Eco-Zone Explorers

This is a wonderful tour that involves light walking in the mountains and visits to several wineries in a most beautiful part of the world. The itinerary straddles the Andean range and displays wineries and lodges in both Argentina and Chile. Now there are more flights being offered directly to Mendoza from Lima so that you can tack on this wonderful tour to a Machu Picchu trip. It stands alone as well and flights can be arranged easily from Santiago and Buenos Aires as well.

Day 1: Mendoza.

Flights will be met and you will be transferred to the hotel Finca Adalgisa for the night.  “Finca Adalgisa is an early 20^th century manor house and vineyard estate in the heart of the premier wine-growing region of Argentina.  It is a charming family home converted three years ago by Gabriela Fulotti (a third generation Argentinian/Italian) into the first boutique hotel and winery in Mendoza.  Although secluded and private, it is conveniently located within 20 minutes drive of Mendoza and is in walking distance of a thriving village community with plenty of local shops and restaurants. Our guests are warmly welcomed as new friends and our home is your home. We have a relaxing and informal environment where things can be arranged spontaneously. The region is well known for the popular Ruta de los Vinos (Route of the Wines) and includes our own wine tasting evenings.”

Day 2: Mendoza City and Wineries

This excursion will allows us to know Mendoza city, one of the most beautiful city of Argentina.

We will visit the old city, where Mendoza was born, and then we will stop in Alameda, the downtown, the Civic Center, General San Martin Park and see Cerro de la Gloria hill,  Mundialista stadium and Frank Romero Day amphitheater, which is the central stage of Vintage national festival.  At noon we will and enjoy an unforgettable gastronomic experience. We will meet the oenologist who will accompany us throughout the tour. We will depart to Mendoza’s agricultural oasis and visit two prestigious wineries, of wine’s circuit; we will visit its facilities and be able to participate in a guided wine tasting, during which we will begin to familiarize ourselves with the local’s wines, and its elaboration process. Our guide will explain us the technique of wine tasting, wine production techniques, the importance of the cork in the bottle and the correct way to handle a glass in order to taste wine.  As the sun sets behind The Andes mountains, we will return to the hotel.  B

 

Day 3: Day Hiking Cerro Mogote San Martín (Full day)

We will leave Mendoza city and head to our base, located in Blanco Encalada, only 35 minutes away from here. This place has a magnificent view due to its elevation 1,400 meters above sea level. Once in there we will start walking to our destination: “Cerro Negro” Mount (2.100 meters). It will take up to 2 hours to get to the summit where we can enjoy a great view of The Andes and the Mendoza river. From this point we will continue to the next mountain, called “Mogote San Martin”, about 200 meters higher. We return later today to hotel.  B, L

 

Day 4:  Santiago

Transfer Santiago (see choices for travel) to Atton el Bosque Hotel. Atton El Bosque is located in Santiago in a modern 18-story building with 240 spacious and cozy air conditoned guest rooms with king or queen size beds, private bathroom, Cable TV, work desk, minibar and safe deposit box.  B

Day 5: Maipo Canyon

Maipo Canyon day hike and tour the world famous Santa Rita Winery in the Maipo Valley with Lunch. Morning drive towards the Maipo Canyon up to Las Vertientes, a popular resort at the foothills of the Andes, with a view of the winding Maipo river. Continue to the Santa Rita winery located 40 kms south of Santiago, in the Maipo Valley.  Santa Rita owns an impressive estate with 800 hectares of vineyard land for the production of high quality wines, a completely modern Vinification facility and high storage capacity, as well as the old family mansion, which is surrounded by nearly 100 acres of a beautiful hundred-year-old park and ornamental gardens.

