Ride Uruguay

Day 1

You will be met and transferred from Montevideo airport to your hotel. Depending on the arrival time of your flight, you may have a chance to relax in the very easy-going capital city of Montevideo before being taken to lunch and on a private city tour. Guests might also like to wander along the unique 'Rambla' - a very pleasant, wide boulevard with beaches, along the river estuary - soaking up the sun, there is also the gaucho museum, galleries and shops with local crafts.

Day 2

After an early breakfast, you will be driven north-east to Rocha, the most beautiful province in Uruguay with its pristine beaches, emerald shores and network of lagoons.

You will be right on the Brazilian border and will pass through Chuy where the official boundary between Uruguay and Brazil runs down the middle of the main street. The locals speak a strange mix of Spanish and Portuguese, on one side of the street the shops have signs in Spanish and on the other in Portuguese!

In the afternoon, you will meet the horses and ride around the rocky hills of San Miguel Reserve, enjoying a wonderful panoramic view of the area from the top of the boulder-covered 'Cerro Picudo'. This area is home to a wide variety of birds including several species of vultures that soar overhead in large numbers. The park is a very important flora and fauna reserve now protected from the effects of modern agriculture and is also home to pure Cimarron cattle and Uruguayan Criollo horses.

Overnight accommodation will be at "Fortin de San Miguel" where you can enjoy the pool, the gardens and visit the 'pulperia' - the traditional meeting point for the gauchos from miles around. (B,L,D)

Day 3

In the morning you will ride out of the hotel, through the customs post and along the Uruguay-Brazil border, riding for several kilometres in Brazil! Then turn south along a track and cross the wide, flat expanse of the arid pasturelands. There are opportunities for long canters across the flatlands and you will often pass a horse and cart heading into town for weekly supplies. Pass fields covered with bizarre conical shaped mounds, the result of very industrious termites. Rheas graze in the fields and birds of prey hover overhead as they hunt. The burrowing owls sit watching on their earth mounds, field flickers and woodpeckers are busy drumming holes in the trees while oven birds build mud nests atop the fence posts.

Lunch is a delicious picnic under the shady trees at a large estancia then, after a siesta, ride on to the beach for an incredible ride along the wonderful, isolated shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Visitors seldom reach this beach so you can enjoy a long, exhilarating canter with no signs of habitation as you ride along the pure, firm sands at the waters edge and into the sea if you wish. Arrive eight miles further south at "La Coronilla", normally riding right to the doors of the ocean front hotel, Parque Oceanico, where you will stay for the night (B,L,D)

Day 4

Today you ride along another beautiful part of the coastline to Santa Teresa Fort. Crossing the forested Santa Teresa National Park and arriving at the imposing restored fort which is the centre piece of the park - started in 1762 by the Portuguese to defend the edge of their territories then completed by the Spaniards who took it by assault just a year later. This was just the start of a succession of conquering, losing and re-conquering the fort; it was not until 1825 that the newly formed 'Uruguayan nation' finally captured and held the fort. The fort is surrounded by 3000 hectares of forest containing over 2 million trees, the majority introduced from other parts of the world and, after lunch, you will enjoy riding along the forest trails down to the beach where dolphins are often seen.

After the ride, you will leave the horses and be driven back to the hotel for barbequed fresh fish, Uruguayan wine and a second pleasant overnight by the ocean. (B,L,D)

Day 5

After an early breakfast, you will be driven a short way towards the famous "Laguna Negra". Meet the horses and set off through an area of palm tree forests and to the lakeshore, passing bird-filled wetlands on the way - you will surely see black-necked swans, spoonbills, ibis, herons, egrets, storks and a legion of other birds (migratory birds arrive here from as far as Alaska and the Falkland Islands).

