Travellers' Reports for Chile

Torres del Paine and adventures in Pucon

Lake District
   Jurassic Forest Trek
   Hot Spring ride

El Plomo Climbing Expedition

Atacama and Altiplano

Easter Island

Tailor-made arrangements (many info about other places)

Torres del Paine

Jerry from the US Torres del Paine Circuit 02/2005
dear gilles,
we have returned, and our trip was awesome. everything was very well planned; and all the details went as described.
patricia rojas, ads mundo, was excellent. she suggested a great wine tour on monday, underraga; and a wonderful restaurant for that evening.
rodrigo san martinez was a great guide. he fit in very well with our group. on our last night in torres del paine camp he roasted a leg of lamb over the grill!!
weather was great and we had views everyday of the trip.
the only suggestion i would have is to be more specific about the length of the individual days. i realize that is hard since people are in different degrees of fitness, but that 1st day of 18 miles was unexpected.
thanks for all your help; and i will be glad to a reference in the future.

Cecile from the US - Torres del Paine (Self drive tours in Patagonia and the Central valley ) 12/2004
Dear Gilles
Just a note to thank you for organising such a great trip for us. We had a truly wonderful time and all the arrangements (bar one, which I'll come to later) went extremely well. When we had to contact ADS Mundo, we found them very helpful although some had a little difficulty with speaking english. All the drivers were good and not as mad as most of the Santiaguenans!!
The hotels were all fine except the Plaza in Punta Arenas, which we found to be unfriendly, rather shabby and much more down-market than all the others. We would not choose it again, unlike all the others [This hotel is the economic option in Punta Arenas, known for its expensive hotels]. We were VERY glad we had changed to Lago Grey when we saw the setting of Lago Tyndall, which is nowhere near the lake and in a rather dull, by Torres del Paine standards setting [lago Grey is the best hosteria whereas Tyndall is the economic option, so it depends on your budget....] .. We really liked the Lago Grey Hotel and would recommend it. One tip you might like to pass on to other clients: warn them not to pay $14 for a box lunch from the Cisne Cuello Negro hotel, as it isn't just unimaginative, but totally inedible apart from the fruit. We found a good place to eat in Punta Arenas was the Puerte Viejo down by the port.
The only problem was that A....did not have details of our departure time and were expecting to take all 4 of us at the time of the Australian's departure. We managed to sort this out, because luckily John had taken his tri-band mobile phone and we were able to call them from Pumta Arenas the day before we were coming home. Just for the record, driving in Patagonia was no problem and the weather was pretty good and a lot warmer than we had expected. The shone shone for at least a part of every day and we only had one that was mostly wet and windy. Another tip: its well worth taking binoculars as the bird and wild life is spectacular.
Thank you for all your help: we will certainly recommend you to anyone thinking of going to Chile (the wine tour was also tremendous, with Jorge as our guide: he was great). This was the trip of a lifetime, but if we ever get together the money for another trip, we'll be in touch!! All the best for 2005

Helen from the US Lake District and Torres del Paine Adventures 01/2004
Gilles - good old American paranoia! No problem - I`ll E-mail them later today. Have been meaning to contact you to say thank you - we had a brilliant time! Patagonia was fantastic. We were suprised to spend the first week on our own as we thought we would be joining a group, but that was fine as we could do what we wanted in Pucon. All the guides were great. Food fantastic. The euro-camp was complete luxury - we aren`t used to staying in places so nice! The only thing it would have been useful to know before we went was how many meals we would be buying as we didn`t know how much money to take. Will definitely recommend you to the Americans. Is much nicer going with a small company anyway as we felt we had truly personlised service! Thanks. Best wishes, Helen Flett

