Travel & Philosophy
-How do we get the balance between travelling in style, in comfort
and safety without compromising your experience of what you have come
to see, touch, smell, hear and taste?
-How do we turn your dream of travelling like a cowboy, of seeing unknown
glaciers, walking through wild isolated woodlands or running lost rivers
into an attainable reality and yet not leave you feeling like you´re
being sheltered from the very things you want to experience?
A typical adventure journey in Patagonia will involve rain, wind, dirt, sweat,
sun, ice, grit and wood smoke. You will get tired, cold, sunburnt, hot and wet.
You will be culturally challenged and yet welcomed into the most humble homes
and treated like kings and queens. This will be your journey of a lifetime. .
.
Our journeys take us into areas seldom visited by modern, western tourists, it
is unlikely you will see another tourist once off the roads. The few people we
do meet own the land over which we travel, have little use of modern gadgets
or comunication and live on a minimal system of barter and cooperation. Meeting
the 60 year old owner of a 2000 acre ranch on a trail, 3 days from the nearest
road or house is normal, being invited in to his home or to drink “mate” around
his fire is an honour and to see his sheepskin shoes, home-made saddlery and
simple equipment is an education. This is a world in danger of extinction where,
strangely enough, your presence as a contributing visitor has a positive effect
in preserving customs and traditions in a healthy and sustainable manner.
We operate in a region of Patagonia still unknown to most of the world, amongst
some of the most brutal (and generous!) wilderness on the planet, a hidden treasure
only available to pioneering spirits in search of an intimate connection with
patagonian mountain culture. It is via this cultural integration that we are
able to pull off otherwise impossible journeys.
We are very aware that our two greatest resources are the people that work with
us and the natural environment. We try to look after both. We go beyond the locally
established norms of environmental care with our groups, ensuring that any effect
we have is a benneficial one. Specifically, we operate the well known “Leave
No Trace” practices of environmental care when in wilderness areas. In
established camp areas and when visiting remote farms we sensitively educate
land owners to more environmentally friendly practices which have the spin off
of making their properties and local resources attractive to tourism, creating
a supplementary income for part of the year. We remove all garbage to appropriate
disposal sites from any trip we run, we use fire wood only where there is an
abundance of dead wood on the ground, we establish permanent non–contaminating
bathroom facilities in permanent camp areas and on mobile camps use deep pit
toilets. Where we use motors, boats and vehicles we prioritize providers who
have the best, cleanest and most eco-friendly practices and equipment. All our
guides are well practised in environmental care and view educating our clients
as an integral part of the guiding experience.
With 10 years of travelling, exploring and guiding eperience we firmly believe
that it is the combination of great human relationships between guides, local
people and our clients, our attention to details of comfort and service in even
the most remote and wild places, and the experience and good humour of our head
guides that make our trips so special and so difficult to match in other parts
of the world.
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