Continue to the San Alfonso Altiplanico Hotel. “The San Alfonso Altiplanico opened with eight elegant rooms.
It specially emphasizes customized premium attention, tour services, privacy, silence and leisure.  The hotel is built in a 20,000mt2 terrain, bounded by the Maipo river, surrounded by the Andes, it enjoys pure air and a spectacular panoramic view of The Andes Mountain Range.  It has, in addition, outdoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, a beautiful park, cable TV, central heating, massages, telephone, free internet, parking, laundry and gourmet meals.  Altiplanico San Alfonso is a place that invites to remain enjoying nature in a unique natural surrounding, while being in the vicinity of Santiago City.” BLD

Day 6:  San Alfonso

Full day at San Alfonso with a 6 hour hike to the Glacier El Morado. BLD

Day 7:  Santa CruzAfter breakfast we will start our trip to Santa Cruz Valley home of more than seventy vineyards. Continue to Santa Cruz Plaza Hotel.  The hotel’s attractive colonial-style construction draws together the noble spirit, tradition and history of past generations.
(Colchagua Valley) B

 

Day 8:  Visit and wine tasting at Viu Manent Winery . Viu Manent was established toward the middle of the 19^th Century with grape stock brought directly from France, and is thus one of Chile’s oldest makes of fine wines. The vineyard and winery at the Hacienda Cunaco in the Colchagua valley were acquired by Bodegas Viu in 1996, a family firm owned by Miguel Viu Manent. It has 150 hectares (370 acres) at the Hacienda Cunaco, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Sangiovese, Syrah, Chardonnay Blanc, Semillon, Viogner.  These areas are complemented by the 50 hectares (95 acres) at the La Capilla estate, where Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay are grown. The annual production reaches 1.8 million liters and is exported to Europe, North America and Asia. The on site museum collection also boasts some fine Inca tapestries, nineteenth century horse-drawn carriages, woodcarvings from Easter Island and a tremendous collection of motor vehicles.  Lunch back at hotel.  BL

 

Mont gras Winery. Inspired by Hernán Gras, who has a brilliant winemaking career in Canada, along with the entrepreneurial vision of his brother Eduardo and local partner Cristian Hartwig, opened Viña MontGras in 1992.

MontGras, that has always has state-of-the-art technology in all its processes, set out from its conception to be the winery with the best premium wine from Chile. It is no accident then, the great amount of international prizes that have recognized the professional work, the constant quality and the innovation of MontGras wines

 

Day 9:   Valparaiso

After breakfast we will start our trip to the historical and pictureseque port city of Valparaiso. En route we visit to San Antonio and Casa blanca valleys.

 

Two wineries today . The new Matetic vineyards winery, designed by the Viña Matetic team in cooperation with architect Lawrence Odfjell, is a state-of-the-art winemaking facility, constructed so as to complement its glorious setting. In other words, harmony has been reached between the winery´s organic agricutural practices and the natural landscape of the valley. This winery, which has a 300 thousand-liter capacity, relies on a gravitational-flow design that optimizes management of the grapes brought in from the nearby vineyards. During a tour, visitors can learn about the different phases of wine production while appreciating stunning views of the vineyards and the beautiful Rosario Valley.  Lunch and at Casa Marin Winery.

 

Viña Casa Marín is a family-owned winery located in the San Antonio appellation, only 4 kms. from the coast. It is currently Chile’s closest vineyard to the Pacific Ocean.  It was founded in the year 2000 by Maria Luz Marín, winemaker and entrepreneur, whose goal of providing innovation to the local wine industry is being accomplished by her focus on premium wines which are a reality with the new “terroir.”

Then tonight it’s the boutique Hotel Zero, a converted traditional house, for 2 nights in Valparaiso.   The house faces the Pacific Ocean, bringing an impressive view that can be enjoyed with the morning light, with the colors of dawn or the gleaming magic of the night. You can see ships that arrive and ships that leave.  It is an excellent location for exploring the twisting streets of Valparaiso on foot. BL

 

Day 10:  Full day tour of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar

Valparaiso combines in its urban landscape the giant bulk of ships moored at its docks with the narrowness of its main streets. Ingenuity has transformed this abrupt piece of coastline into one of the world’s most picturesque and famous port cities. The views are particularly breathtaking when seen from sea at dusk; a semi-circle of illuminated hills cascading down to the water. The city was recently named as the Cultural Capital of Chile and will receive massive investment in coming years. Lunch at Delicias Del Mar Restaurant (seafood).

