Oli

United Kingdom

Customer
Rating

10

Customer Rating On return from their adventure we ask customers: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest, how likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend or colleague?”

Oli's Trip Date:

2nd Dec - 6th Dec 2018

Overall, how was your trip?

Overall, the obvious highlight was the W-trek through Torres Del Paine. The park is great, the route is fantastic. We got very lucky with the weather. We did the refugios and the 'glamping' option which we enjoyed for our short trip - the food in the refugios was surprisingly excellent and we enjoyed all of that a lot. In particular, our guide Chuma, was fantastic and really made the trip too. I was a bit dubious about having a guide but that worked out brilliantly. The whole W is great, but getting up to the towers, and hiking up to Brittanica (a slight detour) were both really great. As was going up to see the glacier field above Glacier Grey by hiking up over the second suspension bridge (another detour). Alongside all the of the information and time with glaciers was fascinating.

In one sentence, what did you think of Patagonia? Did it live up to your expectations?

Absolutely super - it manages (somehow) to live up to the hype

Would you visit again?

Yes

How was the service that Swoop provided?

Happy with how it all went - we used the service pretty lightly (e.g. we just used it to book the W and already knew pretty much what we wanted). In hindsight, we may have booked more with Swoop, or rejigged our itinerary and internal travel a bit. Fitting it all in and figuring out bus logistics was a pain. But by the time we got in touch with Swoop it was already too late. Would recommend Swoop to others and would use again for longer trips.

How did you feel about booking directly with our partner(s)?

Chile Nativo were great. They were pretty solid in the preparation phase so can't really complain about that. But then on the ground it was excellent and can't recommend them highly enough. Nothing major I'd do differently. Our only frustration was we slightly screwed up our travel back from Puerto Natales to Buenos Aires (long story) but it was a tricky one, and the guide from Chile Nativo helped out trying to figure it out.

How likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10 out of 10

How was your W trek in Torres del Paine?

Thought Chile Nativo did a brilliant job and we really liked our guide Chuma who was full of facts, anecdotes and personality. Accomodation was always great and the food was much better than we'd expected. The trek overall was great although obviously quite popular and well subscribed. I would say it's unmissable but I'd also loved to have done the O or some other less well-known trips as well to balance it out.

How likely is it that you would recommend this trip to a friend? (where 0 = Not at all likely, 5 = Neutral, 10 = Extremely Likely)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10 out of 10

Do you have any tips or advice for other people planning a trip to Patagonia?

If you're doing a 2 week trip, either use Swoop or talk to a friend who's done it before and properly work through your itinerary. It's tricky to get the balance right between squeezing enough in, and packing it too much. We also had to fly in and out of BA, but flying into BA and out of Santiago would have been better (in my opinion). I would recommend at most 1 day in Buenos Aires, 1-2 days in El Calafate (doing Perito Moreno), then squeeze in 2-3 days in El Chalten (we missed this) before going to Puerto Natales and doing the W. The W trek can be done in 4 days and if you're fit and up for it, then go for it. If you do the 5 day trek, I'd recommend ensuring you do Camp Brittanica (it's an extension to day 3, going further than Camp Frances for a much better view) and also doing the hike up to the second bridge by Glacier Grey.

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