Capybaras, Penguins & Iguazu Falls

Before your adventure in the Argentine wilderness begins, enjoy a couple of nights of sophisticated urban life in Buenos Aires. You’ll stay in the fashionable Palermo Soho district, the most bohemian barrio in the city, at Nuss Buenos Aires Soho, a boutique design hotel. Combining modern interiors with a historic setting – it’s housed in a colonial convent – Nuss represents the fantastic combinations and contradictions that make Buenos Aires such a captivating city.

Browse many of Palermo Soho’s boutiques, art galleries and trendy cafes, which are right on your doorstep, and make sure you catch some tango at at least one of the city’s many milongas.

Your wildlife adventure begins in earnest here, as you leave behind the big city for the coastal wilderness of the Valdes Peninsula. This outcrop in the Atlantic Ocean is famous for its rich wildlife, and an important conservation area for marine mammals in particular.

You’ll spend three nights at Estancia Rincon Chico, a comfortable lodge set on a working sheep farm. A range of wildlife activities are on offer, from visiting the elephant seals on the adjacent beach to spotting whales, orcas, penguins and dolphins from the estancia’s whopping 15 kilometres of coastline. Away from dry land, scuba diving and snorkelling with sea lions is also available.

The next stop on your adventure is the Ibera Wetlands, a huge area of swamps, lakes and lagoons home to a huge diversity of wildlife – Argentina’s answer to the Pantanal in Brazil. Unusual creatures which make their homes here include capybaras, the world’s largest rodents; caiman crocodiles; and a huge diversity of birdlife, including flamingos and parakeets. You can hope to spot all these and more on boat trips from your hotel, Puerto Valle, set in a restored 19^th-century manor house and surrounded by beautiful parkland. Other activities include kayaking on the Parana River, and horseback rides through the pine and eucalyptus forests which surround the hotel.

The final stop on your adventure is the most spectacular of all, as you take a private road transfer for around four hours north to Iguazu Falls. On the way, you can choose to stop off at San Ignacio Mini, the evocative ruins of a Jesuit mission dating from the 1630s. Continuing on towards the falls, you’ll reach your home for the final three nights of your trip: the beautiful Awasi Iguazu.

Luxurious secluded villas built on stilts, to minimise the environmental mpact, within a private reserve on the Argentinian side of the falls, are a fantastic base from which to explore the Iguazu Falls, one of the most impressive sights in the natural world. It’s up to you whether to explore the falls from one of the viewpoints, or - if you don’t mind getting wet - with an exhilarating ride on a dinghy.

Other activities include jungle walks in the surrounding national park, where you can spot toucans, parakeets and monkeys. Sit down with your guide and design the excursions that best suit your preferences and interests.