In the morning we have breakfast in the hotel’s lovely tearoom-like dining room. Historic pictures of Patagonia line the walls.
Maria, our guide for the day, whisks us out to the airport, where we pick up Nicola and Tertius from South Africa and Celine and Christophe from Switzerland. Then we head to Puerto Natales, the closest town to Torres del Paine National Park, 2½ hours away. It’s fun meeting people from so many places.
At PN, we have lunch and chat with Maria, who is in her last year of law school in Santiago. She was born in a town of 4,000 in Tierra del Fuego across from PN. The government has given companies incentives to move there to keep the people in her tiny hometown. Nicola and Tertius, meanwhile, tell us they have 2 girls in university and now they can finally travel. They are going to Antarctica (camping!) after Torres.
After lunch a Brazilian couple, Mariana and Ronaldo, arrives, and the van takes us all 2 more hours to Torres. At PN, we have picked up Javier, who will be our guide for the camp, and he points out the black-necked swans with white bodies that are the symbol of PN.
It continues to be rainy and cold as we stop at La Cueva del Minodol. This is a huge, airy cave where archeologists found a perfectly preserved large piece of fur as well as bones of a minodol or giant sloth.
We arrive at the Eco Camp, our home for the next 3 days, at about 8, and see our domes – no heat! It is freezing. Ours is a little larger than most because it has 3 beds; it’s very pretty and simple, a green geodesic dome with bark on the bottom. We head to the big dining dome, which has a wood fire roaring in the stove, to have pisco sours and then dinner. Javier hands out a large flashlight for each dome because there’s only electricity in the common domes. You can charge up cameras and iPods in the dining room and the bathroom. The bathroom has composting toilets and solar-heated showers.
Dinner is thankfully yuppified, salmon with onions and peppers along with a tasty corn soup. It's great that the guides dine with us -- Javier is a fountain of facts, a culture junky who amazes us with his breadth of knowledge. Then we head to our beds, which have thick comforters topped with sheepskins. We’re freezing, so we sleep in our clothes after finding our way to the bathroom with our flashlight. The bed is so toasty that in the middle of the night I have to shed a few layers. Caitlin says her father and I slept so soundly we snored like “dying chipmunks. “
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
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
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.