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8 Day Criollos Wild Land Horseback Riding Adventure Tour in Uruguay
Los Chajá Ecolodge, Padrón 69109, Camino de ingreso a, Barra de Valizas, Rocha Department, Uruguay
Uruguay Horse Riding Tour
This listing has one of the 10 most popular offers available in in Uruguay
A great equestrian adventure through the most beautiful landscapes of Rocha. Only for the most passionate and prepared to live an incredible experience with some nights of accommodation and others camping with horses!
Key information
- Rider Weight Limit: 199 pounds / 90 kilograms
- Horse Breed: Uruguayan Criollos and Mestizos
Highlights
- 8 days of horse riding
- Program for all levels
- Ride through villages, national parks, forests, and wetlands
- Approximate daily riding time: 5 hours
- 7 nights accommodation
- Support vehicle for luggage transport
- Airport transfers
- Daily meals
Skill level
- Beginner
Styles
8 days with instruction in English
The organizer also speaks: Italian, Spanish
Group size: 4-10 participants
Airport transfer available:
Carrasco Gral. Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (US$ 820 per person)
Carrasco Gral. Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (US$ 820 per person)
Accommodation
During this tour, you will sleep two nights in Los Chajá Ecolodge or similar (private rooms with private bathrooms), five nights of camping (tent for two people with an inflatable mattress, sleeping bags, and towels), one night in Complejo Playa Grande or similar (private rooms with private bathrooms), and one night at Hotel Parque Oceánico (private rooms with private bathrooms).
Program
Daily itinerary
DAY 1: The adventure begins in Barra de Valizas
On Tres Cruces bus terminal (Montevideo) you take the bus to Rocha region. A 4 hours bus will drive you to our starting point. On the road you will be able to see the large herds of cattle on the pasturelands, hundreds of horses and gauchos working with them.
At Los Chajá Ecolodge, in Barra de Valizas, you meet our team and horses while we enjoy our first lunch together. We set up our saddlebags and start riding through the woods to a Hidden Lagoon where we can have a refreshing swim! Once on our horses again, we return to Los Chajá along the Atlantic coast where we can do a long canter with the surf.
Dinner and overnight at Los Chajá Ecolodge.
- 3 hours day horse riding
DAY 2: Cabo Polonio and the stunning Valizas’ sandunes.
The horse ride starts with taking the horses across the mouth of Valizas’ river, ridden or towed by boat, depending on the tides. A full day ride that takes us through a fascinating dune system, now a national park, to Cabo Polonio -a fishing village turned ‘low key’ beach resort. The village is only accessible through these shifting sand dunes making the village a fascinating outpost. After visiting the ancient lighthouse and watching to part of the biggest sea lion’s colony in America, we have lunch at a typical local restaurant, with fresh fish, seaweed, and other typical local seafood on the menu. Horseback ride back to Valizas via pine forests. At the end of today’s adventure, if the weather conditions allow it, we have the opportunity to swim with our horses!
Dinner and overnight at Los Chajá Ecolodge.
- 5 hours day horse riding
DAY 3: The Great Ombú Forest and the challenging wetlands
After a special homemade breakfast watching the South American screamers (Chauna torcuata) and the many different storks, egrets, and ibis from your room, we start early in the morning for a ride towards the Castillos Lagoon wetlands.
During the morning riding we cross pasture lands and ancient Estancias towards the Castillos Lagoon, the second biggest lagoon in Uruguay, central part of the IBA 20 (Important Bird and Biodiversity Area). This area is home of more than 270 different species of resident and migrating birds, such as the Southamerican screamer, Rhea americana, Flamingos and the beautiful Black neck swan. We ride through the unique Ombú forest, a botanical very strange formation that surrounds the shore of the lagoon. It is not strange to see colorful birds such as Pink egret (Platalea ajaja) and native mammals as capibaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus).
The first camping site is in Barra Grande, a private biodiversity reserve, where conservation and production are at the same priority level.
Dinner and camping at Barra Grande
- 6 hours day horse riding.
DAY 4: From the East Wetlands into the Highlands
A vastly different landscape is waiting for us today. We start early in the morning, riding into dryer and rocky lands. While we cross pasturelands and palm groove forest, you will appreciate how landscape starts to change.
At midday you do a picnic stop, where your criollo’s saddles are fundamental part for the deserved siesta!
In the afternoon you arrive to El Mirador in Cerro de los Rocha. This is a private reserve located just in middle of a natural viewpoint where we can appreciate all the trail we been doing with our horses, and next days as well! The camping site is in middle of the native sierras forest, full of birdlife and unspoiled nature. Millions of stars and just the nature sounds are the perfect decor for this camping fire and dinner.
Dinner and camping at El Mirador
- 6 hours day horse riding
DAY 5: From the Tiger Cave to a colony of Salesian monks on Black Lagoon
The reward for the ones who wakes up early, before down, is the spectacular scenery from the top of this hill with the first sun rays’ light.
Today’s riding is one of the most fascinating, toward the coast, leaving behind the high lands. Many different species of woodpeckers, colorful churrinches and noisy bandurrias are just some of the most characteristic birds we can see on the way.
In the afternoon you arrive to Don Bosco, a Salesian congregation holydays colony. On the Black Lagoon shore, with beautiful views over this lagoon and just under the Cerro de la Virgen with its beautiful Higuerones forest, the biggest Ficus native tree in Uruguay. It is a wonderful place to camp!
