Day 1
Montevideo
You'll begin with a tour of the historic quarter—its highlights, its architectural nuances and galleries. After that, you'll explore El Mercado del Puerto, an indoor market with small shops that sell books, crafts, clothing and textiles. The market has come to be a venue for local, up-and-coming musicians a common "meet up" for Montevideanos. Be sure to take in the woodsmoke and try out some Uruguayan food for lunch. Overnight at a carefully selected and centrally located 3- or 4-Star hotel.
Day 2
Chuy
After breakfast, transfer to the Brazilian border and explore Chuy, a small, border town, where locals speak a language all their own (a combination of Spanish and Portuguese).
As you make your way to your hotel, you'll pass the Merin Lagoon, one of the largest fresh water reserves in South America.
After lunch, you'll pass San Miguel's rolling hills and some Cimarron cattle, the first cattle in South America (introduced by Spain in the 17th Century). Eventually, you'll come to the top of Cerro Picudo, a boulder-covered hill that looks out on Chuy. Overnight stay at Fortín de San Miguel.
Day 3
Barra del Chuy beach
In the morning, you'll go for a 3- to 4-hour ride along the Brazilian border. After a picnic lunch at a working estancia, you'll have the chance to take a “siesta” with your saddle. (Old gaucho lore: Saddles are as comfortable to take a siesta on as they are to ride on. See for yourself.)
Well-rested, you'll set off for Barra de Chuy, a secluded ocean beach, where you'll have the chance to break out into a full-out canter. Overnight stay at a small beach-side hotel.
Day 4
Santa Teresa National Park
As you ride south toward Santa Teresa National Park, you'll pass beaches, coastal hills, sand dunes, pine forests—an end in it of itself. Once you reach Santa Teresa National Park, be sure to explore the Portuguese/Spanish fort and the vast grounds (3,000 hectares of forest).
Just to give you a sense of the fort's historical context: The Portuguese began to construct the fort in 1762 to protect its outermost territories. As fate would have it, it was the Spanish who completed the fort's construction after capturing it by assault just a year later—just the beginning of what would turn out to be a long succession of "conquerings" and "re-conquerings." In 1825 Uruguay, newly independent, finally captured and held the fort.
After a picnic lunch by the fort, you'll ride along long forest trails, down to the beach, past a shipwreck buried in the sand. Overnight stay at another small, beach-side hotel.
Day 5
Don Bosco Hills
After an early breakfast, you'll take a scenic drive and pass the Laguna Negra, or the Black Lagoon, so named on account of its dark waters, followed by a ride to the Don Bosco hills. from where we will be able to enjoy an incredible view of the unique extensive palm groves and Laguna Negra. Despite a number of stories, no one knows how the palm trees got here -some 300 years old; they are not native but they give the landscape a very exotic look. After a typical lunch on the lagoon shores, we ride on eastwards through the palm groves. Overnight stay at Estancia El Sauce.
Day 6
Estancia El Sauce
El Sauce is a functional estancia, where you can horseback ride for as long as you choose though vast, well kept land and crops. Built in 1920, the estancia itself blends rustic charm with comfort expertly. It is not a hotel, but the family house, where you'll stay as guests of the owners, offers a much more authentic and intimate look at estancias and the rural traditions that have carried over. You ‘mate’ sipped hot out of a dry gourd. The gauchos and their mate are inseparable and a ceremony has developed around drinking mate. Beyond grassland, this estancia has a marshland and rice crops full of birds (over 400 species). making another very varied ride and giving us the chance to see the graceful black-necked swan (the largest population in the world is found here), the rare white goose and many ducks and birds such as the largest bird in South America, the “ñandú” (American rhea). Overnight stay.
Day 7
Cabo Polonio
After a morning coastal drive, you'll meet your horses and ride into the desert (through a UNESCO Biosphere and Natural Reserve) until you reach Cabo Polonio, a small fishing village that's only accessible by horseback or by cars with four-wheeled drive on account of shifting sand dunes—sand dunes that make you feel as if you're in the middle of the Sahara.
After lunch at a typical Cabo Polonio restaurant on the beach, you'll check out the seals and sea lions on the surrounding islands. (Collectively these islands have one of the largest populations of seals in the world.)
On occasion, migrating Franca Whale pass the islands, so keep a look out.
After another ride, you'll head to Estancia El Charabón, where you'll stay overnight.
Day 8
Estancia El Charabón
El Charabón is a 1,200-hectare, functional Estancia, with a specialty in calving and lambing, that's come to be surrounded by a combination of open prairies and a large Eucalyptus forests. At El Charabón, you'll have the chance to swim, take it easy or explore the grounds (on horseback or just in general). Before you go, be sure to try out some of the Uruguayan wine, lamb barbecue and the other traditional staples.
Day 9
Montevideo
Start off your last day on the right foot with an early breakfast, followed by one last ride in the estancia fields and a chance to lend some gauchos (and their dogs) a hand with a cattle and sheep drive. At midday, you'll have a goodbye lunch and then either drive back to Montevideo airport or connect with an extension trip.
Horseback Riding along the Coast
Horseback Riding in the Countryside
Estancia El Charabón
