January Reviews

The highlight was the shear beauty of the landscape - and the opportunity to experience it free from crowds, at our own pace and with excellent and extremely generous guides. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, great views and daylight until 9 PM...so we could take our time and truly absorb the surroundings. We met lovely people - not many, but everyone was in the spirit of the surroundings. I think my husband was surprised by the difficulty - but our guides were incredibly supportive. the most magical moment - day three as we got close to Cerro Castillo and the blue lake and the spectacular campsite that night! We will absolutely tell friends and family...and already have!

It is hard to pick just one as every day found new and really memorable events. But I’ll say seeing an avalanche come off the Paine Grande was really special. We witnessed it on the Miradores hike.

Considering this was a late add on to a long planned leg of our trip, it was way beyond expectation - Atacama is stunningly beautiful, but what probably brought it so much to life was our guide. Very hard to pinpoint one specific high point, as there were many; camping in our guides favourite secret spots he'd discovered, the Milky Way in all its glory, giant cacti, a range of other plants and animals, geysers, caves, a skillfully swift acclimatisation programme enabling a 5600m summit within 3 days, the list goes on.

Watching 50 to 70 guanacos in their natural habitat about 200 feet from me in the late afternoon in a stunning valley with mountains surrounding the valley - Valle Chacabuco Parque Patagonia

Horseriding

Repetitive AWE with the surreal breathtakingly beautiful views from Explora. Sense of accomplishment finishing long challenging hikes. Appreciation of and inspiration by other guests who were challenging themselves with the physical activity.

The highlight for me was reaching the top of the John Gardener Pass and overlooking Grey Glacier. Phenomenal. Day to day you find yourself in awe of the surrounding views. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I cannot recommend enough to do the full O-circuit as opposed to the W. The backside of the track has about 1/10th the amount of people, better views and a much more enjoyable experience. Something I noticed that very few people did that I highly recommend advertising is completing the trek in a different order. Start the W first from Grey which you can access by boat, then make your way around the the back side of the O circuit. This way, you get the front side complete where all the people are, and then head back into the other side which is in my opinion far far better.

I don't have a particular memorable moment, but what I found unique was the vast wildness and emptiness of the Balmaceda to Puerto Vras portion of the trip. I also loved Conguillo National Park

Highlight was waking up to see Mt Fitzroy, bathed in the glory of the morning sunrise, with a surreal deep golden reflection, in a cloudless blue sky. It happened to coincide with my brother's birthday, which was an added bonus, and a priceless bitrthday gift at the same time. Landscapes were vast, stretching way beyond normal horizon spans with all manner of varied terrain and topography. Colours were vivid and weather changeable, with high winds I have seldom encountered before. People were friendly, accommodating and helpful and despite limited Spanish, we managed very well.

Seeing the vastness of the mountains and their snowcapped peaks as we approched the park. It was an unforgettable and moving sight.

So many memorable moments it’s difficult choosing one! Salar de Uyuni, climbing volcáns Lascar and Toco, the beautiful flamingo filled lagunas in Bolivia, flying over the Nazca lines.......

Joaquin and Benjamin and Ruta 7 were wonderful. The first third of our trip was the most unique....hiking in what felt and looked tropical with glaciers at the view points. The "paths" were most often ladders, planks and bridges and the scenery magical. Joaquin and Benjamin quickly accessed our fitness and interests and selected perfect daily hikes. They both are deeply knowledgeable, spoke flawless English, added wonderful energy and fun to our group of 3 couples. Highly recommend them to Swoop for future groups.

Too windy to do initially planned itinerary; still had a great experience. Guide (Jaime through Serac) did a great job of outlining alternatives, including 3 unrelated hikers in decision-making Dramatic weather Super curious and concerned about the caterpillar infestation of the Lenga forests Watching a new friend be speechless at the expanse of ice at the top of El Paso del Viento.

Tierra Patagonia

Hard to pick out one moment. Maybe going up to Lago Del Desierto. I thought I would not be able to get up there when I saw the ropes, but they actually helped a lot. I was blown away by the beauty of the site. Also, the glacier! I'd not read up on it prior to the trip. I just knew it was a large group excursion. I was kicking myself once we arrived and the saw the grandeur and awesome beauty of the glacier. The scale of the thing is so very humbling. Also most important to me was the opportunity to share the awesome experience with loved ones.

Torres del Paine was spectacularly beautiful and the adventure in the wind on Lago Grey was unique. Traveling companions were wonderful people and easily adaptable to the changing schedules.

I think the most memorable moment on the trail was finally getting to the view points in the French Valley and Mirador del Torre. They were breath taking. The most memorable moments off trail were enjoying time with our group and amazing guides at the end of each day.

All of the cruise was memorable, particularly the storm around Cape Horn with 100mph+ winds and 6 meter waves. The glaciers and scenery, were truly spectacular. It was good to be in a relatively small group of people.

Fantastic. I don't know if there was a 'highlight' but we loved the Singular-AMAZING place to stay, and waking up next to glaciers was really rad. We met some really interesting people there, only another American couple but I enjoy meeting new people so it was really interesting to connect with them, but overall I loved it.

Seeing the glaciers in Parque de los Glaciares, sharing a dorm with the group in Torres del Paine, admiring the colours of every single lagoon and lake, beeing surrounded by mountains and glaciers in the French Valley.