Cecile from the US - Torres del Paine (Special arrangements) 11/2003
Everything went well. We're looking forward to returning to Argentina someday, hopefully this December.
1) The DAP airline. Great service. You really don't need to be at the airport much earlier than the departure time since the crew shows up at that time.
2) The refugios are great too. Refugio Grey needs some service help and updating, but with time that will turn around. We didn't make it to Refugio Dickson, but we heard great things about it. Since we arent used to hiking long distances over a number of days our knees gave us some trouble, but that was easily remedied with a dose of celebrex. We received our Refugio vouchers via fax at the place we were staying at in Puerto Natales. It may be helpful in the future, when booking transportation to and from the park to include the transporation company and their phone number on the voucher. Transportation out of the park was a mess. The place where the company wanted to pick us up was miles from the boat drop at Pudeto. We ended up paying a bus company to bring us back to Puerto Natales. In the future, instead of prearranging transportation from Pudeto to Puerto Natales you can suggest to other customers that they should wave money at a bus company as they get off the boat. None of them are full. There are many buses leaving Pudeto as soon as the boat arrives and they're more than willing to take your pesos.
[ Remark: Well either you book a complete tour or are ready to face that kind of inconvenient, especially in a remote place ]
3) On our way back to El Calafate from Puerto Natales the flight was accidently overbooked. We gave up our seats and instead took the plane approximately 2 hours later. During this time, the man who runs the refugios and DAP who is also involved with path@gone took us out for coffee and we got to learn about the park's intention to use solar energy more widely throughout park. He's actually an Engineer from Quebec and returns there every year. Our stories could go on and on....
Overall, thanks for all your help. We had a wonderful time. Cecile

Tamara from the UK - Torres del Paine Eco Camp 12/2003
no worries will do. I know I have not given you any proper feedback yet either sorry. Life has just been manic, but I promise I will. The kayak group used were really good and it is a great way to leave the park rather than 6 hours on a bus!!!
Also the flight from Natales to El Calafate was a hoot. We turned up at the airport at 8am and the airport was locked!! we waited with an australian couple and a truck eventually pulled up and we had 1 customs guy, 1 immigration chap, a baggage handler and the guy who runs the company.
It is the best 50US we could have spent!!! We then managed a half day trip to the Moreno Glacier (180 peso will hire you a private dirver to take you there and back and wait for an hour while you look around) It was spectacular!
OK got ot look lively

Richard from the US - Torres del Paine Eco Camp 11/2003
Gilles, perhaps Kathie has sent a reply. She gave me this to reply to you as well. First of all, the guides, Sergio Bahamendes and Christian Silva, were outstanding, knowledgeable, attentive, kind, considerate, brave, patient, understanding, etc. They are excellent.
Next, be sure to let people know to bring a towel to carry with them at all times (not all the camps have towels), soap, be sure that they carry their own toilet paper (not all camps have toilet tissue), and let them know to carry bug spray. With respect to the bug spray, or insect repellent, it should be packed in their suit cases for transportation to Patagonia. If it is in your carry on bag, it will be confiscated by the airlines personnel.
With respect to the showers, I would recommend posting information in the showers and encouraging people to take "sailor" showers. Turn on the hot water, wet yourself down, turn off the water, lather yourself down, then turn on the water to rinse off. After all, this is in remote territory and hot water is scarce. People can take a nice, long leisurely hot shower when back in town.
I would recommend that everyone have a hiking pole. They are very, very useful.
I would also recommend that they have items at the camps that people can purchase if they've somehow arrived without them, such as toilet tissue, film, sunscreen, soap, and the like.
I will not hesitate to recommend Cascada to anyone. Totally professional. Made the trip very enjoyable and safe. Great work.

Deborah from the United States - Torres del Paine Eco Camp 09/03/2002
Bonjour Gilles: I have returned!
Thanks for all your help in planning my travels. Generally it was good, but unfortunately the one thing I really went down for was a washout - Torres del Paine. We had the worst weather - three days of rain so solid that campsites were evacuated and roads washed out. C'est la voyage! Seems I may need to go back if I ever want to see that park properly. Thanks for the recommendations on Perito Moreno - it was really spectacular. Thanks again,
Deborah

Christopher from Switerland - Torres del Paine 29/12/2002
Dear Gilles, Torre del Paine [ hosteria Las Torres ] is where we had New Year's eve which was very nicely done. It is attractively located and provided good service and food. The rooms are medium sized but there are very pleasant public sitting areas.
Horse riding and trekking activities appear good. On the downside it is very large and caters for mass tourisme. The hotel Grey was much more homely, but also much smaller. Our guide Sophie was excellent She knew the park very well and cleverly combined internal and external routes to avoid repetitive driving. Some views are better from outside the official boundries.

