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A visit to the Van Noort Hill in Puerto Deseado See map

Puerto Deseado invites travelers to know the trek to Mount Van Noort, an expedition with 4 centuries of tradition, where you can be in direct contact with nature in its virgin state.

Mulitple options of trekking are in the city, but the Cerro Van Noort is unique, being a journey in which one learns about the nature and history of the place.

The starting points are the dock Ramón and dock Puerto Darwin, from where the boats begin their journey to the Concordia Bay, home to Patagonian penguins and gray cormorants. Then the navigation continues along the coast of the peninsula Viedma and Del Rey Island, where bottlenose dolphin, a small dolphin, accompanied the boat by giving beautiful jumps.

The landing is done in the place called La Mina, where in 1615 the Dutch ship Hoorn caught fire. Then begins the trek to the summit of Mount Van Noort, which will award an exceptional panoramic view: you behold the beauty of the landscape that is a greater range of species biodiversity.

After the landing, travelers will share a delicious lunch on a secluded beach. There, an expert guide on the geography and the history of Puerto Deseado will relate the most incredible stories of those who witnessed the ria, the hills and islands.

Four centuries after the Dutch

According to the travel diaries of Olivier Van Noort general tell, that he accurately detailed his journey in the then named Puerto del Deseo. It was noon on September 20, 1599 when he gave the order to enter the fleet and then explore the territory. At that time, he had two months of sailing in which he had suffered several attacks of Portuguese pirates and lost one of its four ships.

Once ashore, he made contact with the natives and lost several of his fellow travelers. The Dutchman, Olivier Van Noort, abandoned Puerto Deseado after 39 days to go farther south.

For all his courage is that the hill takes its name in tribute. The history of this navigator is one of the treasures to be discovered when visiting the Nature Reserve of Ria Deseado, with its emerald waters, an exceptional marine birdlife and the most rugged Patagonian nature.

The tour lasts four hours total, in which you share an adventure in nature and go into the remote past of intrepid explorers.