Seeing my first puma in the wild - imperious, at ease, powerful, and very beautiful. An amazimg moment.

Life changing

I always felt that my visit to Torres del Paine would be a great experience, but the reality was even more memorable. The sheer scale of the national park - 554,000 acres - is mindboggling, and its natural beauty is astonishing. There seems something almost otherworldly about it. The park is very rigorously regulated, but rightly so: the catastrophic fires that have occasionally blighted it (all due to human error) show how fragile its ecology is, and we human visitors must give this remarkable environment all the care and respect that it deserves. My overall experience of Torres del Paine was undoubtedly heightened still further by my five-day stay at the Tierra Patagonia. As I mention above, I have never - in all my years of travelling - stayed in a better hotel. Its location, on the shore of the beautiful Lago Sarmiento, is quite spectacular; its facilities (bedroom, spa, restaurant, bar, guides) are all superb; and the quality of service is peerless. Hotel Manager Nicholas Russ leads by example, demonstrating extraordinary qualities of personal service and care; while his entire staff manifest just the same qualities in every aspect of their work. A truly remarkable hospitality experience.

As you will have gathered, I cannot praise Swoop highly enough. Everyone planning a trip to Patagonia should consider their services! As a first-time visitor to South America, and with a particular fascination for Patagonia, my approach was to explore its best-known features (Perito Moreno Glacier, Torres del Paine, puma population, great hotels) and to ask Swoop to design an itinerary that also featured short stays - with personal guided tours - in Buenos Aires and Santiago. Swoop hit the jackpot immediately, the itinerary designed first in the summer of 2022 being very much my final plan for the trip in November 2023. After that, it was largely a question of finessing details such as flight-booking (coordinated by the superb Exito Travel), passport protocols (very straightforward), jabs (likewise), currency requirements, and finalising my preferred hikes and other tours from my hotels. As mentioned above, Carys Siney coordinated all these detailed procedures quite brilliantly. It's conceivable that I could have done everything myself; but in a busy last year of my working life - I retired the day before I flew to Buenos Aires - I simply didn't want all the hassle. Swoop did a fantastic job.

I would definitely say so. Having lived and worked in big cities (London, New York) for my entire career, I found the entire experience of visiting Patagonia an extremely liberating one. I genuinely felt transported by my time amongst this awesome scenery. But witnessing the marvels of Patagonia's scenic beauty wildlife at close quarters also made me feel especially conscious of our need to respect - and protect - the natural environment; while the sight of the receding Perito Moreno and Grey Glaciers reminded me of the very real consequences of our current climate crisis.

I have no recommendations for Swoop, simply because I felt that they did a perfect job. As far as feedback is concerned, three brief points. 1. I found the webinar that Swoop organised ahead of our trips most interesting, and helpful in several areas. A very good idea, and executed very professionally. 2. I was most impressed by Swoop's regional coordinators in Argentina and Chile. They welcomed me to their respective countries by email and WhatsApp; answered any practical questions that I had, and ensured that their nominated drivers and guides were fully up to speed with my schedule. To give a brief example: when I was driven from Lago de Desierto to El Calafate and dropped off at my hotel, I realised that I had left my (printed) travel folder in Matti's car. I rang the regional coordinator, who immediately contacted Matti and arranged for him to bring me the folder later that evening. It took less than five minutes to resolve the problem, which I thought was superb service. 3. My entire experience of service, in my five hotels and at the Serrano Camp, and from all my advisers, guides, drivers, and other support staff, was outstandingly good. I cannot speak highly enough of the dedication, professionalism and warm personal support that I received throughout every aspect of my trip. Thank you!

Totally prepared, and wildly excited. All hopes and expectations were not just met, but exceeded.

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In describing the hiking from Aguas Arriba lodge, I neglected to mention a further, major, day out, but this time from the impressive Xelena Hotel in El Calafate. This was of course our spectacular visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. In a minibus carrying about ten other visitors and our wonderful guide (who I think was Gimena? November 15th?), we bumped along the gravel track for an hour or so before stopping at the Estancia Nibepo Aike. We watched a demonstration of sheep-shearing (the old-fashioned way), then enjoted a great lunch of barbecued lamb (and lots of Malbec). We then drove to the shores of Lago Roca, where we boarded a small boat for the first part of our journey to the Perito Moreno Glacier. Disembarking from the boat as the glacier approached, we then took a short (30-minute) hike across country, exploring the landscape before rendezvousing with the boat again. This time we sailed directly towards the amazing 40-metre ice cliffs, following the edge of the glacier until reaching another dropping-off point. From below, the glacier was a spectacular sight. Collected by the minibus this time, we drove to the very impressive series of catwalks built into the cliff that overlooks the glacier, and where you can see it (and hear it) close up. On this side of the glacier the ice cliffs climb to an astonishing 70 metres. This was one of the greatest highlights of this amazing trip! The minibus then ran us back to El Calafate on an easy, empty, and pretty quick road, depositing us at our respective hotels in time for pre-dinner cocktails. What a glorious day that was.....