Sarah from the UK - Torres del Paine Eco Camp - 02/12/2002
Our trek in Torres del Paine was amazing. We were blessed with excellent weather and the guides were very knowledgable and good fun. One thing I would say was that we were a little out numbered by Americans. The eco-camp was a novelty. It was nice to sleep in a bed, and the food was fantastic. I think we all said that we hadn't realised just how far we'd walk, it was quite tiring but we made it. The boat trip was a highlight as we could see most of the park and put the walks into perspective.
Santiago was also enjoyable, we managed to see snippets each time we returned, unfortunately our day there was a Sunday and most things were closed. Thr guide books didn't warn us about this, but the Mercado Central was busy and we went out to an artesana market at Los Dominicos so we found some shopping! Most Restaurants were closed though. The hotel was good, everything that we needed and again the food was excellent.
As you can tell, we had a fantastic time, Chile is a beautiful country and I'd love to go back. The people are very friendly. We felt everything was very well organised and I wouldn't hesitate to come back to you for other holidays. We fancy Bolivia and Peru next!!!
If theres anything else you need, let me know. Otherwise thank you, we had a very memorable holiday. Best Regards Sarah

Anne from London, UK - Lake District and Torres del Paine Adventures 30/11/2000
Just a note to say that we loved Chile and overall our trip was very successful.
Just a couple of remarks however. I consider the Classic Patagonia trek to be easy (2) and not moderate (3) in terms of degree of difficulty (I'm used to more strenous hiking). This needs to be changed in the brochure. The guides in Patagonia were delightful (Trauco and Daniel) but slow to get going in the morning (we left the hostals at between 9h30 -10h00 each morning, I'm used to 7.00 am starts).
The bus trip from Pucon to Punta Arenas took 7 hours and not the 3h30-4h00 that Noelle told us (I was vaguely perplexed as to our destino final as the hours slipped by and still no sign of Punta Arenas). Noelle is an excellent guide/administrator by the way wonderful, relaxed, well-informed etc.
Overall, the standard of accomodation was excellent (food and drink superb). I was very impressed with all the facilities in Pucon and Patagonia. I hope to make a return trip this autumn. Will keep you informed y muchisimas gracias por todo su ayuda.
Anne (Classic Chile: Lake District and Patagonia trip November 11-30th 2000)

Lake District

Sophia from the United States - Hot Spring Ride and Torresdel Paine Trek 29/01/2002
Hi Giles, I was meaning to write to you an e-mail to thank you for all the organisation but you obviously beat me to it! Victoria and I had an amazing time. On land organisation was perfect, hotel accomodation fine and people at Cascada extremely friendly. Our guides, Rodolfo at Pucon and Armando with Rodriguo at Torres del Paine were both experienced and extremely interesting people. Most of all, the places I have seen are engraved in my memory. The nature is one that speaks for itself, it remains largely untouched by tourism and commerce, it is simply magical. The calm of glacier lakes with dramatic snowy peaks in the background was a daily scenery at the Torres Del Paine whilst fuming volcanoes in the midst of deep forests was an inspiring setting for our horse trek. There was a lot of harmony, a lot of energy and beauty offered by those places. Chile is a place where I hope I will go back to many times. I recommend it deeply to anyone in search of something different, yet simple, beautiful, and inspiring. Thank you for your help in making our time there one to remember.

Christine from New Caledonia, (Pacific) - Jurassic forest Trek and Torresdel Paine Trek 23/11/2001
Bonjour Gilles
Oui, nous voilà de retour avec des tas de bons souvenirs et des paysages sublimes dans la tète L'organisation générale avec le suivi des vols et des transferts a été parfaite je dois dire que Cristina a été vraiment aux petits soins et très disponible lors de nos interrogations sur nos vols qui, si vous souvenez, avaient subi quelques changements de dernière minute : j'avais pris connaissance de votre message 5mn avant de quitter mon domicile, c'était un peu la panique... heureusement, mon agent de voyage avait déjà rectifié un vol international, et par la suite il semble que ce soit Cascada qui ait fait les changements. Je pense que ce début de saison touristique a contribué aussi à ce que ce séjour soit des plus agréables.

