We were scheduled for a mid-day, 1.5 hour internal flight to El Calafate, in the Andes. We spent the morning looking for souvenirs in various Ushuaia shops. At one of the cafes at the far end of San Martin we had a 2nd, late morning substantial breakfast, to get us through the rest of the day. One of the other bi-lingual guides from Canal, picked us up at the Linares at noon, for the short ride to the airport. We had a smooth flight to El Calafate. After picking up our bags, we found our taxi driver. The drive to El Galpon Del Glaciar was 40 minutes, passing downtown El Calafate and around the unpopulated shore of Argentino Lake, the largest lake in Argentina. We can’t say enough about El Galpon Del Glaciar, an awesome sheep ranch. The setting is absolutely beautiful, with the lake and the surrounding snow covered Andes mountains. Although the area is known for fierce winds, we experienced only light winds.The staff is friendly, accommodating and well versed in English. Upon arrival, Frederick, the host, covered the activities with us. Our tour voucher entitled us to a welcome drink, 1 hour of horseback riding (unexpected), box lunches for the next day’s excursion and an invitation to join the outside guests coming to the evening program at 6 pm and dinner the next evening. The rustic rooms are nicely decorated and contain either a separate sitting area in the front or an extra tiny bedroom. Our room had the 2nd bedroom. We were the only guests staying over at the ranch the first night. The wonderful evening program consisted of an English Tea, with generous cake, cookie and pastry items, followed by a guided bi-lingual 2 mile hike to the lake and back, a sheep herding demonstration, sheep shearing in the shed, a 3 course Patagonian barbeque dinner and a Tango show. The others partaking in the evening activities were an older British-Argentine woman and two native Argentine couples who spoke no English. Luckily, Nina speaks some Spanish and was able to converse with the guests. And, The British lady helped translate.
Adventure Life has been an extraordinary travel resource for us over the years and today was no exception. Our River Cruise booking was handled by Jess (who has been our personal trip planner for several years) the same day as our inquiry. Suggestions were given for cabin choice and pre-trip options (that were not shown on the cruise line's website) like airport transfers and prepaid gratuities. Trip insurance recommendations followed and we were assigned a travel co-ordinator till the end of the tour. All we have to do is show up! Great service from friendly folks.
APtravelwell
1 day ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
1 day ago
Although there was a lot of paper work, I received help and guidance when I needed it.
Donna Kirby
2 days ago
Our travel was flawless! The rider pickup (airport, hotel, ship) was seamless. Jane's recommendation for Emerald Cruise Sakara was everything I wanted but the experience was soooo much more. Adventure Life took care of each and every detail and this was the easiest of all my travels.
Anne Petty
3 days ago
Follow up was effective any questions were answered in a timely manner