home-made cakes and pastries. Enjoy this good moment to pause and take in the magnificent view of the Andes mountain range. Then, start your walk around the main buildings of this typical Patagonian estancia which was formerly devoted to sheep rearing. Nowadays, it has become the most prestigious Hereford breeding ranch in the area, while still retaining a small herd of sheep.

At the stables, enjoy an optional horse ride and go out to explore the surroundings accompanied by a guide. Alternatively, take a good long walk with excellent views of the Southern Arm of Lago Argentino. Discover the diverse rocky outcrops eroded by glacial action and incredible geological formations. Follow the footpath through native woodland - a habitat for an abundant variety of native flora and fauna. Keep your eyes peeled for caranchos, parakeets, hares, woodpeckers, and eagles.  

After the walk or horse ride, meet the group at the shearing shed. See inside and learn about the work of the team through a shearing demonstration. Listen and watch as the process is described from the shearing of the animal to the baling of the fleece, ready for the wool to be stored and transported. Then, watch a horse-handling demonstration. During the day, also participate in the morning cow milking and in the afternoon sheep herding.

Finally, return to the dining room and sit down to enjoy some tasty Patagonian roast lamb while enjoying the impressive view of the mountain range. Return to El Calafate at the end of the day where your tour concludes.