My most memorable moment was seeing the three Towers of Paine. We were fortunate to have a blue sky day with little wind and spent more than an hour enjoying the incredible scenery and ambiance at the base of the towers.

Life changing

No

Yes

Torres del Paine was beautiful. Trekking the paine massif circuit was definitely a great choice for us as we prefer adventure and getting away from the typical hiking areas. The only thing that was somewhat disappointing was the weather. We had expected more clear sky days and did not appreciate the intensity of 'patagonia' wind. All that said, it is part of the experience of Patagonia.

The El Chalten area was beautiful and we were fortunate to have good weather the day we arrived so were able to see Fitz Roy in its entirety. The 'mountain escape' trek was a great choice for us as we prefer adventure and getting away from the typical hiking areas. Again, the only thing that was somewhat disappointing was the weather. We had expected more clear sky days and did not appreciate the intensity of 'patagonia' wind. El Calafate was a nice way to end the trip as it offered more 'comforts of home'. The Perito Merino glacier was a necessary trip though I would say that it was less impressive than I expected.

Our guide for Torres del Paine was knowledgeable, somewhat sociable, and accommodating. A few things of note... he waffled sometimes in terms of schedule leaving us uncertain as to when we were leaving. I think he had difficulty coordinating both his clients and the porters. Also, he always wanted to be in the lead which led to us feeling like a follower. I think there could be a way for a guide to allow clients to be a bit more free roaming and to take the lead with appropriate guidelines. Our guide at El Chalten was also knowledgeable and more sociable. As mentioned earlier, he invited some friends to join part of the trek. This resulted in more Spanish being spoken (which we do not understand); that seemed rude at times. Also, it would have been much more cordial for him to have advised us of the inclusion of friends in advance.

I appreciate the time that Swoop took to organize this trip and to make right any issues that were faced. Swoop assumed ownership of the issues and took my feedback seriously. I really appreciate that and will comment on that when I talk to friends about this adventure. Thank you!

Be aware of that the weather is ever changing, difficult to predict, and possibly more cloudy and windy than one would expect even after reading about Patagonia.

This experience has changed my perspective though I haven't fully absorbed how. The ideas are still percolating.

As mentioned before, I believe that Swoop took all my comments and questions seriously and did what they could to resolve issues to my satisfaction. The only thing that I would recommend is to ensure that clients understand their responsibility in trip planning. This is one thing that caught me off guard. I did not know that I would be dealing directly with Dittmar and Serac after Swoop made the initial arrangements. This led to confusion and frustration.