14 days 10:33 01-09-2021 We are the UK’s No.1 specialist in travel to Latin As our name suggests, we are single-minded America and have been creating award-winning about Latin America. This is what sets us apart holidays to every corner of the region for over four from other travel companies – and what allows us decades; we pride ourselves on being the most to offer you not just a holiday but the opportunity to knowledgeable people there are when it comes to experience something extraordinary on inspiring travel to Central and South America and journeys throughout Mexico, Central and South passionate about it too. America. A passion for the region runs Fully bonded and licensed Our insider knowledge helps through all we do you go beyond the guidebooks ATOL-protected All our Consultants have lived or We hand-pick hotels with travelled extensively in Latin On your side when it matters character and the most America rewarding excursions Book with confidence, knowing Up-to-the-minute knowledge every penny is secure Let us show you the Latin underpinned by 40 years' America we know and love experience 10:33 01-09-2021 10:33 01-09-2021 Most travellers to the Falklands visit for only a day or two as part of a cruise. Our holiday includes a whole week discovering the highlights of the islands. We’ll take you to Port Stanley, the capital, which looks like a small English town fifty years ago. The remains of ships abandoned 100 years ago are still to be seen in the coves, testament to an era when the islands were a safe haven when all ships passed this way before the Panama Canal opened. You’ll also travel to rural outposts by road and light aircraft. The Falkland Islands lie off the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic. However, very few people know about the wilderness beauty of this remote island archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean. The islands have an unpolluted environment with vast open spaces and white sand beaches. A huge variety of wildlife has adopted the Falkland Islands as their home: the bird and animal population (sheep, and penguins) outnumber the human inhabitants by 10-1. At least 5 species of penguin are found on the Falkland Islands and elephant seals, sea-lions and seals, an abundance of birds and minke and killer whales can be spotted here. The islanders remain British in outlook and descent, adhering to British laws and buying British goods. The holiday also features a few days in Chilean Patagonia the vicinity of Torres del Paine National Park, exploring this true wilderness where just a few rough roads cut through a frost-bitten landscape of glaciers, luminous lagoons, icy pinnacles and wind-strafed steppe. Your hotel in Santiago is in the pleasant residential and commercial quarter of Providencia. Santiago is set in a broad valley between ranges of the Andes, with majestic snow-capped peaks, and a smaller coastal range with a distinctly Mediterranean feel. Santiago is a huge metropolis, a mix of the old and the contemporary, with quarters of tree- lined avenues and affluent tranquillity and others full of commercial bustle. Take a guided day trip to the Pacific port of Valparaiso and the beach resort Viña del Mar. Valparaiso was a commercially important port until the Panama Canal opened. It has long retained a certain tumbledown charm and plenty of character, making it one of Chile's most interesting and photogenic cities: however nowadays it is having a bit of a renaissance, its peeling façades receiving a colourful facelift. Steps, winding lanes and a series of funicular railways connect the upper and lower city. From Valparaiso, it's a short drive north along the coastal road to Viña del Mar, the main seaside resort serving Santiago with a very different feel from its larger neighbour. Once a glamorous town attracting celebrities, its charm is now rather parochial but the casinos, resort hotels and the beaches are very popular at weekends. 10:33 01-09-2021 Today, you’ll fly from Santiago to Mount Pleasant, the islands’ airport on East Falkland. Still most commonly visited as a day’s excursion from Antarctic cruises, the islands are growing in popularity in their own right. A week’s visit allows you to observe a good sample of sub-Antarctic wildlife - enough to satisfy those who do not have the time to cruise to Antarctica. You’ll stay in farmhouses or small owner-operated lodges and travel by light aircraft and 4WD vehicle. It’s a drive of less than an hour to the old settlement of Darwin, named after naturalist Charles Darwin who visited the islands in the 1830s. The place relates a narrative of the Falkland Islands’ history. There is plenty to see from the 1982 conflict, and there are also vestiges of the gauchos' occupation in the 1800s. While staying at Darwin House, a converted farmhouse built in typical Falkland’s style, you can spot birds from its waterfront location: night heron, blackish oystercatchers, ruddy-headed and upland geese visit the environs of the property. Darwin was once the largest settlement after Port Stanley but it now has a permanent population of just 7 and serves as a sheep-farming location as is nearby Goose Green, famous for its role in the 1982 conflict. If available, the owner of the guest house will escort you on an informative tour of the battlefields and memorial sites. 