Activities in Argentina - Crossing The Andes on the Horseback

The Andes is the world's longest mountain range and one of the most beautiful mountain regions. They separate Argentina naturally from Chile and are about 7,000 km long and between 200 km to 700 km wide, depending on where you are. One of the things I would like to do while I am in Argentina is to cross this majestic region on the horseback and in this article I will write how an Expedition looks like.


Organization
There are several Tour operators offering Expeditions from Argentina to Chile. Most trips start in Mendoza in the North or in Patagonia in the South of Argentina. A proper Expedition takes around 10 days and you will ride around 4.500km depending on the particular Route. The perfect time to do such a trip is during the summer months, namely December till March.

I am in Buenos Aires at the moment and therefore I would prefer an Expedition in the North of Argentina. Basically the journey starts from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and the Horseback Riding starts from there. Normally you are in a Group of 5-10 Persons and you should be a moderate or better Rider because the Excursion is not easy to ride and you will spend quite a while in the saddle every day, normally 5 up to 8 hours.

Activities
There are many different Activities you will do during the Ride. From Crossing big Rivers to Racing along lonely Tracks. You will be visiting Indian Reservations and even spend a night or two there but most Nights will be spent on camping sites next to streams and rivers and you are able to see the stars under the sky of the southern hemisphere.

Depending on your Tour Operator you can also visit en Estancia, which is an Argentinian Farm, where you can have an Argentinian Asado, which is the Spanish word for BBQ, enjoy the laid back atmosphere or even be a real Gaucho.


This is basically something I am planning to do and I think that it is a quite extraordinary idea. In case somebody has more experience with such Horseback Riding Expeditions I would be glad to get some feedback from you. I hope you had fun reading this article and maybe you will give it a try yourself some day.