Swoop Patagonia has expanded its range of tours to this region of South America, adding guided itineraries which avoid many of the regular tourist routes in favour of little-visited area.
Patagonia is a region encompassing the vast southernmost tip of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile, with the Andes Mountains as its dividing line.
The Argentine side features arid steppes, grasslands and deserts, while the Chilean has glacial fjords and temperate rainforest.
Argentina's famed RN-40 highway passes the pinnacles of Monte Fitz Roy and Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National ParkThe four-day Atlantic to Andes guided road trip takes participants off-the-beaten track into the wilds of Welsh Patagonia, to explore the little-known central region of Chubut.
Best known as one of South America's leading areas for paleontological research and striking geological formations, its desert landscape is home to condors, giant black chested buzzard eagles, flamingos and even puma.
Visitors learn about the history of the first Welsh settlers who made the area their home in the late 1800s.
Following the Chubut River through remote desert landscapes which haven't changed for 10,000 years, they stop to examine ancient native cave paintings along the route and pass by traditional sheep farms on the Andean steppe, with its lakes teeming with birdlife, lush green valleys and snow-capped mountains.
www.swoop-patagonia.com/argentina/welsh-patagonia/atlantic-andes
Trekking Puntiago
Trekking Puntiago is a moderately challenging hiking experience through volcanic landscapes complete with fast-flowing rivers, lush temperate rain forests, fungus and ferns and open pastures.
A reasonable level of fitness is required for this itinerary, which involves trekking for around five hours each day across the Chilean Lake District.
Highlights include views of the conical Osorno and Puntiago volcanoes, both towering more than 2000 metres high, freshwater lakes and rivers and hot, natural thermal springs.
Additional days may be added on to this tour for those wishing to summit a peak along the volcanic ridge, and dates may also be linked to combine this remote area with the W Trek which, by stark contrast, is one of Patagonia's most well-trodden routes.
www.swoop-patagonia.com/chile/lake-district/cochamo/puntiagudo
Patagonia Park Argentina & Route 41
Patagonia Park Argentina & Route 41 is a two or four-day option, which takes in a newly-created area of the Douglas Tompkins reserve where conservationists are striving to save the endangered hooded grebe or maca tobiano.
Beginning and ending in the town of Los Antiguous, on the banks of the Lago Buenos Aires, which spans the border between Argentina and Chile, this guided tour will suit anyone seeking an authentic experience of Patagonia, who doesn't need too many home comforts to have a good time.
While the tour takes in some popular sights on the tourist trail, such as the Cave of Hands, an important archaeological site, and Chile's network of marble caves, hewn out of the rocks over centuries by the lapping water, much of the trip ventures where visitors rarely go.
www.swoop-patagonia.com/travel/road-trips/ruta-40