February Reviews

Highlight - Seeing humpack whale breaching. Viewing Maellanic penguins from the boat. Landscapes / wildlife - Gorgeous. Otherworldly. People - interesting, friendly. Don't have grandchildren. But if I did, I think I'd tell them about the penguins. Surprises - I was surprised that we actually got to see a whale breaching.

Zodiac going through the ice flow at the glacier and visiting the penguins

Kayaking Serono River was amazing. I've never been so close to a glacier while on the water. Saw so many animals -- rhea, puma, penguins.... I liked that fellow travelers had selected Patagonia as a destination -- no one was just 'passing through'.

Hiking the 14 mile trek to Torres del Paine was the best hike we have ever done. While challenging physically, the reward was just breathtaking. The views and experience were 10/10.

We had a superb trip. Both the landscapes and the wildlife were highlight - especially hiking and biking away from the more popular trails. People were invariably welcoming and helpful. We were surprised by the numbers of tourists on the more popular trails i.e. the W walk and also those around El Chalten (although a little less so around the latter). The walk around Los Huemules was a nice contrast. Magical moments were many, but usually linked to watching sunrises and sunsets.

Hard to pick one. Probably the view of Torres, but the Peitro Moreo glacier is a close second.

Loved the French Valley hike. We had the most gorgeous day and the ultimate lookout was well worth the hike.

I really enjoyed conversations with the guides during the excursions.

There were so so many- glaciers, spectacular views and hikes, fantastic wildlife sightings including a puma (!) and wonderful experiences with other group members and our terrific guide Lucille and driver Luis!

1. Highlight of Patagonia was the Tierra Patagonia and the excursions. 2.You will see the landscape and the wildlife in our photos, sent separately. 3.People were all friendly and helpful. 4. Look at our photos. 5. On the Stella Australis we were hit by a 205 MPH wind gust near Cape Horn. All the furniture was thrown around, people were injured, food (eggs, melons, etc.) was destroyed, and the dining room place sessions for the next morning were destroyed. Yet, NO announcement was made during or after the storm. We were then unable to dock at Cape Horn. My conclusion is that the captain did not want to have any record that this occurred. 6. Iguazu Falls walking tour.

Successfully hiking up to and passing through the Oggioni Pass and making it successfully down through the forest to Dickson Lake and campground.

The trip was really nice. The guide was friendly and knowledgble, the experience authentic as we stayed in ‘refugios’ that are still being used today, and the scenery was stunning (on the days it didn’t rain ;) ). The food was good, and we felt very welcome at the estancia. What bothered me was the extreme caution for safety, and the fact that we could only walk on the rides (as I’m an experienced rider it would be nice to do some faster riding now and then and thus also see more of the park and warm up a little bit). On the trip, there’s also to do a boat trip on the 4th day, this wasn’t mentioned to me beforehand.

There are too many to pick one! The sights of the mountains of Patagonia and the desert of Atacama are forever in my memory bank.

The excursions in Torres del Paine. Stunning scenery and landscapes. The Tierra Patagonia Hotel was spectacular.

On the third day there was an option for extending the hike. Those of us who wanted to go to the next lookout split off and we had so much fun with our guide (Matti) trying to beat the clock and make it to the look out and back to the refugio for dinner time. We ended up having plenty of time and it was a fun day of bonding with the group and our guide, and of course taking in the great views!!

Paddling to the hot springs; after two days of paddling on the water, we entered the last fjord and it felt like time stopped. We slowly passed by groups of curious and playful sea lions and made our way to where the river meets the ocean. We had to pull our kayaks through the low tide and made it to our destination. After we set up camp, we enjoyed the hot springs as it began to rain. It was magical.

After walking to the campamento Británico in the snowstorm with no visibility at all, we decided to wait a while and have our lunch. At that moment the view opened up and we could see the whole cirque, Paine grande and los Cuernos. Stunning!

Going over Oggioni pass and hiking up the French Valley.

There were many amazing moments of the trip, but the Perito Moreno glacier was remarkable. I have never seen anything like it. The hike up to Laguna de los Tres was also wonderful.

Highlight - climbing to the base of the towers. Landscape - nice, nothing unique. Opinion would be weather dependent. People - lovely. What will you tell? - worth a trip if part of a wider SA tour. Surprises? None Magical moment - arriving at the base of the towers (Torres) in glorious sunshine so could witness in all its glory. Also got a suite, with jacuzzi in the hotel - VERY welcome after two 22Km days!