Chile’s premier beach resort, Viña del Mar, is only 10km (6 miles) north of Valparaiso, and is popularly known as the Garden City because of its manicured subtropical landscape of palm and banana trees. Horse-drawn carriages trot past attractive turn-of-the-century mansions on both river and beach frontages.

Other attractions are the white-sand beaches, numerous parks and notable museums housed in restored mansions. The town is also the home of Chile’s national botanical garden, comprising 61ha (151ac) of native and exotic plants. BL

Day 10: Transfer to Santiago Airport B

Today we head back to Santiago and your flight onward. Or inquire about visiting other areas.

Remember that old phrase “it was hot enough to fry eggs on” ? Guess what? It’s really true. And you can cook a whole lot more than you ever imagined with today’s solar cookers.

I confess, we actually own both a solar oven and a solar stove, so I really know of where I speak.  Most recently my aunt and her travel companion came for a visit and we cooked both the potatoes and the roast pork (grass fed, free range, with herb rub mixture of salt, cracked pepper and coriander, rubbed rosemary,  and a few chili flakes ) out side on the solar appliances. Needless to say they had some great stories and pictures to take home to Edmonton.

But solar cooking is also having a dramatic impact on the lives of people in the “developing world”.  It has spawned a very successful and highly laudable micro-enterprise in the northern mountains of Nicaragua.

Here’s some information and an invitation to join us on a very special journey to take part in this project  in real life.

Nicaragua Solar Project

Feb 17, 2011  $1999 pp CAD (see brochure for details of inclusions)

We are very happy to be working on a program with the Solar Women of Totogalpa in Nicaragua where we bring a small group of people from North America to a remote village in the Central American highlands.

We have partnered with a local NGO and a Nicaraguan tour company to create a unique tour that will take participants to the village of Sabana Grande to spend a week in what is termed a Sustainable Communities in Renewable Energy project. After the week here we take a few more days to see some of the rest of country and end up with a couple of nights in a small beach town near the Costa Rican border.

The idea of the project came several years ago and has really been advanced by the local women. This has proven to be very successful  as opposed to so many well-meaning, but poorly supported, aid programs that have failed in the past.

This is a very real experience and participants will stay with families in their homes. Conditions are very rudimentary, not that much different from camping – however, you will have incredible experiences that will probably change your view of the world.

Participants will:

* Build a solar oven with the local women’s group, the Solar Women of Totogalpa
* Tour an organic coffee farm and make your own solar roasted coffee in the community
* Listen to talks on Solar Dryers, Medicinal Plants, the Green Store project, and our micro-loan program
* Take a solar cooking class and learn about the importance of soy as you make delicious soy empanadas or chorizo
* Visit local families that have photovoltaic systems installed in their homes and learn how the sun’s light generates clean energy. Plus there will be some visits to other areas around Sabana Grande to see local sites.

Contact us at 888-778-2378 for detailed itinerary or check it out here.

More Background on the Women

The Solar Women of Totogalpa is a group of women with a vision for the future which they are making a reality every day.  They have been constructing, with adobe bricks made with their own hands, the first buildings on their newly acquired solar center grounds.  But along with the physical construction, the women are building strong bonds between former Sandinistas and Contras, and new economic and social models to further their development in a sustainable way.
Totogalpa lies three hours north of the capital city Managua, Nicaragua.  Nested among rolling hills and fertile plains, it is primarily an agricultural community tied together by strong family values.  By modern standards, life here is simple and lacking in amenities, yet it is a place where hard work is valued as highly as friends and family.  Through their own efforts and with the help of national and international organizations and volunteers, the Solar Women have been making progress toward a brighter future.
It has been eighteen years since the war officially ended in Nicaragua, but remnants of the conflict, such as landmines, continue to affect the community.  Many soldiers’ and civilians’ lives were taken by landmines, and those who survived have struggled for years to regain their mental and physical health.  It is that much more difficult being physically handicapped in a society which suffers from extreme poverty, natural disasters, and severe unemployment.  The immediate and most devastating effects are born by the land mine victims, of course, but the community as a whole also suffers from the impact that landmine injuries have on family and community relationships.