10:33 01-09-2021 Fly by the Falkland Islands Government Air Service’s 8- seater Britten Norman Islander to Pebble Island on the tip of West Falkland (30 mins). On a clear day, the relatively low- altitude flight provides you with exceptional views of the Falkland’s coastlines and inland scenery. Pebble Island is one of the larger outlying islands, with a varied landscape of large ponds, moorland, long sandy beaches and rocky cliffs. The western side of the island is mountainous and the eastern side flat with wetlands and tussock grass. The only settlement is located on a narrow isthmus close to Elephant Beach, the longest sand beach on the Falklands at just over 7km. Pebble Island is renowned for its wildlife: it is home to large gentoo, rockhopper and Magellanic penguin colonies. It is one of the premier bird-watching destinations in the Falklands: thanks to the wetlands, it is a major wildfowl breeding site; not only are there 42 Falklands species, but also many visiting birds from South America and beyond. Species include king cormorants, giant petrels and black- necked swans. Pebble was used by Argentina as an airbase during the 1982 war and was made famous after a successful SAS raid to destroy aircraft. There is no material evidence of this today but there are 2 Argentine crash sites which can be visited and a memorial to HMS Coventry sunk by the Argentines with 11 fatalities. It’s a very picturesque island with a beautiful 7km stretch of white sand (Elephant Beach), perfect for hiking. The island is named after the translucent colourful pebbles found on some of the beaches and used to make jewellery. 10:33 01-09-2021 Fly to Sea-Lion Island, one of the smallest in the Falklands archipelago, a top destination owing to the sheer mind- boggling abundance of easily observed wildlife. The endangered striated caracara, Antarctic skuas, southern giant petrels, and a host of passerines can be spotted. Not to be missed are the southern sea lions at East Loafers, and the elephant seals which bask on the white sandy beach at the appropriately named Elephant Corner. The latter are close enough to be seen from the Sea Lion Island Lodge bar! Keep an eye open as there is the odd killer whale to be spotted off shore as well. The island was formerly a sheep-farm but farming activities are no longer practised. Being small and flat it is easily explored on foot. The settlement consists of your friendly lodge (the only purpose-built Lodge in the Falklands, close to the airstrip) plus a few other old farm buildings which now accommodate staff from the lodge and research scientists. There are two landing strips (1 earth and 1 grass). There is a memorial to HMS Sheffield which was sunk by Argentine forces in 1982 as well as graves of one of the 3 civilians killed during the Conflict. Fly to Port Stanley and proceed to your hotel overlooking the harbour. Port Stanley is the capital of the Falklands and the only settlement on the island of a substantial size, with over 2,000 inhabitants. There are several places of interest easily explored on foot including the 1982 Liberation Memorial, Falkland Islands Museum and Lady Elizabeth shipwreck in Stanley Harbour. Alternatively, wander around and admire the unique Anglo- Falklands architecture which dominates the centre and harbour front, Victorian-style brick or stone houses with brightly painted woodwork and corrugated iron roofs (known affectionately locally as 'wriggly tin'). This is the best place to shop or buy gifts. 10:33 01-09-2021 The 3hr drive by 4WD to Volunteer Point (mostly off-road) can be bumpy, but the scenery is very interesting. You pass minefields, through 'stone runs' (geological features resembling giant dry river beds descending from near the mountain peaks), small farm settlements (including Port Louis, the first settlement on the islands), round beautiful Barclay Sound and alongside some of the many ponds which are a typical feature of the Falkland’s landscape. Volunteer Point has a white sandy beach and is home to large colonies of king, Magellanic and gentoo penguins.