Karen returned in November from an eco camp based W Trek in Torres del Paine National Park. Here she tells us about her experiences on the trip and in booking with Swoop and our partners in Chile…
‘We LOVED it. Swoop was great, their partner in Chile was great, and the eco camp base was awesome’
What was the highlight of your trip?
That is hard – I think the W Trek, hiking Mt. Fitz Roy, the Perito Moreno Glacier and Mendoza were all highlights.
What did Swoop do well?
I liked the website a lot – it made it pretty clear what the different options were. Initially I was overwhelmed with planning any type of W trek because there doesn’t seem to be a ton of info online, this made it much easier.
What could Swoop have done differently?
Overall I was happy with everything.
Would you recommend us to friends, family or colleagues for a trip to Patagonia?
Yes
How did you enjoy your itinerary?
Yes, I liked the itinerary and the option to stay in a refugio one night and then at the eco camp for the others.
How were your guides?
Our guides were absolutely fabulous. Claudio (Chuma) and Joaquin really helped make our trip, they were absolutely fabulous.
What did you think of the eco camp as a base?
The eco camp was great, so unique and beautiful views.
Is there anything you would have changed about this part of your trip?
The only issue was the one night we stayed in a refugio – the eco camp told our guides (who passed along the information to us) that no one would be staying in their domes and we could leave our things as they were. While we were gone their staff came into the domes and packed our stuff for us and moved it out. We happened to be back in the same dome, but a couple we were traveling with had their stuff moved into a dome that had other people staying in it. Their sheets were dirty and the people at eco camp didn’t seem to care, and his iPAD wasn’t in his stuff when he got it all back but was in the administration office. Also, my friend who I was traveling with was missing her bag. Overall it was just very weird. It would not have been an issue at all if they had told us prior to leaving for the night to pack up our stuff because we might not be in the same dome, but this was not what they said. Our guides handled this very well helping everyone track down their belongings – and were very apologetic.
Do you have any tips for other people planning a trip?
I think that Swoop and their partners made this very manageable by doing the planning for me. We were informed by our guides that typically people taking this trek are in their 50s-60s; our group happened to be in their 30s to early 40s, and I think this would have changed our dynamic and experience if we had been with all other people who were the age of our parents.
Did you manage to visit anywhere else in Chile or Argentina?
Buenos Aires, El Calafate, El Chalten, Santiago (one night), Mendoza.
