Hi Marcela, I identified this tour organizer from an internet search for Patagonia Tours. I then read some of the positive ratings from other travelers. I decided to book through it because of a) positive reviews from other travellers; b) the itinerary that you offered suited what I wanted; and c) I liked the idea of being reasonably independent and not having too much organised or being part of a week long tour. There were probably a number of highlights. In terms of the actual arrangements, the ease of having most of my travel and hotel bookings completed without having to concern myself with them was a highlight. In terms of the actual trip, I really enjoyed the hiking at El Chalten and the one day that I hiked to Mt Fitz Roy was the highlight for me. The hotel in El Calafate (Kau Yatun) was the best one of the trip. Very comfortable, good service, good restaurant and nice location. As mentioned above, it was not an excursion, but the hiking in El Chalten was my favourite. However, at El Calafate, I booked an additional excursion to Estancia Christina on my one free day, and that excursion was great.The guides were all good. I think the guide from El Calafate who did the Perito Moreno glacier tour - I think her name was Danielle - was great, very friendly, helpful and professional.
Dear Marcela, Thank you for the email. I have already reviewed your company on the general site, will add comments to the forum too. I first learned about the company from the Internet - reviews and trip advisor. I decided to travel with you because of your promptness in response, ease of working, good customer service and a good price. Seamless experience - everything was flawless and we did not have to worry. My favorite hotel is Don Los Cerros at El Chalten - very nice hotel, luxurious, superb location and views, spa - hot tub, good service. The best excursion was to Laguna De los tres - amazing trek up - difficult but exhilarating - worth the effort once we reached the top. The trip was fabulous!
We had a fantastic trip, thank you! We chose to travel with this local operator because you provided a bespoke itinerary in line with where we wanted to go, we were looking with a company with local knowledge. The booking process was very good. All changes were to itinerary were made / advice given speedily. The only issue was not paying by pay pal - although we did this by credit card in the end the process was more complicated. Our favourite hotel was the Kaulem Hosteria in El Chalten - an intimate and cosy place with only 4 rooms, delicious breakfast, cakes and coffee - brilliantly located and the staff were really friendly. Out least favourite hotel was Hosteria Koi Aiken in El Calafate. This is mainly due to the location due to a 40 minute power walk to the outskirts of town and tthe rooms were a bit tired looking, although the breakfast was very good. It's difficult to say which was our favourite excursion as they were all fantastic. The trip to Perito Merino glacier was amazing, simply because the scenery was so breathtaking and the glacier hike really interesting with informative and friendly guides. The paddle trip into the national park at Ushuaia was also great fun - again the guide spoke excellent English and made the trip enjoyable with his knowledge of the park and flora and fauna. And the excursion to the Iguazu falls was also great as the guide knew all the tricks to make sure we spent the least time queueing as possible - and again he was very informative and knowledgeable. Its really difficult to pick out a favourite memory as we loved all of the places we stayed. We hiked to the see Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre - this was also amazing. My memory will be the the diverse and stunning scenery - glaciers, mountains, waterfalls and wildlife (beagle channel cruise) the friendliness of all the people we met and the knowledge of the guides. oh and the great steak and huge portions of food! Rene - the Iguazu falls guide - he saved us so much time queueing and was really knowledgeable about the birds and plants. But all our guides made the experience memorable. I was a bit disappointed with the location of the Koi Aiken hosteria as we spent a lot of time walking to and from town - and I did expect that arrangements would have been made for our bags to be transferred between the Rebelde hotel. We asked and the lady at the Rebelled sorted this out for us, but an agent from the tour company did email to say this was our responsibility. I would definitely recommend your company to any friends who are travelling to Argentina and would like to say thank you for making our trip so pleasurable.
James MackenderTravel Expert in Peru and Chile
Maria BarcielaTravel Expert in Argentina and Chile
Oxana ProtchenkoTravel Expert in Argentina and Chile
