My family is really into beer. REALLY into beer. Beer is our own family form of currency “I’ll trade you two Bourbon Countys for one Barrel Aged Narwhal” is not a phrase that would sound out of place in my house. We have spreadsheets dedicated to tracking the rare beers we are able to find, and what our stock looks like of each (and of course, our rating and review of each beer). So, as soon as we had a rough draft of our itinerary in place, we began researching the local breweries and mapping the walking path from our hotels.
We managed to visit 4 breweries, 1 taphouse and try one other local beer. Overall, I have to say, there is a reason Chile and Argentina are known for their wine...and not their beer. We tend to prefer really dark, rich beers, and this is not South America’s forte. We had some black beers that looked like they should have been fabulous...but they were the equivalent of drinking a black colored Bud light.
El Calafate was our winner for beer towns. La Zorra had a pretty good porter and Don Diego de la Noche (where we had the best service out of any restaurant on our entire trip) had a porter that was, by far, the best beer we drank the entire trip. A great recommendation from a fabulous server! Punta Arenas came in second with Hernando de Magallanes Brewery’s Imperial Stout. The downside is that you aren’t allowed to drink at that brewery, so we had the pleasure of enjoying that beer while walking the streets in insane winds.
Overall, even if you are a loyal beer drinker, it might be worth switching to the life of an Oenophile during a trip to the bottom of the world.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.