Dinner and camping at Don Bosco - optional Room Accommodation
- 5-6 hours day horse riding
DAY 6: : Visit to the Cerro de la Virgen and Higuerones forest!
After breakfast, you start preparing your horses for a half-day ride. With the local gaucho visiting the Cerro de la Virgen, an amazing 360 lookout, the highest point on the area! Also, you visit the forest of Higuerones, enormous and ancient epiphyte plants with huge roots that point to the ground, so special that many of them have a personal name! You return to your campsite for lunch.
In the afternoon, you have time to rest, enjoy the peace of the lagoon and recharge batteries for the next days! Refreshing on the lagoon, trekking and birdwatching are just some of the activities you can enjoy here.
Dinner and camping at Don Bosco with optional room accommodation
- 2 hours day horse riding
DAY 7: Ancient palm tree forest, real working Estancias and the Black Lagoon’s Wetlands
In the morning, you start riding through the estancia, crossing wetlands and the palm tree forest so characteristic of this area. More than 7000 centenary palm trees per hectare makes this place unique! This is a special day to see to see wild capibaras on the wetlands, but you need to be very silent and pay special attention to the guide’s indications.
You will find a special spot for picnic in middle of the wetlands. Lots of historical events had happened around these ancient palm trees, which you will be discovering along your ride. You will continue riding toward the Atlantic coast, reaching the camp site Los Moros just next to the Atlantic coast.
Dinner and camping at Los Moros.
- 5 hours day horse riding
DAY 8: Endless pristine beach to Punta del Diablo and shipwreck histories Basic Itinerary
After breakfast, you come back to the center in Valizas along the beach. You pass through the village Aguas Dulces and you enjoy beautiful canters / gallops on the hard beach with the view of Valizas’ sand dunes. Once back at Los Chajá Ecolodge you culminate this week with a delicious lunch and final brindis.
Transfer back to Montevideo
- 3 hours day horse riding
About the tour
You will meet on day one at 7:00 a.m. at Tres Cruces bus terminal. During this 10-day tour, you will ride beautiful cared Uruguayan criollos and mestizos horses on very comfortable Uruguayan saddles along low-populated areas where nature and horses are the main attractions. Pasture and wetlands, hill range, palm tree forest and endless beaches, natural protected areas, and small fishermen's villages are the scenery for this adventure. As this is a real horse adventure, you will camp with your horses for some nights for having a greater connection with nature as gauchos do.
The campfire, Truco, and mate will be present every day, as well as many different adventures with your horses crossing all these different landscapes through many no roads lands. Cabalgatas Valiceras offers you a horse journey into the most natural and diverse area in Uruguay (UNESCO East Wetlands Biosphere Reserve and RAMSAR site), discovering the best highlights of this unique terrain. In Rocha, both the gaucho and the traditional fishermen's culture mix in a unique way.
If you are looking for an incredibly special horse adventure for discovering this horse land and creating a genuine link with them, so you need to come on this adventure. This is the most authentic and complete adventure on horseback. Horseback riding along deserted beaches, crossing green meadows, wetlands and forests, climbing the mountains, and spotting old shipwrecks to finally reach a ranch and fall asleep in a hammock under the shade of a Coronilla in an incredible position.
You observe a wide variety of fascinating native fauna and flora as you ride through the Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO) and National Parks (SNAP) as well as have the opportunity to sample delicious local cuisine and famous Uruguayan wines. Together with your beloved horses and with your company, they will show you all the best corners of this amazing territory, generating experiences that you will remember forever.
Location
The horseriding tour will take place in Uruguay. Your riding begins in Barra de Valizas and finishes at La Coronilla. Uruguay has the greatest diversity of landscapes in South America in short distances, which, added to its famous equestrian culture and its extensive and fresh Atlantic coast, make it ideal for horseback riding. Discover the charms of this quiet and hidden gem of South America as you travel through the beautiful department of Rocha, where most of the country's protected areas are located.
Food
You will be served all meals from lunch on day one to lunch on day 10 included in the price.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
What's included
- All horseback riding and activities described in the itinerary
- Visit to the National Parks Cabo Polonio, Cerro Verde, and the Islands of La Coronilla and Santa Teresa
- 7 nights accommodation
- All meals
- 1 horse per rider
- 1 spare horse every 5 riders
- 1 tent for 2 riders with equipment
- Trilingual guide (Spanish, English, and Italian) during all the riding
- Entrance fee to Cabo Polonio National Park and Santa Teresa Park and fortess
- Support vehicle for transporting luggage and camping stuff every day
- Mineral water and snacks during the ridings
- Transportation by public bus from Montevideo to Valizas on day 1 and from La Coronilla to Montevideo on day 10
What's not included
- Flights
- Medical insurance
- Items for personal use
- Alcoholic and soft beverages
- Tips
- Supplement fee for groups of 2 or 3 riders only (670 USD per person)
- Overweight supplement fee if more than 90 kg and less than 100 kg (750 USD)
- Private transfer MVD-Rocha and back (1088 USD)
- Extended version of the itinerary - 2 extra days - 560 USD per person extra
How to get there
Recommended Airports
MVD
Carrasco Gral. Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport
211 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 820 per person
Arrival by bus
The bus ride from Tres Cruces Bus Terminal to Valizas on day 1 and La Coronilla to Montevideo on the last day are included. Optional private transfer is available.
Airport: Carrasco Gral. Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport
Airport transfer available:
Carrasco Gral. Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (US$ 820 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 21 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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