Recently, the Solar Women took a huge step to make their dreams reality by completing the construction of their adobe Solar Center building on three acres of donated land situated on the main through highway to Honduras, right off the Pan American highway.  The women have created a plan for a Solar Center that would house an office, research center, production shops, market, restaurant, and hotel.  This solar “campus” would provide the infrastructure they envision to promote and sell solar products and house and feed visitors coming to their model solar community for courses in solar technology.  They have planted many fruits and medicinal and culinary herbs on this site, all grown organically and with an eye toward not only feeding their community, but also marketing them regionally.  They enjoy experimenting with new foods and plants and how best to cook and dry them in the solar cookers and dryers they have designed and built. They also are in the process of exploring partnerships with coffee growers to solar roast and market their beans.

Dreams of a Solar Campus

In one year alone, the Solar Women contributed over 8,000 hours in volunteer work just on the their first building, making every one of the almost 6,000 adobe bricks with their own hands.  The first Solar Center building is now open and houses a small office, a shop for building photovoltaic panels and solar cookers, and a small warehouse.  It also functions as a center for the community for special occasions, such as the arrival or departure of Solar Culture Course participants and international volunteers.  The women, together with a local NGO , offer solar culture courses several times a year that not only teach the skills and technology of building solar panels and cookers, but the realities of life as a campesino in Nicaragua.

The Solar Women have also built a Clivus composting toilet and installed a solar water pump on the center grounds, and in partnership with ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), replanted more than 14,000 native trees in the community.  The women also maintain a Green Store (Tienda Verde), a Nanoloan Revolving Fund, and a Scholarship Fund/Committee.

The Solar Women have received national and international recognition for their dedication to sustainable development and for serving as a model to other communities in Nicaragua and beyond.  The most recent came from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in partnership with the UN Commissions on the Environment and on Development.

A couple of years ago I was in Costa Rica and I was enchanted by a tour that was offered by one of our ecolodges: The Tropical Chocolate Tour. Well how could you resist?

We took off from La Tirimbina centre and over to their private reserve on an island in the Sarapiqui River, swinging suspended bridge and all. We walked along rainforest paths leading to an old plantation. Here we discovered the quite suprising way that chocolate starts out.

The cacao tree forms pods, not unlike a squash. The pod is made up of a fairly thick and fleshy portion and inside are seeds about the size of marbles. The texture is all a little bit slimy. But wait..there’s more. The smell is not what you expect, kind of pungent and sourish, but within this complex set of aromas is the hint of what will come later.

The seeds are taken out and laid into flat trays where they ferment. This is when the magic starts. That slimy kind of pungent goo on the seeds goes through a biological reaction with microorganisms that actually creates the taste of chocolate. Once they have reached a ripe enough state, the seeds are roasted and this step creates all the compelxity of the taste of cocoa. The aroma in the roasting room is warm and exquisite and makes one think of the Mexican book Like Water for Chocolate, or the movie Chocolat. (Just as an aside, the word chocolate comes from the Nahuatl word xocolatl, the language of the Aztecs).

At this point in the tour you start to get to the interactive part. You are given another ancient tool, a mortar and pestle and you begin to hand grind mill the seeds into a warm paste. A little cinnamon and sugar are added and OMG, you have a very tasty snack of pure chocolate. The seeds are very fatty and contain the cocoa butter which makes the product we all love.

There’s a great deal more information on wikipedia if you are wanting more, but this is far better in real life. This guided program became a standard in all the tours we offer in this part of Costa Rica. You can find them on the tours page of the website.