Fifty kilometres south of Las Horquetas , the RP25 branches east to San Julián on the coast, passing through GOBERNADOR GREGORES , whose services include a fuel station and two hotels: San Francisco , at San Martín 463 (tel 02962/491039, fax 491038; $30-45, $45-60 en suite), and Cañadón León at Roca 397 (tel 02962/491082; $30-45), with less expensive singles.

Continuing along the RN40, you pass the Estancia La Angostura (tel 02962/452010, fax 452269; $80-100, breakfast included; Sept-May), 4km off the road. This is definitely a working estancia rather than a hotel, and accommodation is in unpretentious, rather uninspiring rooms in the family house - you'll get a real sense of the realities of life in the Patagonian interior, and the hard-working Kusanovic family will show you documents that trace a hundred years of history in the area. This is also a good place to try a typical regional dish that's rarely available to the tourist: liebre al escabeche (hare in escabeche; $20 for a three-course meal), which is prepared with a vinegar, carrot and onion marinade. Bird-watchers should keep their eyes open for possible sightings of the endangered, endemic hooded grebe ( macá tobiano ), which sometimes inhabits the pools of the attractive wetlands of the Río Chico that front the estancia.

The Kusanovic family also owns La Siberia ($60-80 with shared bathroom, breakfast included; Nov-March), a roadside estancia 61km to the south which has less expensive accommodation and serves simple fare including, in season, good apricot tarts. It's situated above the shores of Lago Cardiel , a startlingly turquoise lake, named after a Jesuit priest who explored the area in 1745 - though saline, its waters contain a proliferation of three-kilogram brook and rainbow trout.