Patagonia March 2014
We were on the Feb. 27 to March 11 trip to Patagonia, in 2014
Since there has been so little posted about the new Patagonia tours for 2014, I'm going to take a shot at covering a lot of information:
1. The tour started in Santiago, where we arrived early in the morning and took a seven hour day-trip on our own over to the coast at Valpariso and Del Mar, which was terrific. The cost for a guide and van by ourselves was $350 USD for the day with tip. It was worth every nickel. The dinner that night was exceptional as it took place outside on the grounds of the hotel. We met with our guide, who was Marcos Soto. More on this great guy later.
2. Our flight out of Santiago was on a Boeing 737. Inspite of all the grief about the baggage size and weight from Tauck, they never weighed or check any of our bags going down or back to the northern cities. This was without doubt the most difficult trip we have taken with Tauck (#8 for us) as the weight and temperature issues for north and south areas made packing crazy. Everyone mentioned this problem and I think Tauck did a really lousy job in their pre-trip info about what to bring. Using 'layers' as the their suggestion was very misleading and left many people improperly dressed for the cold weather we encountered. Make no mistake about it, this trip is difficult on multiple issues. You better be in great shape physically and if you need assistance to walk or climb then don't go. If you are in reasonable shape, it will be one of the most wonderful trips you will ever make. We rated it right up there with the heli-hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies.
3. Anyone with medical issues should NOT take this trip. You are in a remote and physically difficult area of the world and it is not for anyone who cannot walk or climb steep grades. If you need medical attention above first aid, think again. You don't have to be jock, but it is the mountains and there are places on boats and rocky surfaces that require balance and mobility. It is not a cake walk in the park!!
Think action and adventure, not peace and calm. It's big fun and a trip of a lifetime.
4. The distances you cover each day are extreme, both by plane, boat, and bus. If you can't hang-in there for 12 hour bus rides, pass on this trip. The wind blows like crazy and the boat rides are rough, but extremely fun. Trails up to the glaciers are steep in places and yes, it rains. Again, this is high adventure. Pure adrenaline. You'll love it if you like to have fun and enjoy excitement.
5. A word or two about our magnificent tour guide, Marcos Soto. This guy busted his tail from sun up to sun set every single day. He had to put up with one woman who was a total pain in the ass for everyone on the trip and Marcus deserves a metal for the abuse this woman put him through. Without Marcus, I don't know how the trip would have gone as his smiling face and hard work made our trip so much better.
6. Hotels: As usual every place we stayed was four or five star, but The Singular was far above our expectations. The staff was terrific and since we were there for four days, it made the trip terrific. I can't begin to tell you how great this place was for everyone on the tour. The day at the polo ranch also defies description, but suffice to say it was a high point of Buenos Aries.
7. By the time we reached Buenos Aries, things had settled down and it was time to kind of relax at the Soffitel Hotel. There were no problems at the end of the trip and we took an extra day to further tour the town with two other couples. Tauck didn't spend much time on touring the northern entry and exit cities, so we were glad to have had time to arrange private tours on our own.
8. Our flight back to Miami was on Lan (an excellent airline) while sleeping in the business class pods. All in all, it was a great time and worth every cent we paid. Thank you Tauck Tours and especially our guide Marcus.
Michael Echols, Fort Myers, Florida
