Nibepo Aike, a Croatian family ranch on Lago Argentino
Nibepo Aike lies inside Los Glaciares National Park on the southern arm of Lago Argentino, about 12 km in a straight line from the Perito Moreno Glacier and 56 km from El Calafate along the gravel Ruta Provincial 15. The ranch goes back to Santiago Peso, a Croatian immigrant who arrived in Patagonia in the early 20th century and founded an estancia called La Jerónima with fellow countrymen. After his death in 1938 his widow María Martinic bought out a partner and refounded the ranch in 1947 as Nibepo Aike. The name joins the Tehuelche word aike, “place of”, to the first syllables of her daughters’ names: Niní, Bebe and Porota.
For day visitors the estancia offers what it calls a día de campo: milking and shearing demonstrations, gaucho skills, walks and a Patagonian lamb asado.
Source: Diario Río Negro, 7 April 2025.
Two bookings lead there. The estancia sells its own day with lunch or dinner and a choice of ride lengths. Tangol sells a day with transfer, lunch and a ride of about 45 minutes, which its listing names as part of the day. That booking cannot be refunded. Neither listing mentions the national park ticket, although the ranch lies inside the park; ask the operator whether one is needed for your visit.
Estancia 25 de Mayo, the ranch at the edge of town
El Calafate grew up around this estancia. In the early 20th century it was a major wool operation; today the town reaches its gate, so the visit needs no long drive. A 2012 report in the Argentine newspaper El Litoral describes sheepdogs bringing the flock into the corral, shearing by hand with scissors, lamb cooked on the stake and a café carretero, coffee brewed with embers the way the wool carters made it. The two tours on this site take you there for a farm visit and, depending on the option, dinner with a folklore show; the Patagonia Dreams evening adds mate and a wine tasting. More on the Estancia 25 de Mayo page.
Source: El Litoral, 4 February 2012.
Estancia Cristina is a boat day
Estancia Cristina is the third name you will see in El Calafate. It is visited as part of the boat trips on the lake, so it is covered on our sister site peritomorenocruise.com, which compares everything on the water.