A SANTIAGO, les guides ont été charmants, nous avons eu le mème guide pour la visite de VALPARAISO et celle des vignobles il a été particulièrement intéressant et agréable

Pour la région des lacs, à PUCON, nous avons sympathisé avec la jeune femme qui nous a servi de guide, Noëlle, d'origine française, extrêmement cultivée sur son pays et particulièrement sur la flore, ce qui nous a comblés. Elle a réorganisé une journée entière à cause du mauvais temps qui nous a empêchés de monter le volcan VILLARICA (la mise en route du nouveau programme a été un peu long à se mettre en route mais je crois que cela n'était pas de sa faute, les organisateurs du volcan n'ont pas fait le relais à temps ). Dans la région , tout est prévu quant aux équipements : en kayak, les tenues protectrices contre le froid, idem pour le volcan : chaussures, bonnets, gants, crampons, coupe-vent et peut être même lunettes de montagne Le programme était excellent : découverte de la région avec ses résurgences d'eau en cascades et en sources d'eau chaude, kayak et VTT, puis promenade à cheval dans le sanctuaire du CANI avec d'excellents chevaux et une "personnalité" responsable du ranch et qui nous a accompagnés, mémorable. Le trek organisé dans la vallée de COCHAMO a été l'apothéose de cette région : le refuge de Campo Aventura au pied des falaises de granit nous a conquis à tout point de vue : les ballades à cheval (encore une fois très doux et très dociles en plus d'être très forts et courageux) puis à pied, ont complètement comblé nos demandes de gros arbres, Noëlle, notre guide de PUCON, nous avait accompagnés et, je pense que c'est grâce à elle que nous avons pu voir autant de choses, parce que le guide de Campo Aventura ne semblait pas trop connaître la région Nous avons passé cette première semaine dans les volcans et la vallée de COCHAMO dans une ambiance très sympathique, et avons accumulé des connaissances sur le pays tant sur le plan humain, social, et végétal....et ce qui a bien arrangé les choses, le temps a été très ensoleillé malgré la demi journée qui nous a empêchés de faire l'ascension du volcan
Journée à PUERTO VARAS : très agréable et pas inutile

TORRES DEL PAINE : grande perte de temps entre PUNTA ARENAS et le parc des TORRES, aller et retour cela fait 2 journées fatigantes et très longues en transports, le trajet entre les 2 villes ne présente aucun intérêt, n'y a t il pas un aéroport suffisamment important à PUERTO NATALES ? je suppose que non ... Les sacs de couchage ne sont pas nécessaires (cela nous a bien encombré dans notre paquetage, pour rien) il faudrait que Cascada remette à jour ses fiches d'équipement à emporter : idem pour les serviettes de toilette Autre point : nous étions un groupe de 11 personnes : trop important avec les conséquences que cela implique : disparité d'intérêts, d'aptitude, et peut être donc aussi perte de convivialité Malgré tout, le trek a été super, les chemins ne présentant pas de difficultés particulières, les guides nous ont laissés partir les uns et les autres à notre rythme, ils sont restés avec le dernier groupe Découvertes, paysages extraordinaires, émotions, logistique parfaite Tout en comprenant qu'il n'est pas question d'abîmer la nature avec des constructions plus ou moins bizarres, il est difficile de vivre dans des logements de toiles , en modules, dans un pays où un très fort vent et une pluie glacée sont présents en permanence. Nous avons eu énormément de chance avec le temps : une seule journée d'enfer, parce que l'enfer est vite atteint avec le vent, la pluie et le froid malgré un équipement choc. Je ne sais pas si nous aurions été aussi emballés avec un mauvais temps persistant : c'est une destination qui est trop aléatoire de ce point de vue, et c'est bien dommage parce que tout l'intérêt du voyage se trouve au dessus de nos tètes et il vaut mieux que les nuages ne soient pas trop présents... Juste un point à signaler encore qui peut porter à conséquence : je ne sais pas si les guides ont une formation de secourisme, et je ne suis pas sure que la trousse de secours soit très élaborée. (remarque qui ne s'applique pas à Noëlle qui a reçu une formation de SAMU aux USA)

Voilà, en quelques mots, le bilan de ce voyage Si vous avez des questions particulières à me poser, n'hésitez pas Je vous remercie d'avoir mis en place ce séjour avec autant de diligence et d'attention A bientôt peut être
Christine STEFF

El Plomo Climbing Expedition

Pavel from the US - El Plomo Climbing Expedition - 27/11/2002
Dear Gilles , I am back. Everything was just wonderfull. Local guides were very nice, hard working, knowlegable guys. Thank you for organizing everything. Hope we will work on some other trip in the future.