After a typical lunch on the lagoon shores, you can ride into the lake bareback, if you wish. Afterwards, ride on into a dense forest of strangler figs, as sinister looking as their name suggests, through a protected area of native vegetation and into the Don Bosco hills from where you will be able to enjoy an incredible view of the unique expanse of palm groves and Laguna Negra. At the end of the ride you will meet the vehicle and be transferred to a wonderful working estancia a little further inland for an overnight stay. (B,L,D)

Day 6

El Sauce is a working estancia run by its owners who are also very hospitable hosts. Enjoy a full day's riding, with plenty of chances of fast paced riding for those who wish, around the farm seeing the rice fields and other crops on the property. Once again in very distinct scenery, cross creeks and flatlands and ride past the various crops and to the herds of cattle. The owner often joins you as he checks the land and his animals in the company of the gauchos that work with him. The estancia, built in 1920, is very comfortable - it is not a hotel but the family house in which you are invited to stay as guests of the owners, offering an incredible experience and a very special insight into the life in the country.

In addition to the cattle grasslands this estancia has a large area of marshlands, which create habitats teeming with bird life (nearly 500 species in this area). This gives another chance to see the graceful black-necked swan (largest population in the world found here), the rare white goose and many ducks and other birds such as the largest bird in South America - the 'ostrich-like' nadu (Rhea). Otters, coypus and capybaras also inhabit the marshlands and streams. (B,L,D)

Day 7

Ride along the beach and into the desert! Having visited an excellent local store selling wonderful leatherwork (including tack and riding boots), gaucho clothing and crafts, meet your horses and ride to the coast through the grass covered dunes and across rocks close to the roaring sea. Canter along the firmer beaches and ride along in the water to Cabo Polonio, an enchanting fishing village which can only be reached by horse or four wheeled drive vehicles. Guests can walk round to the lighthouse and view the huge colony of sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. They make up one of the largest populations of sea lions in the world. While riding along the beautiful sandy beaches occasionally you may spot a migrating Franca whale (October-November rides).

After a swim in the sea and a delicious lunch at a restaurant in an idyllic location right on the waters edge, ride on into the dramatic landscape of the sand dunes. After one last canter, leave the beach, pass between huge sand dunes and ride through an area which has been declared a Biosphere Natural Reserve by UNESCO. The sand dunes and daunting sand walls are quite an unexpected sight.

Say goodbye to your current horse before being driven south to a wonderful working estancia 'El Charabon' in the rolling hills, set back a little way from the coast. A very comfortable overnight. (B,L,D)

Day 8

The day starts with a breakfast out on the veranda with homemade bread, jams and cakes, admiring the views out across the hills. Guests can take a close look at the rheas, the estancia has some of these native South American birds as pets. Armadillos also often pop up out of holes ruining Jorge's (the owner) beautifully manicured lawns!

The ride today takes you through the scenic estancia lands traversing the eucalyptus forests and grasslands then across the huge fields of the neighbouring estancias, towards the coast. There will be chance for some long canters as you ride across the flatlands. Enjoy the glorious blue skies and tranquillity as you gallop across the pastures, often sighting the abundant wildlife.

After a picnic lunch, guests can return to the estancia on horseback and relax around the pool or take the minibus to the nearby beach for a late afternoon swim in the sea, sunbathe or stroll along by the ocean returning to the estancia for tea or drinks in a prime location to admire the sunset over the surrounding hills and then gaze in awe at the star-filled southern hemisphere sky. (B,L,D)

Day 9

A morning spent working alongside the gauchos and their trusty dogs as they tend to the cattle and sheep on this 1200 hectare (2900 acre) ranch.The work varies depending on the time of the year, but the gauchos always welcome a bit of help checking and moving the stock or putting animals in the corrals. The wonderful, friendly gauchos with their berets, 'bombachas' (riding trousers) and knives tucked into their colourful belts all seem to have been born on a horse and it is a delight to be riding with them. Their dogs are very much work animals and it is an amazing sight to see four dogs working in unison moving a herd of cattle.

After a final swim in the estancia pool and a wonderful home-cooked lunch, say goodbye to the horses before being transferred back to Montevideo. (B,L)