I have arrived back in Australia a week ago from a fantastic trip to Antarctica and Patagonia. I had booked a trip on a ship leaving from Ushuaia and as it is such a long way from Australia I started looking around for something else I could do in that part of South America.
I originally was looking at a tour and in my search came across Andean Trails. It was a little hard to get my head around the fact that I am in Australia, was looking at travel in South America and dealing with a company in Scotland. A little research revealed great reviews so I took a deep breath and started dealing with Kathy and then Alan at Andean Trails. I could not have selected better. My many questions were answered promptly and with good humour. I never felt like I was being a nuisance (as I am sure I was). But when dealing from so far away you have to be sure about everything.
They came up with a suggested itinerary and then made numerous amendments as I researched and found out more about Torres del Paine. After many months of emailing back and forth I ended up with the following. In Argentina it was three nights in Ushuaia at Patagonia Jarke (pre and post cruise) and two nights in El Calafate so we could visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. We stayed at the Patagonia Rebelde and had a one day car hire from Hertz to visit the Glacier.
Next was a 5 hour bus trip to Puerto Natales in Chile where we were met at the bus station by Marcos from Europcar. We collected a 2013 Kia Sportage 4WD which performed perfectly for the week that we had it. We then enjoyed delightful accommodation at Mirador del Payne, Hotel Lago Grey, Hosteria Pehoe and Hotel Las Torres before heading back to Puerto Natales for a night at Hotel Weskar. I can honestly say that you can not go wrong staying in any of the accommodation places we stayed at in Argentina and Chile. All were very nicely appointed and comfortable rooms and in most cases we were upgraded from the standard rooms that we had booked. All included a very plentiful breakfast.
The one thing that was of concern was the fact you can not buy fuel in Torres del Payne. Alan knew this and worked very hard at locating a couple of sources. This is very hard to know. The distances aren't huge but slow driving, gravel roads, constant stopping and strong winds really helped chew through the fuel and we wouldn't have made it through with buying extra. Thankfully Hotel Tyndall and Hotel Las Torres are just outside the boundaries of the park and we were able to purchase fuel from both. Admittedly the price was very high but they have the logistics of getting it in and for peace of mind it was worth every cent. If you are planning a trip to South America you can do better than dealing with Andean Trails in Scotland. You could not get a more professional company that are happy to answer all your questions. They provided great service and our whole trip went super smooth and could not have been any better.
Carol Darby
Western Australia read more