The infamous Towers Trek. The one excursion that everyone swears you MUST do while in Patagonia. The normal trek that most hikers do is an 8 hour ordeal. You have 4 hours of hiking up to reach the towers, and then 4 hours of hiking back down again at the end. The hike is not an easy one, or a horizontal one. You are making your way up and over boulders, through brush, over log bridges, all the while the trail continues to rise above (or drop down below) you.
If you want to see the towers but do not want to hike 8 hours, there is only one option out there. Las Torres Hotel has a stable in the park and their horses are used to carry supplies up the trail to the refugios where hikers can camp if they are doing the full W trek. Las Torres is the only operator allowed to use this trail for horses, and so if you stay at this hotel, you are one of the lucky few who can take a horse for half of the journey. Kepler and I chose to go this route, and it was fabulous!
We met our feisty companions as the regular trekkers took off by foot. We had time to get geared up and get to know the horses a little before setting off. Once we hit the trail, it was easy going! We happily road along through rivers and brush, over boulders and up, up, up for 2 hours, passing all of the weary hikers along the way. After two hours, we tied up our horses and set off by foot to do the remaining two hours up. This was still quite a challenge, so I cannot imagine having done this AFTER hiking the first two hours.
After enjoying the beauty of the towers, we hiked 2 hours back down, saddled up, and finished the final two hours by horse again. How lovely it was not to have those final 2 hours laying, daunting, ahead of us after our 4 hours of hiking. And how smug we felt as we passed the other 99%, exhausted on their way back down. While we probably didn’t earn our drinks that evening quite as much as the other hikers did, we certainly enjoyed them just as much!
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.