Estancia La Antonieta - PARRILLA - HOSPEDAJE - EXCURSIONES — Hotel in Chubut Province

What to say about Estancia La Antonieta; I went with my wife, 16 year old son and 27 year old niece to see Elephant Seals. We saw them and much more and had a Great Time!!! I smile to myself as I reflect back to last week's journey. First, the place is in the middle of nowhere. Might have seen one other car other than our rental and their 1970's pickup. You are Off the Grid here which was quite enlightening. Your phone becomes nothing more than a camera. So if you're addicted to your social media, this is not the place for you, unless you want to try going without (highly recommended). The place is a cross between elegance and the wild, wild west. We had 2 fairly large bedrooms and an also fairly large dinning area that were quite rustic, alot of wood, classic furnishings etc. The food was prepared by Alexia, a certified chef, which suprised me to find this quality of food at such a small remote location. Breakfast was included. Dinner was extra. We did one excursion from there to a public penguin reserve in our rental car. Maybe 25km away. Then, that afternoon, off in the back of the 1970s pickup, sitting on a bale of hay and jumping out 6 or so times to open gates on a rough dirt/gravel road on this private reserve to drive about 10km to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, a species of lama, wild horses, sheep etc. We parked at the top of a steep hill overlooking the beach area. We made our way down and came to a single Elephant Seal and our tour guide/truck driver/farm owner, Sat down maybe 10 meters away. We joined him and I thought, ok, this is it...one Elephant Seal, not great but ok. I decided to hike around the beautiful rocky beach to explore. Then our guide got up and started walking North. Our tour had just begun. We came across groups of Elephant Seals. Four or five groups during the 5km one-way hike. One group very actively playing in the ponds between the rock formations on the beach. Just WOW. We sat at the last group and ate a snack from our gourmet chef...carrot cake. Then hiked back. We were the ONLY 5 people anywhere to be found. There was just simply no one else there. I/we were suprised to find a significant amount of trash/plastic on these remote beaches. Apparently it comes from the sea. Mostly fishing ships. Plastic bottles and these large plastic trays a bit bigger that a busboy would use to clear tables. These things blow off the fishing boats and ultimately find their way to shore. It was just shocking to see it first hand....the human impact so far from any significant human presence on land. We picked it up as we moved up the beach but it quickly became too much to carry. We made piles of it for pick up later. Our guide said they organize volunteers to go there from time to time to clean it up. Then we headed back to the farm. The folks are fixing up the place so there are some rough edges in the elegance. I took a shower in the morning....mistake....icy cold. I think the hot water is heated by solar...hot in the evenings, cold in the morning. And some little things like the handle on our bathroom faucet would come off when you lifted it to turn on the water. I just smiled at these things hidden in the elegance. In the evening, after dinner, it was nice to sit out in the cold air and look at the stars with no city lights anywhere, and just the sound of silence...so peaceful. So, as I said, a cross between elegance and the wild, wild west. If you want total elegance with all the "comfort" of home with wifi, TV and all, this place is not for you. If you want to get away from it all and have a real rugged adventure, this...

We stayed here 2 nights with our 8 and 11 year olds. There is no internet or TV, so prepare to really disconnect from the world! The kids had a blast running around with the dogs and the resident cat. Guido, the owner, was very welcoming and gracious. The hosts, Xichiel and Josephine were great as well. We were able to get to Punta Tombo before the crowds arrived and that in itself made the experience very different. We had the whole place to ourselves. The estancia has 4 rooms (i think). The meals are communal. We were there at the same time as a German family and enjoyed having dinner with them. Definitely have Guido take you to the elephant seals. They are located on his property, so you will be the only people there. You can get really close to them. Guido dropped us off on the coastline and we walked about a mile to get to the elephant seals. We could have had him take us with the car, but the walk was beautiful and not to be missed. I highly recommend this estancia to anyone who is visiting Punta Tombo. The alternative is staying in Trelew or Puerto madryn, which have nothing...

We saw the most amazing things on our trip in Argentina including glacier trekking and whale watching but the trip to the beach with Guido to watch the elephant seals up close while drinking mate surpassed everything. The reasonable fee Guido charges for the elephant seals goes towards keeping the beach as a sanctuary for the seals. We arrived super late at the ranch as we got lost (the ranch is just off the main road so look out for the kilometre milestone as there are no indications) and Guido waited for us and was all smiles even at 1am and served us dinner. The ranch itself is not 5 star deluxe but it's not meant to be and we would not have wanted that. The place is a working ranch and rustic, there is no internet and you cannot even make or receive calls on mobile phones, but that is part of the charm. Complete nature with the beautiful penguins about 20 minutes drive away (you need a car) and the astonishing elephant seals (you need Guido to take you as they are on private land and the route needs 4...