Atacama and Altiplano

Geoff from the UK- Desert and Volcanoe Overland - 11/2003
Hi there Gilles
Just a few comments about the trip
Overall it was excellent with only 2 small hiccups but we had a superb time and would throroughly recommend anyone to take on such a journey. Marcia was very friendly and helpful and we would be grateful for her email address so that we can thank her.
The desert trip was wonderful and very well organised by the Guide. There were 7 of us in the minibus but they did not include Mr and Mrs Phillips, they were all from different countries. Just a few comments which reflect the feelings of all of us on this desert trip
Day 7 Iquique-Pica-Mamina We would have preferred to stay in Iquique for an extra night and enjoyed that town more, perhaps just going to Humberstone this would also have enabled us to get to Codpa earlier on the next day
Day 10 Surire Salt Lake This meant a lot of driving 6 hours in all and there was very little to see at the lake. The rest of the 10 days were great with highlights to many to mention
For the remainder of our holiday we had a great time meeting many different people and being well cared for by the many guides

Claudie from France - 4WD expedition in the Atacama and the Altiplano - 02/11/2002
Monsieur, Nous nous excusons du retard à vous répondre, mais le travail est reparti sur les chapeaux de roue.
Nous comptons vous dire tout le bien de ce voyage et de son organisation.
Tout a été parfait que ce soit au niveau des gides que du circuit. Nous ne pouvons que vous féliciter et vous remercier de cette organisation et de ce tarif. Nous esperons avoir un jour l'occasion de reorganiser un séjour avec vous. D'ici là nous ne manquerons pas de donner vos coordonnées à chaque fois que cela sera possible.Claudie

Amable from France - Tailormade expedition in the Atacama and the Altiplano - 02/11/2002
Bonjour,
De retour depuis deux semaines du Chili, je voulais vous dire que ce fut un voyage inoubliable.
C'est un pays magnifique et nous avons eu à faire à une guide et un conducteur exceptionnels....
Tout c'est très bien passé. Je reconnais que j'apprehendais, car le contact avec vous était que sur e-mail.... mais je ne regrette vraiment rien.
Merci.

Fionualla from Ireland - Atacama and Altiplano Overland - 26/10/2002
Hi Gilles,
The service on our holiday was incredible! Our guide was Felipe and he was excellent. We were treated like royalty. Unfortunately I found the actual holiday way too much. I had no idea it was going to be so uncomfortable. When I heard that we would be camping I pictured camp sites and large groups of people but in fact there were no camp sites, we camped in the middle of nowhere, and there was no one else with us which I found quite unnerving. I was quite worried about what would happen if the guide got sick or got hurt as we had no form of communication with the base and there were often no proper roads so we could not have found our way ourselves.[ Wrong...all cars are equipped with a radio to communicate with our base in San Pedro ]
We spent many, many hours each day in the truck and setting up and dismantling the camp every single day was absolutely exhausting. The only part of the holiday I really liked was the two days we spent in San Pedro which is a lovely little town. Also, our guide knew I was very unhappy and really bent over backwards trying to make it better for me. I got sick on the second day and he couldn't have been kinder. I was sick for two days so we spent a second day in San Pedro but had to pay ourselves. I was quite surprised at that especially since the itinerary you sent included two night in a hotel but their itinerary only included one.
I think in future it might be a good idea to give people more of an idea what the holiday is going to involve. There was no indication in our itinerary how much time would have to be spent in the truck and while we were warned that it would be cold at night we were totally unprepared for temperatures of -20 degrees and got very little sleep as a result. [ Sorry but the guide himself talked about temperature close to -5°C at night only and our travel log mentionned temperature down to -10°C]
...... my film actually froze inside my camera.
Apart from the extremely professional service we got from Azimut I have to say I felt the week was more like a labour camp than a holiday and I am still recovering from the exhaustion of it. Sorry to be quite negative but I really felt I should be honest.
[ Apparently you were not prepared for a adventure trip in such a remote and wild area where it was clear you would see nobody else than sceneries and animals ....at least readers now are fully aware of what it involves. For outdoor minded people only. See comments below from people who left one week after for the same trip and appreciate the difference ]

