Out & About July 2017

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Returning home to Awasi a Pisco Sour awaits
– probably my favourite cocktail to be had
outside Cuba.
The exquisite food that follows is creatively
prepared to feature flavours of the desert
such as Carob and the Chanar fruit. Most
importantly, the Awasi team are among the
very best hosts anywhere in the Americas and
this wonderland is hard to leave.
Travelling south to Chilean Patagonia takes two
flights on the reliable Lan Chile.
The aerial views flying over the Andes, the
lakes and rugged coastline, give an impressive
preview of what is to come in Patagonia.
The south of Chile remains one of the world’s
great remaining wildernesses and has always
been a highlight for me.
Torres del Paine National Park is a five-hour
drive from Punta Arenas, but the stunning
mountainscapes and genuine frontier territory
make the drive feel like a timeless film set.
My destination is the exclusive Explora
Patagonia. Perched amid rushing waterfalls
and the imperious Andes, the location was
visionary from the outset and the national
park rules have since excluded any other
development within the park, making a stay
here feel like a privilege.
I was welcomed by one of the local guides
who tailor fantastic itineraries and activities
including hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and
horse riding.
We started the next morning with a full day trek
into this frontier wonderland.
Condor and flamingo, Grey eagle, puma and
guanaco are just some of the wildlife that lives
in the formidable landscapes of Torres del
Paine. Part of the magic of the place however,
is how few other humans you will see.
Early the next morning we rode out to take in
the vast, dramatic landscapes just as explorers
would have done centuries before, followed
by kayaking on a flat azure lake alongside
creaking glaciers.
This is a truly incredible part of Chile and
the closest you can get to Antarctica without
travelling the three days further south across
the Drake Passage.
For my final adventure in Patagonia, I took a
Jeep with a driver guide across the border to
the Los Glaciars National Park and El Chaltén
in Argentina.
This is great trekking territory; the Fitz Roy
Mountains, the thick forests, glacial parks and
lakes just beg to be explored.
I may just have to return to these extraordinary
lands and spend a week traversing their
wonders in my own Jeep Chevrolet – it seems
to me yet another very good reason to return
to Chile.
From £9,885 per person, for 14 nights including
flights & transfers.
If you are inspired by this journey, contact
Bailey Robinson. With their indepth
knowledge and experience, attention to detail
and special contacts around the world, you
can trust them to create your perfect holiday.
To find out more email:
01488 689700
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