Sarah from the UK - Atacama and Altiplano Overland and Easter Island - 20/11/2002
Our trip in the atacama went really well, our guide, Dennis was very accomodating and we saw more than we ever imagined. Flamingos, vizcacha, vicuna, I could go on and on! The camping was fine, in fact the food and dining tent were very luxurious. We really enjoyed our night in San Pedro, it was nice to have a break from the camping and rejuvinate. We also enjoyed our chance to swim in the desert, the pool at Peine and the natural springs were very refreshing.
Easter Island was a bit of whirlwind tour but very enjoyable. The hotel was the best one that you could have put us in. It was ideally situated and the staff were very pleasant. The tours covered everything, even if the bus was a bit busy!!
Santiago was also enjoyable, we managed to see snippets each time we returned, unfortunately our day there was a Sunday and most things were closed. Thr guide books didn't warn us about this, but the Mercado Central was busy and we went out to an artesana market at Los Dominicos so we found some shopping! Most Restaurants were closed though. The hotel was good, everything that we needed and again the food was excellent.
Another things was that Lan Chile were brilliant. Very efficient, polite and the service was the best I've experienced in a long time. The flight to Easter Island was especially noteworthy and I think I'm going to have to write and let them know. I usually only write airlines to complain!!
As you can tell, we had a fantastic time, Chile is a beautiful country and I'd love to go back. The people are very friendly. We felt everything was very well organised and I wouldn't hesitate to come back to you for other holidays. We fancy Bolivia and Peru next!!!
If theres anything else you need, let me know. Otherwise thank you, we had a very memorable holiday. Best Regards Sarah

Chris from the UK - Tailor-made arrangments in lake District, Cruise through the Fjords and Torres del paine Circuit and Argentina 10/2003
Hi, you were on my list to contact his week. I have had an excellent three weeks - largely lucky with the weather, and all the arrangements you made for me worked well. Thank you very much. Detailed comments as follows:
Arrangements on arrival in Buenos Aires all worked well - car transfer to Aeroparque, ticket to Bariloche and meet at Bariloche all OK. Good hotel there, and the arrangements for the lake crossing worked very smoothly. It rained a lot on the crossing, but only God can be held responsible for that.
The hotel in Puerto Varas was good, and the operator there was efficient – the day in Chiloe was delightful. Navimag delayed their departure by one day, which the tour operator knew about and told me as soon as they could. They took me to Puerto Montt as scheduled, and Navimag had arranged for a hotel there for one night. That meant I missed one night in the hotel in Puerto Natales, but otherwise no problem.
I enjoyed the Navimag trip [Cruise through the Fjords from Puerto montt to Puerto natales 4 days] – glad I booked a cabin to myself, though.
Met straight off the boat by the Paine people. Very lucky – excellent guide (called Alejandro Munoz Mujac) with whom I got on very well, and who was a careful, well-informed and generally very pleasant companion for a week. Also incredibly lucky with the weather in Torres del Paine. There had been snow, and the circuit was closed, but the guide had rearranged a good itinerary, and we had a week with only 2 hours of rain….
Mare Australis was very well organised, and enjoyable – I am not sure I am really a cruise-type person, but it was the only way to see that part of Tierra del Fuego.
The few days in and around Ushuaia were probably the least satisfactory part of the trip. The scenery is not as spectacular as what I had already seen, and the opportunities for walking not as stimulating, so I think after Torres del Paine anything would have been a disappointment. What Camino Abierto provided was exactly what they said in their brochure, but I would in retrospect probably not have spent as much time there. They used a Refugio which they own themselves, and we ended up with 18 people sharing one small dormitory, which was probably not ideal. And their walks were fairly short and undemanding.
Flights back to Buenos Aires, transfer from Aeroparque and to Ezeiza all worked like a dream.
Thank you very much for organising everything – I had exactly the holiday I wanted and will be recommending your company to friends. If I get any decent photos I’ll send you a selection for the website
Best regards